Nitrogen Cycle help?

[MalawiMadness]

Hi to everyone in this nice forum.
I have some questions regarding nitrogen cycle on a new tank.
Basic tank info is as follows: 75 gal, duel emperor 400, 280 power filters, 300 watt heater. I'm cycling an mbuna tank,(10-1.5" fish), day 17 of cycle,(added 7 fish on day two of tank setup, and 3 more fish on day 14 of cycle), 1.0 ppm ammonia level,(not sure as to nitrite and nitrate levels as I need to purchase a kit for that test), 8.1 Ph. level,(not sure as to water hardness, I have well water, and Ph runs 7.8 out of the tap. I added tank salt, and crushed coral during tank setup to buffer Ph levels), 80 degree tank temp. At what point in time should I be concerned with ammonia levels and should I expect higher levels before this cycle ends? Should I start regular water changes at this point in time? I feed my fish only small amounts of flake food twice a day for 1-2 minutes at each feeding. Fishy's seem to be ok, no rapid breathing, clamped fins or hanging around the top of the tank, other than when I feed them. Any advise would be appreciated.

Thank you

 

[SerLunchbox]

well 1ppm of ammonia can cause major problems ... this is something that has happened to me personally. The test showed about 1 ppm during a cycle where i added fish and then i no longer had fish a few days later. Cut down on feeding time. I feed my fish once every other day. Fish have an extremely slow digestion rate.

 

[MalawiMadness]

Hello,

Should I do a partial water change, if so, will this affect my cycle?

Thanks

 

[TankGirl]

You definitely need to do water changes to get that ammonia down. It is going to stress the fish and they could become ill or worse, as Serlunchbox knows.

It will indeed slow your cycle, unfortunately, but that's the tradeoff for having fish in there during the cycle. If you cycled fishless, you could have 3-5ppm household ammonia in there every single day until the cycle is over, with no fish to worry about.

Get yourself a nitrite and nitrate kit, but right now we are going to concern ourselves with nitrIte for the next few weeks, in addition to the ammonia. You may already be showing nitrite, actually I hope you are, and that is toxic too so water changes will help that as well until both values are flat zero, undetectable.

I would not worry a bit about hardness, as I am sure there in PF you have pretty hard water, but even so your mbuna will do fine, especially since you have added CC, and your pH is in a good range.

What fish do you have?