Irish girl needing more advice !

[donna541]

Hey guys and gals, update from previous thread this Irish girl needs help... Daily pwc's of around 75% readings ammonia still sitting around 0 - 0.25 nitrites now going up to 1 b4 wc and nitrates 0 ... Any advice greatly appreciated

 

[Randi]

ammonia reading of your tap water?

 

[donna541]

Not sure would need to check.. Why do u ask ?? I am doing a cycle with fish :-( newbe who knew nothing b4 joining aa

 

[siva]

Get the nitrites below .25 with back to back water changes asap.

 

[donna541]

I have been doing wc's daily and the nitrates go bk to 0 after... Wats going on ?? Is my cycle nearly complete ??

 

[siva]

A daily water change isn't going to get those nitrites low enough. You would need back-to-back pwc's, I would say atleast 3 50% over the course of one day, to get that nitrite down low enough.

Hard to say nearly..you're getting there.

 

[donna541]

Can u go lower than zero ??

 

[Randi]

+1 to siva, gotta get those nitrites down

Just mentioned ammonia in tap water because in some cases your ammonia can actually go up after a water change. As long as you are using a good dechlorinator it will be fine.

 

[donna541]

Tap water is between 0 + 0.25 ..

 

[donna541]

Today Ammonia 0 - 0.25, nitrites 0.25..after 75% pwc ammonia still the same and nitrite 0 .. I'm lost :-(

 

[Mark Hewitt]

Can u go lower than zero ??

You can't have less than nothing!

 

[donna541]

You can't have less than nothing!

Lol tats wat I thought ... Any input on the situation mark ??

 

[Randi]

I didn't read your other thread but everything here seems normal. Your ammonia readings are coming from your tap water and nitrites are being produced. You seem to be in the nitrite phase of the cycle. Just keep the level below .25 for your fish and you should be cycled soon.

 

[donna541]

Thanks I just need reassurance as I'm new to this and I'm really enjoying it but wanna do right by my fish

 

[WendiDell]

Your doing fine. A fish in cycle is tough, I did it that way too. No one at the FS ever mentioned cycling a tank. I got the standard 24 hours and your ready crap. So don't feel alone in not knowing the right way, MANY of us have done it that way, to many.
My tap water also test + for ammonia so I don't worry unless it goes over the .25ppm.
Your tank is in the nitrIte phase of the cycle and nitrItes can be more toxic than ammonia. So now it's even more important to test your water twice a day for that pesky nitrIte and do as many PWC as it takes in a day to keep the nitrItes below .25ppm, even a 90% PWC if necessary.

GOOD LUCK and YOUR DOING JUST FINE

 

[donna541]

Great thread wendidell thanks just wat I needed x

 

[WendiDell]

Great thread wendidell thanks just wat I needed x

Thank you, I'm happy to help whenever & where ever I can.

 

[donna541]

I just thinking I have a goldfish tank 13l with one fancy goldfish in it with a filter gravel decorations etc and the nitrAte readings in it are 40ppm .. Can I place the decorations into my tank that Is cycling 2 speed the cycle up ??

 

[jetajockey]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say cut back on your water changes. Condition the water with Prime and do water changes every other day rather than multiple WCs daily. The amount of water you need to change depends on what your tank is reading prior ti changing the water out. Example, if you are reading .5 nitrites/.5 ammonia then you would want to do a 50% water change to drop it down to .25.

The reason I'm saying this is because if you are doing constant water changes it is going to slow down the cycling process even further, and every other day water changes are plenty if you are conditioning the water with a detoxifier.

 

[WendiDell]

I just thinking I have a goldfish tank 13l with one fancy goldfish in it with a filter gravel decorations etc and the nitrAte readings in it are 40ppm .. Can I place the decorations into my tank that Is cycling 2 speed the cycle up ??

Yes, if you put the gravel into the foot of a pair of pantyhose and hang it inside the tank it will speed up the cycle by seeding the tank with nitrAtes.

Also, it's up to you what you choose to do, but with the fish in cycling, doing PWC every other day will endanger the health of your fish. It may not kill them, but the ammonia will burn the delicate tissue in their gills. Making breathing difficult for the rest of their lives. It will also compromise their immune system, leaving them susceptible to disease and an early death.