PLEASE help! I thought I new how to cycle but I was wrong.

[JesseMoreira06]

Hey*Everyone my name is Jesse, I'm completely new to the whole aquarium game but out of nowhere got so interested and started doing lots of research. I thought I new about the whole*nitrogen cycle*but I guess not. Here is my problem and where I need help, tank was cycling got a reading of*

ammonia*0.25 PPM (realised after I was dumb)
nitrite*0 ppm
nitrate*10ppm-20ppm

So I decided to add 2 Cory catfish

Now I waited a couple hours and did another test and is now reading

Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
And nitrate 10ppm- 20ppm

Basically im guessing my tank was never actually done the cycle cause it was 0.25 which I only realised afterwards was still to high. Should I switch to*prime? (Currently I'm using nutrafin aquaPlus). Should I perform a*water change?*

Any help would be appreciate, I don't know if I'm hurting Baggett and Francois ( my 2 newly aquired Cory fish ). They seem to be moving a lot swimming like crazy, like they have so much energy and every so often they go up and gulp for air (every 5 min or so)*

Thanks in advance*

P.s I'm new to this forum to.

 

[nirbhao]

Hello and welcome!

Could you tell us more about your setup? Size, filtration?

Unless you have nitrates in your tap water, your tank is cycled. Sometimes when we add new fish, the nitrifying bacteria takes some time to catch up.

Prime is a great product. I don't know much about AquaPlus.

 

[SherLar]

Ideally, we want our water to always test 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites, <40 ppm nitrates; but, your tank really isn't testing too badly. Nirbhao is right; it could just be the addition of new fish to the tank. Try the Seachem Prime as as she suggested.
Your corys don't seem to be acting out of the norm. Corys are very active fish usually, though there'll be periods of inactivity where they lay at the bottom as if asleep. Gulping air in also normal. In fact, if kept in a tank where they can't reach open air at the top of the tank, corys can literally drown.
How large is your tank? If large enough, I would suggest adding a few more of the same species. Corys are schooling fish and appreciate the company of their own kind.

 

[JesseMoreira06]

Oh okay, I'm glad to hear my first tank at least wasn't a total mess up. But I would like to bring down the ammonia should I do a 30% water change and re test?

And I have a 20 g Long, with 1 real plant and 1 fake plant as well as 1 drift wood, bottom is black sand.

Can I add more corys (they are really entertaining to watch)? I currently have nothing in the tank but the 2 corys.

Ya I've heard so much on Prime that I think I'm gonna make the switch and start using it.

 

[JesseMoreira06]

Before*I did the*water change*I tested to compare and I had*ammonia0.75ppm,*nitrite*0.25ppm and*nitrate10ppm-20*PPM

After water change 40% I now have*

Ammonia 0.50 Ppm
Nitrite 0.0 Ppm
NitrAte 20 Ppm

I went and bought*prime*cuz I did some research and it said it helps make the Ammonia and*nitrites*non toxic for a 48 hour period. Hopefully this helps in tell I could get the Ammonia down. I'm trying my best to keep everything running smoothly, even my girlfriend said what's the Sutten love for fish, I answered "just look at them" ☺.

Should I perform daily water changes? Or every 2-3 days? Intel ammonia drops.*

And finally I bought a food calledWardley*Shrimp Pellets, if I have 2 corys how many pellets should i feed them? ( these pellets when dropped in water make a huge mess they expand ND go everywhere) any other food that wouldn't do this?

 

[Ironworker161]

Hi Jesse ,
Welcome to the forum, glad to see your excited about your tank. Just a few tips for ya. Try not to add a bunch of fish at once. Your tank is still very new and kind of fragile right now. When you add fish, you have to give the beneficial bacteria a chance to grow in numbers to handle the bio load you just added to the tank. Also. Don't get too crazy about testing the water. Once a day is fine for now. As your tank matures you can probably test less, as long as your not making changes like adding fish. Do a partial water change every few days to keep your ammonia down .25 or less, eventually you want to get it to 0ppm. Enjoy your tank.