10 gal tank cycling question

[saaebn]

Hello - I have been testing Andrew's tank daily. [acronym:604cc33df5="Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions"]ph[/acronym:604cc33df5] 7.2, ammonia 0 , and nitrites 0. Then yesterday we visited a fish store and the woman told Andrew that a couple of tetras do fine with a betta. Andrew picked out 4 small tetras (red bodies with black fins). We went home and put in his heater and then when the water was warm enough we introduced the tetras.

I then went to put on the light that we got and it did not work- we will have to go back to the fish store for another one. I then added stress coat and stress zyme. Everyone seems pretty happy and the betta does seem to like the company.

This morning though I tested the water and my [acronym:604cc33df5="Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions"]ph[/acronym:604cc33df5] is 7.2, but my ammonia is reading .5-1.0 and my nitrites are .50. Is the tank starting to cycle? I excepted a jump in levels with the new fish but am unsure what I should do now. A small water change? wait for the cycle to begin? I will get a new light today, but can a tank cycle without a light?

Thanks,
Stacie

[Allivymar]

Wow. Thats awful fast cycling going on there..

OK, coupla thought/questions:

What size tank? A smaller tank will concentrate ammonia more so then a larger one.

Obviously there will be some ammonia in the tank as the fish consistently produce it but...nitrItes already? Whoa. Did you add any filter material/gravel/whatever from a mature tank? Test your tap water and see if ammonia/nitrites/nitrates show up. I'd bring a sample to the [acronym:39f9454269="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:39f9454269] to double check and make sure the tests are working properly. I'm wondering if its the StressZyme. I also suggest testing the stuff straight from the bottle and see what it reads. I did a fishless cycle, and had nitrAtes from day one. I was using the new Cycle product; tested it and discovered it was measuring 80ppm nitrAtes at 3 minutes! Heh, then I dumped it.

I'd do small water changes to keep those levels down; yeah it will slow down the cycle as your removing the "food" for the bacteria, but they will slowly catch up. Better to have safe water then nitrites/ammonia exposure.

Light won't make a diff. No light can cause brown algae (diatoms) blooms, high light can cause green algae blooms, but the cycle isn't affect by light at all. Higher temps will speed up the cycle (tho not as fast as yours seems to be [acronym:39f9454269="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:39f9454269]).

Do keep us posted; I'm fascinated to find out why things are going to quickly.

[TankGirl]

Sounds like you really jump-started it with the tetras (sounds like serpae tetras) or you were already on the brink that day you got the new fish. I have heard of very rapid cycling in some cases, so I would not worry about it, but keep the nitrite level down with very small water changes.

[saaebn]

I did a small water change today. I still have no idea why my nitrite level changed so quickly. currently my [acronym:1dbf0c22ca="Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions"]ph[/acronym:1dbf0c22ca] is now 7.4, ammonia is about 0, and nitrites are .50.

This is what he has right now:

10 gallon tank
1 heater - temp is about 80
1 aqua clear mini filter
1 carbon filter
1 bubbling waterfall
3 artifical plants
1 air pump
4 red wag ( I was told they were tetra, but upon further research now know better)
1 betta

Everyone seems to swimming around fine for now but we are keeping an eye on them.

I also bought another light, got home and opened it up to put it on and the dang thing was broken- so back to the store I go.

Thanks
stacie

[saaebn]

I think I may hove found the culprit- I went in this morning and caught Andrew feeding his fish. When he just had the betta he was so careful to just give it a tiny bit, but with the new fish he was feeding what looking like 4 tablespoons of flakes. He figured the new fish were very hungry. We talked about feeding and now he is going to reduce the amount. I am going to go in and do a really good cleaning today to see if this helps. This morning his levels were [acronym:9e6010e2cf="Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions"]ph[/acronym:9e6010e2cf] 7.4, ammonia .50 and nitrites 2.0.

PS- He wants to put an apple snail in the tank after it has cycled. Can anyone tell me about these?

Thanks
Stacie

[TankGirl]

The snail should be fine in there, especially without any plants (it would likely eat those) and sometimes snails can do a really great job on algae, but sometimes not. It is very possible also that you will get snail babies, too, even with one snail. They are very interesting, though, and I personally like snails.

It is hard not to overfeed, so I can't blame Andrew for wanting to make the fishies happy. Fish always seem to be begging, so it seems like they are always hungry! Probably more problems befall aquariums from overfeeding than from most other sources. Once I had an entire tank get wiped out almost instantly for no apparent reason, and though I never found out what it was, I am sure the 2yr old twins were responsible!

[Allivymar]

[acronym:e8190ddd35="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:e8190ddd35] Plenty of adults have overfed their fishies. When I was about 3 I dumped an entire container of babyfood into my mom's tropical fish tank. Poor guys; tank was a total loss.

Good detective work! You might want to consider (if I haven't mentioned this before) teaching Andrew about the nitrogen cycle (you get to use words like pee snd poo [acronym:e8190ddd35="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:e8190ddd35]) and the basics of his fish n snail. I work with kiddies, and 8 yr olds are sponges.

Great place to find basic info to share with Andrew: http://faq.thekrib.com/begin.html

[echo7]

using words like pee and poo sounds like fun! about the apple snail i would just grow some type of indestructable pant- maybe java moss they barely need light and don't even root themselves into the gravel. i'm not sure if the snail would eat them though, i've never actually had apple snails, but my java moss is hard to kill! and it grows pretty quick, also it gets rid of the need to grow algae for the snail- that wouldn't be fun.

Oh yah i live in northern NJ away from any real water sources, but when i setup a tub outside on my deck during the summer to breed my platies and white clouds i ended up getting these small snails all over. do you have a deck, maybe if you setup a small tub outside with some live plants you would get these snails. they even reproduce in captivity.

[Oscar]

An Apple snail is a real good idea. These big guys do a real good job on algae and on "gunk" on the bottom. Be sure to have a good lid on the tank as these snails will escape. Apple snails require 2 sexes in the tank to have babies. ...they will also lay their eggs above the surface of the water (even on the underside of the lid or canopy. I would consider it a very good thing if I got baby apple snails as they are hard to get here. apple snails are not the pests that infest your tank.