30g tank

[Rivercats]

I've had it happen like that before but then I've also set up tanks and never had a bacterial bloom. They can just hit anytime and IMO are one of the most annoying things (besides diatoms) about new tank set ups.

 

[Jewel_cichlid03]

Ive only had it happen once and it took about 30+ hours

 

[Jewel_cichlid03]

Bacteria bloom cleared up last night

 

[Rivercats]

Glad it cleared up quickly!

 

[Jewel_cichlid03]

Yeah Me to

 

[Jewel_cichlid03]

Well ive decided not to go with a loach and do 4 albino cory cats

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Well ive decided not to go with a loach and do 4 albino cory cats

You will love your cories!

 

[Jewel_cichlid03]

Yeah ive been looking at some other peoples tanks and there corys so im gonna some and then get the loach when i go up to a 55g

 

[Jewel_cichlid03]

Having problems with cycling my tank parameters are
Ph- 7.2-7.6
Ammonia - 0.0
Nitrite- 5ppm
Nitrate- 20-40
Ive done two 60 % water changes and i still cant get the nitrites down and before the 2 water changes i have been dosing ammonia to 4ppm and the bb seems to break it down in about 48- 56 hours so how can i get those nitrites down to 0

 

[Jewel_cichlid03]

HELP! Please

 

[Rivercats]

All you can do is keep doing WC's. And perhaps slow down on adding ammonia so the nitrite quits building up and has time to convert of nitrates. You can do a 50% WC, then a couple hours or so later, do another.

 

[Jewel_cichlid03]

its confusing i havent added ammonia in a while since ive had the trites spike and i just did a 75% water change

 

[Rivercats]

The nitrite cycling can take awhile but still it should go down with water changes. Don't know why it wouldn't.

 

[Jewel_cichlid03]

Well the water change helped alot but trites are still there parameters as of now are
Ph: 7.2-7.6
Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrites: 0.25 ppm ( was 5+ ppm lastnight )
Nitrates: 10ppm ( was 20-40 ppm lastnight )

Still need to work on the trites and would like to get my ph around 6.8-7.2

 

[librarygirl]

Leave it as it is for now. The nitrite phase is the longest and can take up to 3 weeks on average before they fall. You got them down to a good level but don't be surprised if they shoot up again, that's normal. If PH drops below 7, or you notice ammonia conversion slowing down or if nitrites are over 5 for a week or so, do a few more large water changes to get nitrites down again. Otherwise just keep dosing and testing every 24 hours and let the tank do it's thing.

Also your PH is fine where it is. Most fish can adapt to what your PH level is so don't worry about it and yours is pretty good (similar to mine, actually). Messing with PH causes more problems than needed.

 

[rotorhead22]

As Librarygirl stated, this the longest stage in the Nitrogen Cycle. It will seem like the Ammonia doesn't drop below 0.25 ppm but you will then see a gradual increase in Nitrites and a large spike in nitrates and then your ammonia will consistently get to 0 within 24 hours. Here is what my cycle looked like. I too used seeded media.

 

[Jewel_cichlid03]

Thank u guys

 

[Jewel_cichlid03]

Ive read on here where people will take substrate from other established tanks and stick it in a pantiehose or something to help build up bacteria just would like opinions on this method and if i were to do this would i put it in the tank or in the back of the filter

 

[rotorhead22]

You can mix it in with your substrate and put some in your filter. This speeds up cycling time greatly by jump starting the colonies of BB.

 

[Rivercats]

That can indeed help your tank cycle faster and if possible put it inside the filter. If you can't put it inside the filter hang it in the area where the outflow of the filter flows over/through it.