Cycling aquarium

[Mellym]

Hey so looking for some help,
I'm a beginner with aquariums and have always left my tanks fish less to cycle and never had a problem. My boyfriend got a 75g and used bacterial supplements and used filter media and added fish after about a week. Everything went fine at firSt but after about 2 weeks the fish started dying. There was a lone pleco in the tank for the last 3ish weeks as we assumed the tank was not properly cycled. He unfortunately died, possibly of starvation, he wasn't interesting in algae wafers and was rather thin.
Will be testing water tomorrow for more info, but would the tank be cycled after this long with a fish?
If reads look ok would it be best to start with adding a small group of small fish and adding more slowly?

 

[King Fisher]

The only way to know if your tank is cycled is to test your water for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. You need to maintain an ammonia between 2 to 4 ppm. You will get a nitrite reading after some time. When your tank is cycled you will have a nitrate reading with 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites.

You can do a fish in cycle but it requires multiple water changes and frequent water testing.....as in daily on water changes and water tests to avoid killing fish. On a fish in cycle you will be keeping the ammonia in your tank between .25 and .50 ppm. Anything higher will surely damage the fish.

If your fish are all dropping like flies then more than likely your tank isn't cycled. I would guess your pleco probably was ill from ammonia poisoning and that's why he didn't eat and died.

Whichever you choose to do....fish in cycle or fishless let us know and we'd be glad to walk you through it and help you out.

 

[BBradbury]

Mell...

Tanks you cycle instantly with something like gravel or filter material from an established tank, should work fine as long as you add fish very slowly and test the water for traces of ammonia and nitrite to be sure the bacteria are working to remove these forms of toxic nitrogen from the water. If you find a trace of either, you remove 25 percent of the water and replace it with treated tap water. Just test and remove and replace the water when needed. In a few days, you'll have tests that show no traces of ammonia or nitrite, the tank is cycled and you can add a few more fish and begin the testing process until the tank is fully stocked. Then, just remove and replace half the water weekly to maintain good water conditions.

B

 

[Mellym]

I kind of think my boyfriend added too many fish too quickly and thays what started the problems. There was a huge spike in nitrites and we were doing frequent water changes to help. I will post the water test results when I do them tonight. Thinking if things look ok we'll just add a school of tetras to start and wait a while before adding more

 

[King Fisher]

That will do it. The tetra idea sounds good

 

[Mellym]

The water test shows ammonia 0, nitrite is 0 and nitrate is 20. What do you guys think?

 

[King Fisher]

I think you're cycled with those readings. Are you testing your water after a water change or about a week later?

 

[Mellym]

It's probably been roughly a week, maybe even a bit more

 

[King Fisher]

Sounds like it's cycled then. Now just keeping your tank stocked appropriately with fish and a good water change schedule should keep your fish healthy. I'd do 33-40% water changes once a week on an appropriately stocked tank.

 

[Mellym]

Awesome, I added a small group of cherry barbs and a small group of bloodfin tetra. Will leave them for a while before adding anything else. Thanks a lot!