Oh no.... :( Typical beginner here

[SkyeB]

Hi everybody,
so I went into a petshop after I got given a 125l fishtank.
I asked them a few questions about what to do...trusting them... :/
I left everything running without fish for a week, then bought 7 fish... just like the person in the fishshop told me to... HE NEVER mentioned a cycle..
All was happy until my fish got red gills... I started to google red gills and came across ammonia poising... anyway I now know about the cycle and wish I couldve done a fishless cycle instead... my poor poor fishies
I bought an ammonia kit, pH kit and Nitrite & Nitrate Kit.
I have tested and changed the water every day since, about 25% .
And still Ammonia levels are 0.5 Nitrite: 0.5 Nitrate 20 pH OFF THE CHART about 8 Im guessing.
Im trying to save my fish and am just wondering what to do now... should I change the water again 25% or 50%...?
What ammonia level is ok for them?
I know it should be 0 but while cycling which level is say tolerable and still cycling the water. I'm getting some stones off a friends tank which is established and hope that helps.
Oh Im devastated about what i put my fish through... please don't judge

 

[Andrew McFadden]

If ammonia or nitrite get above .25 then you need to do a water change. id do a 50% forst and maybe go down to 25% later.

 

[jlk]

Dont worry!!! Your doing your research and your on the right track! Just stay on top of your daily water changes to keep your ammonia and nitrites @.25ppm or less (less is better). Your ph is not issue so do not stress over it. I would start by testing your tap water for ammonia, nitrites & nitrates and let us know what these read. This will be the lowest you will be able to drop your toxin levels with water changes. I would suggest investing in a bottle of Prime or Amquel Plus to help with detoxing ammonia and nitrite as well. Ill post some links with more info- please ask any questions!!! Welcome to AA, btw!

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/guide-to-starting-a-freshwater-aquarium-186089.html

 

[Wiggles24]

It's ok you are doing what you can based on poor information. Don't worry about your ph its not generally a problem as long as it is stable. As far as ammonia goes you really want to try to keep it at zero, any ammonia is too much but it most definetly should not be above .25. You need to continue to do water to get your levels where they are safe for example if your ammonia is .50 and you wanted it at .25 you need to do a fifty percent water change to improve the number by fifty percent. Right now I would do a fifty percent wait a couple hours test again then possibly another 25 or 50 percent to see if you can get your ammonia to 0 this will also improve the rest of your levels. Plan on testing daily if not z couple times a day and doing water changes about as frequently until your tank cycles to keep your fish safe

 

[Hholly]

It's great you are researching and taking care of the situation. Welcome to the forum. The above posts are great advice. I just want to recommend a water changer like a Python or Aqueon model. They help make all those water changes much easier.
Good luck!

 

[creic38]

Just be patient and diligent like everyone has said. You can dose Prime up to 5 times the recommended amount to detoxify that ammonia for now. And if you want to jump start that cycle, the rocks from your friend will help. But the best thing would be to get some of their filter media.....whatever they use! They can give you a few pieces of biomedia, cut a piece off a sponge, anything. If their tank is established, it will be fine for them. That media will get everything under control quickly.

 

[SkyeB]

Thanks so much for your quick reply.
That makes sense I will do a 50% water change and hope my fish survive...
Just tested my tapwaters ammonia level and that seems to be 0.
I use API Tap water conditioner.
Thank you for the links too I read up on fish in cycle.
I will keep the ammonia level below 0.25 hopefully...
How long should the cycle take approx.?
And what about the Nitrate being 20?
It means the cycle started doesn't it... once it is cycled what level should that stay at, or when should I change the water then.
Thanks so much for your help x

 

[Hholly]

Thanks so much for your quick reply.
That makes sense I will do a 50% water change and hope my fish survive...
Just tested my tapwaters ammonia level and that seems to be 0.
I use API Tap water conditioner.
Thank you for the links too I read up on fish in cycle.
I will keep the ammonia level below 0.25 hopefully...
How long should the cycle take approx.?
And what about the Nitrate being 20?
It means the cycle started doesn't it... once it is cycled what level should that stay at, or when should I change the water then.
Thanks so much for your help x

Your nitrate could actually be from your tap too. But yes, the cycle has started. It's hard to say how long it will take. Weeks at least. If you could get material from an established tank's filter, it would speed things up a lot. If you get a product like Seachem Prime to condition the water it will temporarily detoxify the ammonia and nitrite. Once the cycle is complete, you should change 30-50% of the water weekly to keep things healthy.

 

[SkyeB]

Great thanks
Checked tapwater and Nitrites and Nitrates could be slightly higher than 0 its hard to tell...
I will ask him for some filtermaterial... would I just put that into my tank floating around?
Will look into getting that prime too.
Thanks so much.
I shall keep changing the water
x

 

[Hholly]

If you can stuff the filter media into your filter that would be ideal. Don't let it dry out or the beneficial bacteria will die.

 

[librarygirl]

What fish did you get? That'll largely depend on how fast toxins rise and whether they are suitable for your tank long-term.

Everyone else has the cycling info covered; just keep testing and doing water changes. Glad you found this site! Welcome!

 

[SkyeB]

Thank you
I got 3 Guppies (1 male, 2 female), 2 platies, 2 silver mollies)
I changed the water 50%, readings were between 0.25 and 0.5 so a few hours laterIchanged it again 25%, and its now at 0.25...
Fish seem a lot happier now, swimming around more apart from one who is still clinging to the surface.
Should I do another waterchange now? to keep it under 0.25?
Oh and I seen 3 lil babyfish...

 

[librarygirl]

Well, you've gotten some of the highest bioload (messy) fish lol Toxins are probably going to rise fairly quickly so just keep on top of testing and water changes. I'd let it be for now but when ammonia gets higher I'd do another water change.

 

[SkyeB]

Oh my... which ones would be less messy? Just so I know for the future
Thanks I will keep testing and changing. x

 

[CharlieKlein]

Well some of the best fish to cycle with are zebra danios. Very hardy. Some less messy fish are most schoolers, like tetrAs, some barbs, and danios and rasboras. Some other good fish are dwarf gourami, Cory's, and kuhli loaches. Of course, don't add any till your cycled. So if possible, you could take them back to the store(petsmart and petco have a 14 day policy i think) and then buy some pure ammonia from ace hardware and do a fishless cycle

 

[Hholly]

The platies and mollies are the big poopers.

 

[SkyeB]

lol ok Hholly
I cant return them unfortunately... BUT will keep changing the water as needed.
I wont get anymore fish until its cycled and ammonia and nitrite show 0 .
Maybe then... will I get some nice tetras love them. I will ahve to look up the danio to see what he looks like.
I cant get over the 3 babies tho, one of my guppies is pregnant but still looks pregnant. so not sure what happened there.
Hopefully they will survive.
Thank you for your replies.

 

[Hholly]

Sounds like a good plan!