Please Send Help!

[courts]

Hey guys,

I am a total fish newbie and in need of help!

I was gifted some fish due to a friend moving overseas, unfortunately the tank was emptied and the fish transported in only a small amount of the water in a bucket!

After doing a lot of research I am finding that cycling needs to happen but I am at a loss. Everything I read seems to contradict each other.

First thing I read was to change the water whenever the ammonia got to .50ppm and to try and keep it around .25ppm and that after a few weeks the ammonia wold start to reduce and the nitrate would rise. I was doing this and adding 'Pieces - Establish Startup Bacteria' daily wish no luck.

We then kept researching and found some articles about letting the ammonia spike to 2.0ppm before doing a water change.

We are on week 3 with no nitrate at all. What am I doing wrong!

PH is sitting around 7.6.

Thanks!
Court

 

[Aiken Drum]

You are doing what is called a fish in cycle, and your target to change water whenever the ammonia gets to 0.5ppm is a good one. You should be also be doing water changes whenever nitrite gets to a similar level.

There is also a process called a fishless cycle where you artificially dose ammonia and cycle the aquarium before you get fish. Because you dont have to worry about fishes health and wellbeing during a fishless cycle you can get the ammonia much higher and cycle the tank quicker and this is where the 2ppm for ammonia comes into play.

Expect your cycle to take 2 to 3 months to complete.

 

[Andy Sager]

To add to Aiken's information, unfortunately, there are many "instant bacteria" products on the market that have a high "poor result" rate. There is a product I have used for many years and it's as effective today as it was 30+ years ago when it came on the market. It's Fritzyme #7 ( https://fritzaquatics.com/products/fritzzyme-7-freshwater ) This is a live bacteria culture, same as what you are trying to naturally develop when cycling an aquarium. Fritzyme cuts the cycling process from months to weeks and now there is a more concentrated version, Fritzyme turbo 700 ( https://fritzaquatics.com/products/fritzzyme-turbostart-700-freshwater ) that will cut the time from weeks into days. Both these products can be gotten here: https://kjeaquatics.com/product/fritz-zyme-7-live-nitrifying-bacteria/ as well as other places.

What you need to know is that the bacteria bed ( a.k.a. Biological filter) is a living breathing organism that grows and shrinks based on the amount of ammonia present in the tank. This means if you add say, the #7 and it's not enough to bring the ammonia down to 0 in a day, the bacteria will reproduce in a matter of hours to days to the point that will bring the ammonia down to 0. If you use the Turbo 700 and its too much, the bacteria will partially die off to the amount that brings the ammonia down to 0 in 24 hours. So there are no pluses over minuses of using either product except the timeframe it takes to be effective.

Hope this helps.