What do you think? New tank

[Silthrim]

Hey guys! I'm new here and also new to aquariums. I've got a 29g that has been running for 2 weeks now with fish (who seem to be fine!). A total of 2 bottles of SafeStart have gone into this tank in the past two weeks. I've also been testing religiously with the API Master kit as well as doing a ton of water changes.

Now my question is, what do you think of these test results? This is almost a full day after a 50% water change and a Prime dose. My ammonia test always looks like this even when not using Prime. I haven't seem it any darker. The nitrite test has always been zero. Nitrates seem to be rising so I think I'm cycled. Thanks for any help or critiquing.

 

[Galligak]

If I am looking at the colors right, I think that you're cycled! Although, I have a question, did you do the test before or after a water change? If before, then you're cycled! If after, then wait a day then see if you're still in the same spot (perhaps with some more nitrates though).

 

[Silthrim]

This a day after a 50% water change . Also have used Prime the past 2 days because I was scared!! Haha. I want to make sure my fishies are happy.

 

[Galligak]

Jumped gun: listen to Nimo. Sorry!

 

[Nimo]

From the looks of the tests you have done a great job so far but if you have never shown nitrites then I don't think you are cycled yet. You first read ammonia then nitrites then nitrates, you are getting some conversion but should have shown at least a trace at some point.
It can take 8 weeks for a tank to fully cycle and up to a year to be completely stable. So I would recommend to continue daily testing at least and don't be surprised if your readings start a quick climb over the next few weeks.

 

[Galligak]

From the looks of the tests you have done a great job so far but if you have never shown nitrites then I don't think you are cycled yet. You first read ammonia then nitrites then nitrates, you are getting some conversion but should have shown at least a trace at some point.
It can take 8 weeks for a tank to fully cycle and up to a year to be completely stable. So I would recommend to continue daily testing at least and don't be surprised if your readings start a quick climb over the next few weeks.

Haha, I jumped the gun... I think that I skipped over the idea that you hadn't had the nitrites... I'm sorry. Listen to Nimo, he's correct

 

[Silthrim]

Hmm I was afraid of that lol. It's tricky though because for the first week I was only testing with strips and didn't really see much but then again it's impossible to read those. Also, why isn't my ammonia shooting up really high? It hasn't gone over like .25-.50 at the most. All the fish seem to be fine except for one of my danios just developed these two white spots. They are kind of big, definitely not grains of salt sized and his anal fin has a split in it and I'm not sure if it is supposed to.

Edit: also, I feel like the strip changed color slightly for the nitrites last week but that might be confirmation bias.

 

[Nimo]

You did good by tossing those strips they are extremely inaccurate.
From what I can tell you haven't started really good into cycle yet, sometimes it will not kick in good till the third or fourth week. But keep up with your water changes and daily testing.
The danio that has white spots if they are cotton ball looking spots it could be ich.. His anal fin should not be split.
You could try to do a salt bath with him some times it will help. I can't get my phone to do links but you can look up salt baths for ich just google it you will find different methods for doing it. I have had success in doing the salt baths twice a day for my black mollies when they got ich so I have never medicated my tanks beyond adding aquarium salt with the break out that I had along with doing 25% water change twice a day to make sure water was as clean as possible until it went away
You could also try adding aquarium salt to the main tank, follow directions for your tank size.

 

[Silthrim]

Thanks. It's so hard to be patient haha. I'm not sure how his fin got split. He kind of sags his tail end and doesn't really swim much. I'm just not sure if the two spots are injuries or ich or something else. I'm going to Petsmart today so I'll buy some salt. Can I just add salt to the main tank? Oh and my temp is 78F. And I guess I should stay away from the meds. There are 5 danios also so I don't know if that's too few to keep them calm. A few bigger ones chase the others like crazy.

As for the cycling should I do like 25-50% water changes every day and keep adding Prime? My water is practically crystal clear. It was cloudy a few days after setting it up. It definitely smells like fish water and my filter cartridge is green now (the floss is blue)

 

[RussellC]

Hey guys! I'm new here and also new to aquariums. I've got a 29g that has been running for 2 weeks now with fish (who seem to be fine!). A total of 2 bottles of SafeStart have gone into this tank in the past two weeks. I've also been testing religiously with the API Master kit as well as doing a ton of water changes.

Now my question is, what do you think of these test results? This is almost a full day after a 50% water change and a Prime dose. My ammonia test always looks like this even when not using Prime. I haven't seem it any darker. The nitrite test has always been zero. Nitrates seem to be rising so I think I'm cycled. Thanks for any help or critiquing.
View attachment 104582

I personally think it's impossible to tell whether or not your cycled for one simple reason. You didn't mention what your tap water parameters are.

Tap water can contain nitrates. Mine does, at the level of about 5 ppm, so a nitrate reading isn't necessarily indicative of a completed cycle. If your tap water tests for zero nitrates, then there is some evidence that you're getting some ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate conversion, but again, it's possible that you're just picking up the levels inherent in your tap water.

One other thing... not debating the effectiveness of Safe Start here, some have had success with it and others not so much, but if you do use it, Safe Start and Prime do not mix. It won't create a harmful situation, but the Prime will make Safe Start ineffective.

In regards to ammonia products, yes, they kill TSS. Any type, whether a
chloramines remover or detoxifier, etc, anything that says it locks up
ammonia or removes ammonia. Do not add TSS for 24 hours after using
such a product, and do not add such a product for at least 7 days after
using TSS. The bacteria is housed in a special stabilized solution of
ammonia, so if you remove/lock up the ammonia, you remove all of the
food the bacteria require to live.

