Help with cycling and ammonia!

[Armoredspider]

I recently started my 20 gallon tank and put a fish in today for a fish in cycle. The ammonia has been rising and nothing is happening to it. Should I do a water change? The ammonia is at .25 ppms. I am using the API master test kit. I have a tank running right now so i put some of the media in the filter and it is doing nothing. Also, my heater is covered by a thin slime coat, is this a good thing?

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Yes you should, when doing a fish in cycle you need to do a water change anytime ammonia or nitrite gets at or above .25ppm. It will take time for the BB (beneficial bacteria) to build up, so nothing will get rid of the ammonia but water changes. It will be a while before nitrites show
up; when doing a fish in cycle ideal levels are .25ppm or less for ammonia and nitrite and 20ppm or below for nitrates. Also try your best to keep a steady pH, if your pH takes a plunge do a water change to restore it, definitely DO NOT let the pH get in the low 6's, that will stall your cycle. Are you familiar with how the fish in cycle works?

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I just saw where you put media in from another tank, that should help speed things up, personally with my fish in cycle (10g with 2 platys), I didn't see any nitrites until about 3 weeks in, and at that point doing one a day water changes of about 30-40% was sufficient to keep
Levels in check for me, then I saw my nitrites rise and I had to do two a day changes to keep them
In check, and I had nitrates show up a few days after my nitrites did, but there are some cases where nitrates show up before nitrites do, do
Keep in mind anything can happen with your cycle good luck and keep us updated and come back with any questions or concerns, there are some awesomely knowledgeable members here that will help you a ton

 

[Armoredspider]

Some photos of my tank and my platy. My java fern got knocked over by him . I also included a pic of my test parameters.

 

[RussellC]

Nice looking platy.

It has nothing to do with cycling, but if you can, as a suggestion, you might want to find a different place for the tank. I noticed it's right next to a window and it's best to try to keep aquariums out of direct sunlight.

Again, just a suggestion.

Good luck!

 

[eduguy]

Looks like you don't have any Nitrites but you got some ammonia like you said. I agree with Russel because if your tank is beside a window it can have some temperature fluctuations and that isn't good for your fish. Also that can encourage growth of algae.

 

[jetajockey]

Depending on your ph and tank temp you can most likely get away with letting the ammonia get significantly higher. A single platy in a 10 shouldn't be much of a bioload to have to juggle anyhow. In the tanks I've done with a similar load I usually ended up doing a weekly or twice weekly wc routine.

 

[eduguy]

Once you have Nitrites you'll be one step closer to a cycled tank.