55 gallon didn't cycle

[Arcadia]

So I went and got a 55 g tank from petsmart and put the water in when i got home and then put fish in. No one told me anything about cycling water, the guy at petsmart said I could put them in right away. So I did, and decided to do some reading on keeping a fish tank online. Well come to find there is this thing called, "Cycle" that never even once came up in the conversation I had with the guy. So I have had my fish tank with 10 fish in it. I have been doing 50% water changes every day to get the ammonia down and that has reached 0 nitrites are up though and I have a little nitrates going.

Is Ammonia supose to go to 0 first? Am I headed towards the right direction? So far I haven't lost any fish. My nitrites are at .50 before i did my water change this morning. My fish seem fine no signs of stress at all.

I hope i am doing things right, last thing I want is to lose fish!

 

[Capella]

Been there, have the T-shirt. My tank is also a 55 gallon. I will have my fingers crossed very tightly for you, however...

On day 10 I lost one fish. On day 11 I lost another. On day 12 I lost seven. Ended up in crisis mode with a toxic tank (spiking ammonia and nitrites) for the next 11 days with four survivors to consider. It took major intervention from our real local fish store (this guy is wonderful) to get through it. My greatest hope is that you don't have to face it. However I'm now a major worry wart who runs a spread sheet to keep track of how everything went and is going. I'm finally over the hump. I set myself up because I was operating under "back in the day" information and didn't bother see what had changed during the past 20 years between tanks. You are the victim of chain store, fast employee turn around, bad information. I sincerly hope you don't even come close to my experience. Rest assured this is a wonderful forum to get the help you may need.

 

[Aremihc]

Ammonia is supposed to reach 0 first. Here's a couple links:

Cycling a Tank

The Nitrogen Cycle

 

[Purrbox]

Sounds like you are on the right track. Ammonia will reach zero first followed by Nitrite reaching zero. At that point both should stay zero while you see a rise in Nitrate. Then you know that the cycle is complete.

At that point you can add some more fish, but make sure to add additional fish slowly to avoid a mini cycle or you'll end up doing lots more water changes (though usually for less time) as you are right now.

 

[Arcadia]

Thanks for the kind welcome and helpfulness!

I have been so stressed out, about this whole cycle thing. I keep going by my fish tank and staring into the tank and wondering if my fish are stressed, and if I will start seeing bodies floating to the top of the water. I am going to keep up the 50% water changes and hopefully I can get through this. My husband thinks I am a nut case, and is always wondering why I am so worried about them. Thank god for the python because it makes changing water a snap, and I don't have to hear my husband yelling at me when I start spilling water all over the floor. lol

I am sorry to hear of your loss Capella, and I really hope that I don't have any casualties. It sure would have been nice if someone had told me of this, and been informative about cycling!!! If I had it my way I would make people bring in tested water from their tanks before selling them fish.

I will let everyone know how things are going.

 

[Capella]

Arcadia - I hope my story didn't stress you needlessly. It was just a psycho time for me when we were going through it. I felt so guilty!! It sounds like others feel your cycle is going well! That's fantastic news. The python is a wonder. I stare into my tank all the time too

I've gotten myself radically confused about water changes. Maybe some of those helping you, can help me. Wouldn't a 50% water change daily, actually slow the cycle....or is it necessary because of the existing fish??

 

[kimo]

"I've gotten myself radically confused about water changes. Maybe some of those helping you, can help me. Wouldn't a 50% water change daily, actually slow the cycle....or is it necessary because of the existing fish??"

Huge water changes during the cycle aren't a necessity. Only if ammonia, nitrite levels get so high that they are killing fish. 20 - 30% WC are more like it daily... just enough to smooth out the ammonia peaks but keep the cycle on track. Daily tests should be done. Testing your test equipment should be done also. If your test equipment is not showing you the correct results due to being out of date, strips stored in high humidity etc., why test?

Nitrate test: There should be methods like this to test your ammonia and nitrite.
from: Welcome to Rex's Guide to Planted Tanks

Testing Your Nitrate Test Kit
Take 1000ml of water. Dissolve 6.5 grams of KNO3 in it.
Take 1 gallon of water. Each ml of the above solution will add 1 ppm of NO3.
Add 5 ml, test. Your test kit should show 5 ppm.
Add 5 more ml, test. Your test kit should show 10 ppm
Repeat through the range of your test kit.

 

[Capella]

Thank you Kimo,

I didn't actually test my test kit, however the local fish guy was in essence doing it for me. I know my numbers sounded radial and off the charts, so every day after work it was my little journey to go visit him with some water. I would test in the morning, he would test in the late afternoon and we arrived at the same results. It's a small store, just he and his two employees. They all just grin when they see me now. Like we have all be a part of something extreme that "saved the fish"!

I guess my water change question was driven by the fact that he had me stop the huge water changes. we treated the tank with FreshStart, and did just small 10-15 gallon water changes every few days, topping it off with their conditioned/cycled? water.

At any rate, I didn't mean to steal Arcadia's thread. The curiosity just got the best of me.

 

[Arcadia]

Capella no you are fine I am actually glad you brought that subject up about the water changes. I have just been kind of freaked out about the levels in my tank. I checked again this morning and my ammonia levels are still at 0. I have those little strips for the nitrites. I am thinking i am gonna have to go out to get the drops. like my ammonia test. my nitrites are saying .25 or maybe .50 but I can't really tell cause those strips are stupid!

Do you think i need to do a 50% water changes for the nitrites, or do you think a 30%, 0r 20% will do the trick? I am confused!

 

[Capella]

Arcadia,

I know freaked out Your tank is in so much better shape than mine was. I was using water tests for the ammonia and nitrites and they were spiking off the chart within about 30 seconds of mixing the tubes. Your numbers are SOOO much better. I was literally grateful when it started taking longer for the numbers to be horrible. How sad is that.

Kimo was a great resource to me as I blundered through my nightmare. I certainly won't make water change suggestions. The more I changed, the worse my tank got. This is not happening to you - yea! Will let the other great fishy folks advise about how much you should pulling.

 

[kimo]

Arcadia,
Water changes of 20 - 30% will be ok. Test before and about an hour after to see any difference. Huge water changes IMO keeps upsetting the water of the tank which is trying to do one thing.... get stabilized. Changing just enough water to cut off the high peaks of the ammonia, nitrite curves but keeping enough so the cyle continues at the same rate. Each tank will be different at these points.

Capella,
You're Welcome ! So glad to hear that your tank wasn't the "Titanic".

 

[Purrbox]

A large water change is only necessary if your Ammonia and Nitrite are over 0.5ppm. I'd probably stick to a weekly water change (or whatever frequency you're planning) as long as you don't see either number going above 0.5ppm. Sounds like you are getting close to the end of your cycle, although a liquid test kit for the Nitrite would help lend a little more certainty.

 

[Arcadia]

Well one of my fish ended up dying, a few hours ago.
I checked the nitrites and they were below .25 I had to have my husband flush him down the toilet. I didn't have the heart to. I don't know how he could have died all the other fish seemed fine, and my tests didn't look bad at all. I check my water three times a day because I am so scared that I will lose all of them. I am afraid I'll wake up tomorrow and all of them will be dead!

Thanks for all the help on this. I just wish I had someone that would have told me about cycling! I can't even take the fish back to the store because my 2 weeks are up.

I really was looking forward to having fish, but this seems more stressful than anything. I hope I can get through this, and be able to enjoy my fish, instead of worrying that they are going to die.