Q & A With Tetra about Tetra SafeStart - Aquarium Fish Forum 58116

One other thing to note, though, is that tap water can contain ammonia as well as nitrate. In my case, the last time I tested my tap water it was between .25 and .5 ppm for ammonia. Testing my tank water immediately after a water change would show ammonia, but might not necessarily be an indication of an uncycled tank as I'd just be picking up the ammonia from my tap before the biofilter had a chance to process it. Of course if a day or two after a water change ammonia has dropped to zero, then that would be evidence of at least the ammonia -> nitrite conversion part of the cycle being established.

In short, if you test your tap water and compare those values to your tank, it'll give you a much better indication of where you are in the cycle than simply testing your tank water alone.

Best!

 

[Silthrim]

I will definitely test my tap water for everything. Also, the safe start was added around Day 3 and then again around Day 8 or 9. Then I added Prime around Day 15 and again on Day 16 so would that still hurt the safe start you think? I feel like I've messed up by adding fish and not knowing if I'm cycled or not. It's hard work!

 

[RussellC]

From the looks of the tests you have done a great job so far but if you have never shown nitrites then I don't think you are cycled yet. You first read ammonia then nitrites then nitrates, you are getting some conversion but should have shown at least a trace at some point.
It can take 8 weeks for a tank to fully cycle and up to a year to be completely stable. So I would recommend to continue daily testing at least and don't be surprised if your readings start a quick climb over the next few weeks.

Actually, a complete skip of the nitrite cycle isn't all that uncommon when when using Tetra Safe Start. Now, I know not everyone has had success with it, so I am neither advocating for or against its use here, but...

When I was researching it I ran across a couple of experiments posted on the web in which the person fishlessly cycled the tank using Safe Start and recorded and posted the water parameters daily. In these experiments, there was never a nitrite spike. There was a small initial ammonia spike, but after two weeks, the tests showed a cycled tank, and nitrite never registered at any level on any of the tests.

Not saying that this is the case here and that the tank is cycled -- it may or may not be -- just passing along what I've read. Sorry I don't have the link to the source as I don't remember where I read it.

Best!

 

[RussellC]

I will definitely test my tap water for everything. Also, the safe start was added around Day 3 and then again around Day 8 or 9. Then I added Prime around Day 15 and again on Day 16 so would that still hurt the safe start you think? I feel like I've messed up by adding fish and not knowing if I'm cycled or not. It's hard work!

It's hard to tell if Prime affected the Safe Start.

That said, I don't think you messed up at all by adding fish. Fish-in cycling, in my view, is a viable option if done correctly, and by frequently testing your water parameters and taking action when necessary, it looks like you're doing all the right things to me.

Best!

 

[Silthrim]

Thanks for helping me. I do remember reading through that guys experiment. That's why I was thinking I might be cycled. My tap water ammonia test matches my tanks ammonia test and I haven't had any nitrites for like a week (I think I had very low levels for like a day early on). My nitrates seem to be rising. The only reason the nitrates are so low is from the large water change I did on Tuesday because I wasn't home all of Wednesday so i wanted to hold it over until today. I haven't done a water change today.

 

[RussellC]

Thanks for helping me. I do remember reading through that guys experiment. That's why I was thinking I might be cycled. My tap water ammonia test matches my tanks ammonia test and I haven't had any nitrites for like a week (I think I had very low levels for like a day early on). My nitrates seem to be rising. The only reason the nitrates are so low is from the large water change I did on Tuesday because I wasn't home all of Wednesday so i wanted to hold it over until today. I haven't done a water change today.

Preferably, your tap water ammonia test will read higher than your tank ammonia test right after a water change.

A well-cycled tank with have zero ammonia. If you do a 50% water change with tap water containing ammonia, the tank would then have half the level of ammonia coming from the tap.

The best way to really tell though is to test just before a water change -- that way you'll know what the levels in the tank are doing without the readings being clouded by the addition of ammonia coming from your tap.

Best!

 

[Silthrim]

Yeah that makes sense. I won't change the water today and I'll test it tomorrow to see of it really is cycled or not. If its cycled my ammonia should read 0 or very close.

 

[Silthrim]

Sorry for the double post but here is a test of my tap water.

 

[RussellC]

Sorry for the double post but here is a test of my tap water.

It's a little hard to tell from the pictures if the nitrates in the tank are higher than the nitrates in your tap, but these can vary in tap from time to time anyhow, so I don't think their presence alone can confirm a completed cycle.

Ammonia levels can vary from time to time in tap water too.

The real proof is going to come from your ammonia tests I think. If they're rising, you're not cycled yet. If they're falling (and nitrites stay zero), you are.

Good luck!

 

[Silthrim]

I'm going crazy. I'm color blind so this is really tough.

Left is pure filtered spring water from a never opened sealed jug. Right is my tank water. Argh. It's slightly green but it's always looks kinda green. It's never gone higher than this. my brother who isn't color blind says the right tube looks like .25

 

[RussellC]

I'm going crazy. I'm color blind so this is really tough.

Left is pure filtered spring water from a never opened sealed jug. Right is my tank water. Argh. It's slightly green but it's always looks kinda green. It's never gone higher than this. my brother who isn't color blind says the right tube looks like .25

I'm not color blind, and it isn't always easy, but yes, I'd say your brother is right. Your tap water pic from before showed some green too, so it's possible that your tank is cycled and just hasn't cleared the last dose of ammonia from your tap yet.

It's also possible it isn't cycled.

I feel for you. I imagine reading those tests is darn near impossible for one who is color blind.

Maybe, in your case, the API test isn't the best way to go for ammonia. Maybe you can find something digital or that uses colors other than yellow and green?

Better a less accurate test that you can read than a more accurate test that you can't read, in my opinion.

Good luck!