10g fishless cycling - Couple of questions

[Mercedes3681]

Hi! I'm new to fish keeping, I was thrown into it when my daughter brought home a goldfish. The fish promptly died, but I had already bought a 10g tank and all the accessories so we bought another one. I thought I knew what I was doing after massive amounts of googling and reading on these forums, but apparently not, as I soon discovered the water conditioner I was using (Tetra SafeStart) was not the best option. Our little goldfish died of ammonia poisoning and I refuse to get more fish until I figure out this nitrogen cycle business!

I have gotten loads of information just from reading these forums and once my tank is cycled I'm looking into getting a few rasboras or ember tetras and maybe a few pygmy corys.

After the last goldfish died I emptied the tank, rinsed the gravel, plants, changed the filter, and added fresh tap water treated with Seachem Prime. That was 14 days ago, the tank's been running and I haven't touched it since.

Now that I've finally gotten an API liquid test kit, I have a few specific questions that I hope someone can answer for me:

My tap water is 7.6 pH but the tank is at 8.4. Why? Should I worry about it? From what I understand the actual pH doesn't matter so much, it's the fluctuations that hurt fish. But 8.4 seems high especially coming from a 7.6 tap?

My current tank readings are:
Ammonia 0.50 ppm
Nitrite 0.25 ppm
Nitrate 10-20 ppm

I noticed a week ago that the filter (which I changed when I emptied the tank 2 weeks ago) was full of greenish stuff but today it's practically spotless. Why?

What do I do now? Just continue to test and wait until the ammonia and nitrites are at 0 and nitrates are at 40 ppm?

I don't have any previous readings other than what I remember the test strips being a week ago (before I got this cool API kit ), the ammonia was high a week ago though, maybe 3.0 ppm or as best as I could figure on those strips (they're in the garbage now btw, along with the SafeStart!).

Thank you so much for any help you can give me!

 

[librarygirl]

Hi and welcome! My replies below in blue...

Hi! I'm new to fish keeping, I was thrown into it when my daughter brought home a goldfish. The fish promptly died, but I had already bought a 10g tank and all the accessories so we bought another one. I thought I knew what I was doing after massive amounts of googling and reading on these forums, but apparently not, as I soon discovered the water conditioner I was using (Tetra SafeStart) was not the best option. Our little goldfish died of ammonia poisoning and I refuse to get more fish until I figure out this nitrogen cycle business!
Sorry about your fish It's sad that the stores don't tell you about cycling. They don't mention either that goldfish need large tanks; you'd need at least a 20 gal for one fancy goldie; they also need at least 10x the usual filtration. Some others like commons or comets or koi need ponds. Goldfish are messy and get rather large so it isn't surprising that the ammonia in a 10 gal tank rose too high for the fish.

I have gotten loads of information just from reading these forums and once my tank is cycled I'm looking into getting a few rasboras or ember tetras and maybe a few pygmy corys. The Embers and Pygmys sound like a better stocking plan. The first thing you need to decide is how to cycle it. Do you want to re-attempt a fish in cycle with some embers (I woudln't advise using goldfish again) or do you want to cycle the tank fishless? Letting it run doesn't cycle it; it'll need a continuous ammonia source to grow the bacteria. In case you haven't seen it, here is the general aquarium guide that explains cycling and the two options: Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

After the last goldfish died I emptied the tank, rinsed the gravel, plants, changed the filter, and added fresh tap water treated with Seachem Prime. That was 14 days ago, the tank's been running and I haven't touched it since.

Now that I've finally gotten an API liquid test kit, I have a few specific questions that I hope someone can answer for me:

My tap water is 7.6 pH but the tank is at 8.4. Why? Should I worry about it? From what I understand the actual pH doesn't matter so much, it's the fluctuations that hurt fish. But 8.4 seems high especially coming from a 7.6 tap? Try leaving out a glass of water for 24 hours (stir it up occasionally) and then test PH again; it's possible the PH out of your tap changes as it degasses. Mine is the opposite; 8.4 out of the tap and 7.2 in the tank. 8.4 should be fine for most tropical fish, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

My current tank readings are:
Ammonia 0.50 ppm
Nitrite 0.25 ppm
Nitrate 10-20 ppm

I noticed a week ago that the filter (which I changed when I emptied the tank 2 weeks ago) was full of greenish stuff but today it's practically spotless. Why? So the new filter was full of green stuff? It's possible it just cleaned itself as it ran. Not sure what the green stuff could be, maybe uneaten food that molded from the goldie? If it's clean now I wouldn't worry about it.

What do I do now? Just continue to test and wait until the ammonia and nitrites are at 0 and nitrates are at 40 ppm? No, you need to add an ammonia source as stated above. Is there ammonia or nitrite or nitrate in your tap? If not, the ammonia, etc in the tank could be left over from the fish but if you want to cycle the tank fishless you need to add ammonia. The guide I linked above will explain more.

I don't have any previous readings other than what I remember the test strips being a week ago (before I got this cool API kit ), the ammonia was high a week ago though, maybe 3.0 ppm or as best as I could figure on those strips (they're in the garbage now btw, along with the SafeStart!). I'd test your tap and see if the ammonia is that high out of the faucet. If not it could have been leftover from the fish. The ammonia drop is good, but again you'll need to keep adding ammonia to the tank.

Thank you so much for any help you can give me!

 

[Mercedes3681]

Thank you so much! That article is great, I can't believe I missed it in my readings before, I'll pick up some ammonia today and start officially with fishless cycling as they describe. Thanks again!!

 

[librarygirl]

Awesome, keep us posted on your cycle, we can help along the way if you need it. Good luck!