Fish-in Cycle questions

[bkiggy]

I have been reading all the posts on here, and I too have made the mistake of fish cycle. My tank has been running a month.
1 Cory
1 pictus cat
1 elephant nose
1 angel
1 upside down cat
12 ghost shrimp
40 gallon tank, all live plants, bog wood, caves and rocks
- Aquaclear 50+ biofilter. Use Prime and Bio-Spira
Here's the thing... Ammonia 3.0 , Nitrite 0 , Nitrate 0 , PH 7.5
I did 10 gallon water change couple weeks ago then 7 days later 10 gallons more. Only siphoned gravel once. (messy eaters)

ammonia still high!!!????

What do I do

 

[jetajockey]

Hi, have a look at the article I am linking. It has a few other articles that will walk you through the fish-in cycling process.


Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

In short, you'll need to do more water changes. Bigger and more often. At 7.5 ph I would not let the ammonia get over 1.0 and would do a 50-75% WC any time it does.

The fish have already been exposed to toxic levels of ammonia so you may have some related issues pop up, but the first step is to dilute the toxin level by making some big WC.

 

[tamtam]

+1 to Jeta. That article will be a big help.

Sadly fish in cycling can be a pain sometimes. Especially if you've added a lot of fish too fast. It's not uncommon for people to need to do daily water changes to keep levels in check. Hopefully with a larger tank you won't have that problem but you will certainly need to up those.

When you fish cycling your tank you should probably stick with a weekly water change schedule that includes a 30% ish water change and a good gravel cleaning. Gravel cleaning is very important to remove the waste that will build up and cause ammonia spikes, especially if you have messy eaters.

Just like Jeta said though, let the tests speak for themselves. Follow your levels and change water as need based on the results.