New Fish Person Learning Curve

[ColoFishGuy]

Progress....

Ammonia went down to .25ppm ... Nitrites are 0ppm....Nitrates somewhere between 10-20ppm...hard for me to distinguish between those two colors on the API color chart.

Soooooooooooo....that looks like progress to me. Brings me to my next question....water changes...how much longer should i wait and how much when i do it???

 

[Old Scales]

If you have zero NO2 and 10-20 NO3 I would say your cycle is complete. True, you want your Ammo to be zero but sometimes the new tap water will have a trace of it. Also if your Ammo stays at .25 or just a trace above zero it can be that you're seeing the trace of ammo the fish produce that's "on the way" to the filter for conversion. I've seen this on many newer tanks. As your tank gets more established it sould get to zero unless you exceed the filter's capacity to process your current bio-load.
If I were you I'd still test for ammo every 24hrs. IF the Ammo goes above .25ppm, I'd do a 50% WC and continue monitoring. Even with a cycled tank, it is still new, so add fish very slowly letting the filter catch up afterward. I firmly believe in two filters. One main one and a smaller backup filter in case the main one gets an issue. You rotate the filter cleanings assuring one is always operating at it's best efficiency. OS.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

Thanks OS will check daily and see how it goes. What is normal water change schedule? I have heard anywhere from 10 percent to 25 percent weekly .

 

[tiger terror]

Guess I forgot to ask a basic question...what temperature should the aquarium be maintained at? Currently mine is set to 78degrees and maintains there pretty well. I was reading an article on here that mentioned increasing it to 88 to get it to cycle....I am assuming that would be for a fishless forced cycle???

Getting filter matter tomorrow to seed my filter and see what happens from there. With the little pad i introduced the other day i am still not seeing nitrite or nitrate...ammonia i between .25 and .5 ppm....will do another water change tomorrow before i add the bacteria

I've successfully cycled 3 tanks(no heater) recently at 74 degrees in 3 weeks or less during fishless cycling..granted I've used seeded media which helps but the bb seemed to mature quickly even at that low temp...

 

[tiger terror]

Also you should have 0 ammo in a completed cycle,tap may have some ammo but in a completed cycle should dissipate before it'd show in testing...at this point if you've not witnessed a nitrite spike in my opinion your cycle hasn't completed...

 

[ColoFishGuy]

latest readings.

readings today...Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrates above 10ppm, Ammonia .25ppm(on the light side)

doing a 15% change this weekend and topping tank off.

Does it need to be treated weekly with Seachem Prime?

 

[tiger terror]

readings today...Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrates above 10ppm, Ammonia .25ppm(on the light side)

doing a 15% change this weekend and topping tank off.

Does it need to be treated weekly with Seachem Prime?

Not sure what you mean...always pretreat the new water before adding to the aquarium...

 

[Old Scales]

You just need to use the Prime when dechlorinating the new tap water. It will render any Ammo non-toxic for about 48hrs. Any Ammo in the tap warer will be converted by then in your cycled tank's filter. OS.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

Oct 1st...the ongoing adventure

Today readings are Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrates a strong 20ppm....Ammonia less than .25ppm.

When should i resume weekly maintenance?

 

[Old Scales]

By those readings I would say go to weekly maintenance but test just the ammo & nitrate twice weekly for awhile longer. When nitrates get to 30ppm do a 50% WC. As long as you don't overstock and your filter is large enough, your tank should settle down into a weekly groove soon. OS.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

Thanks OS....The Marineland Penguin 350 should be sufficient for my tank size from everything I read before purchasing it. Learned my lesson about overstocking...definitly not going to let that happen.

I can't thank all of you enough for all the advice and guidance that you have provided over the past weeks in helping me get this tank under control. It will be nice to settle into a normal routine with it now!

Think of me when it snows this Friday! LOL...gotta love it

 

[Old Scales]

I'm jealous. I love snow, especially when it's on the Rockies. Why I think your tank is about or is cycled is that your ammo is not going up. If your cycle wasn't complete, it would be. Post some pics of your tank. I would love to see the product of your efforts.
Later, OS.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

Here is a pix of the tank

OS, here is a pix of the tank that I just uploaded.

 

[Old Scales]

NICE!!
That is a beautiful tank! I love the centerpiece and the cave. Very well done. Color mix of the artificial plants looks great too. Congrats. OS.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

Thanks...put a lot of thought into it when i was setting it up. Folks at Petsmart pulled a 60 gallon off the shelf and let me pull things off shelf to give it a dry run in the store....hats off to them.

Will be checking chemicals later this afternoon....been busy with some happy homeowner projects before our big freeeze tonight.

Right now the residents of the tank are 2 Gold Gouramis, 2 Red Fire Honey Gouramis, 3 red Mickey Mouse Platys, 3 small silver dollars, 3 Black Skirt Tetras, 1 clown loach and 1 Plecostomus. Everyone is playing together nicely.

 

[Fishlover3578]

I have a flame gourami I like the gold but they get to big for my 29g

 

[ColoFishGuy]

I think we can call it cycling!

Hey OS...ammonia is 0ppm....Nitrites are .5ppm(first time i have seen nitries...Nitrates approaching 40ppm so doing a 50% change as you recommended. Fish have been doing great. Loving this python water changer...especially with my new kitchen faucet that allows me to have a metal to metal connection now.

Might go look for 2-3 more critters....would like to find some nice angels.

Ever order anything from liveaquaria.com????

 

[Old Scales]

Glad to hear the ammo is down. Keep a daily watch on the nitrites until they get to zero. If nitrites get to 1.0ppm do a 50% wc right away. I'll bet they'll be to zero in a week.
Yes, I have made one order from liveaquaria.com in the past. The fish arrived healthy and lively. IMO, a good place to order from. One even closer to you that is also very excellent is "The Wet Spot". They're in Oregon. Just type in thewetspot.com and take a look.
Later, OS.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

chemistry of the day

Nitrites 0ppm
Ammo <.25ppm closer to 0
Nitrates 20ppm

It was a sad day....one of my Gold Gouramis that has been with me the longest was dead when i got back from shopping this morning. He(it) seemed fine when I left...i had a moment of silence before i gave it the proper porcelain swirley.

 

[Fishlover3578]

How old was it ? Sorry for your loss