Question about cycling a new aquarium

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Rtrecost

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jan 16, 2008
Messages
8
Questions about cycling a new freshwater aquarium

I set up a 28 gal freshwater aquarium on Saturday and wondered if the following levels are what one would expect to see 5 days later.

Amonia .50
Nitrate 5.0
Nitrite .25
PH 7.8
High PH 7.4

Here is what I put in the aquarium after the tank was set up for 24 hours

3 Tiger Barbs
3 Gourami
3 small catfish

What kind of numbers should I be looking at prior to adding more fish.
 
Your Ammonia and Nitrite should be reading 0. Do a 50% water change if you are seeing levels of either of these two. Test your water twice a day and do 20% water changes daily to keep these down.

Your nitrates should be under 40ppm. If the tank is stocked decently, a weekly water change should keep it well under that.
 
Should it be down to zero in just 5 days or should it take longer than that?

Should it be down to zero in just 5 days or should it take longer than that?
 
Before adding more fish you need to have ammonia 0 ppm, nitrite 0ppm and nitrates of at least 5ppm. If you have fish in the tank you will have to do water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrite to 0 to protect the fish. Ammonia burns the fish, no detectible level of ammonia is good for fish.
 
0 is the level of NH3 and NO2 that you are looking for, but when people cycle with fish, 0.5 PPM is the normal value I see most often when talking about maximum concentrations that are not TOO harmful.

You will need to perform PWC's inorder to keep those numbers safe for the fish. IMO, I would return atleast some of the fish and wait until the cycle is over. Then add a couple of fish at a time until you are stocked.

Cycling with fish has been done for many years and I don't see that ever stopping, but there are ways to make it go faster. Getting some substrate from someone who already has cycled an aqaurium, getting some used filter media from someone who has cycled an aquarium, or purchasing plants. All three of those could add harmful bacteria or disease to your aquarium, so ensure you know the person you are getting it from.

The less fish you have, the slower the levels are going to rise. You should not have put that many fish in there at one time, but that is old news now. Just please heed the advice from the members here at AA and I am sure you will make out just fine.

BTW, if you don't already own a Python, I strongly suggest you get one. Order it online to save money. It will make changing the water VERY easy.
 
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Thanks to all for the Feedback

Thanks to each of you for my feedback but after reading them I realized that I probably should have provided a little more information in case it makes a difference.


On Day 1, 3 & 5 I added 30mi of Top Fins Bacteria Supplement so I should have some bacteria in the tank.

Also everyone hopefully will be proud of me as I went to Aquarium Adventures and as much as I wanted to buy more fish especially since that were providing out Club members with a 40% discount I behaved and only purchased 4 plants and a special light buld specifically for plants.
 
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