Question about cycling

[Zjovana]

I've never had tropical fish before. This is my first time. I didn't realize that it is best to do a fishless cycle so now I'm kind of upset that I didn't find this forum sooner. I set up my fish tank on Jan. 2 and I put in water conditioner and this cycle product (Nutrafin Cycle). A week later (Jan. 9) I had my water tested at the pet store and they said I could get fish so I got some. I have a 10 gallon FW tank with 6 neon tetras in it. I am not planning on getting any more fish. I tested the water yesterday and everything was OK except for the ammonia. The ammonia tested at 0.5. I bought the test strips because I didn't know that the liquid testing is better. I will definitely buy that when I run out of the strips. I did a 10% water change yesterday and added 5ml of the cycle stuff to the tank because that's what it says to do on the bottle. I tested the ammonia today and it's still at 0.5. What can I do to make this go down to 0? Should I do another water change today? The fish seem to be ok. They are schooling and eating all the food. I'm very new to this so any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

 

[th08tu]

Welcome to AA!

0.5 for freshwater is actually pretty good for your cycle. Ususally it spikes much higher than this and for right now I would say you just let you tank keep going for a few days, monitoring fish, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. If any of them get too high, then a series of 25% water changes would be best. Hopefully your tank is already on the process of getting cycled, since you did wait a week before you added fish which is good! Anyways keep us posted on your tank, good luck and welcome to the hobby.

Does anybody else see a soon to be sufferer of MTS?

 

[Blueiz]

Do water changes to keep your ammonia and nitrites at .5 or lower. Use your test kit as your guide on this.

IME the cycle stuff doesn't work. I personally would not keep adding it to the tank.

Welcome to AA!

 

[IslandHopper]

The "snake oil" has already been purchased, so no harm in using it till the bottle is empty... but, like Bluiz said, I wouldn't bother buying another bottle (just my opinion/experience.)

I do new tank cycles WITH fish exclusively... I don't like staring at empty tanks I've never had a fish die during the cycling process... but i pick hearty fish, and I have the time/inclination to change water daily if needed (I also tend toward larger tanks, which don't react as quickly.)

Don't feel bad that you hadn't heard about fishLESS cyclng... just be aware that much more attention is required during the cycling process to keep the fish healthy! (...and you seem to have figured that out.)

 

[dkpate]

I would do water changes every day if you have to, to get the ammonia down, and then you will need to keep doing them when you get a nitrites spike too. You could be doing water changes for a month or longer, which is the downside to cycling with fish. Ammonia burns the gills of the fish and you know they need their gills to breathe lol.

 

[Zjovana]

Thank you for the replies and for welcoming me! I won't buy that cycle stuff after I use up the bottle. I only bought it because the person at the pet store told me to. I will definitely keep monitoring the ammonia level and I will continue to do water changes. In reply to th08tu, I have a 50g tank with an oak stand that I hope to use somewhere down the road. I bought a 10g tank so I could get used to having fish. I love the neon tetras I got. They are so cute!

 

[dkpate]

Make sure you use some sort of dechlorinator in your water before you put it in though.

 

[mfdrookie516]

. I only bought it because the person at the pet store told me to.

Good lesson learned. They will convince you that all these things are really needed, OR, that some things are not needed. Most of the time, they are either wrong, or just trying to get you to buy something. This especially happens with fish. They will try and convince you that this fish will work with that fish, when in all reality, they wont work together or the tank is way too small for them. The "cycle starters" have mixed reviews. Some people buy them and have awesome results, most people see no change. Like said before, now that you have it, you might as well use it. Ive used it once with no results, but thats just my personal experience. Keep up on the water changes to keep that ammonia down, then once you see nitrites, continue doing water changes until you have 0 ammonia and nitrites. Nitrates are good under 60ppm but you wont see those for a while. At least you'll know how to set up the 50 gallon when the time comes, and it will Btw, welcome to AA

 

[Zjovana]

I bought tap water conditioner so I'm good with that! I will test my water daily and I will try to change the water daily if I have to. Thank you!

 

[ErnieB]

I'd be interested to know how the neons fair through the cycle. I was told they were not that hardy and not recommended for cycling a tank and to actually wait till my tank was well established before purchasing them.

 

[spoonman]

I would also ditch the strips and get a liquid test kit. They are much more accurate and test for things the strips dont. Readings are of the utmost importance right now if you want the cycle to be successful and dont want fish to die.