what levels should i be at??

[boggerscott]

what is the proper ammonia level supose to be??
ph--- level???
nitrite level???

im at 7.6 on ph
im at 1.0 on ammonia
im at 5.0 on nitrite

i looked in thstickys and could not find no answers

 

[dapellegrini]

Ammonia should be 0
NitrIte should be 0

^ these are fish killers!

pH depends. 7.6 is fine.

 

[docrak]

what is the proper ammonia level supose to be??
ph--- level???
nitrite level???

im at 7.6 on ph
im at 1.0 on ammonia
im at 5.0 on nitrite

i looked in thstickys and could not find no answers

Your tank is cycling. Your ammonia and nitrite should both be a zero. How old is the tank? I know you just recently removed your undergravel filter, that might have something to do with it. You're going to have to wait it out. Some people recommend water changes to lower your values but I believe water changes during a cycle will only make it take longer. You could try something to speed up the cycling process with a product like:

http://www.marineland.com/products/mllabs/ml_biospira.asp

I have found two doses spaces about a week apart to be neccesary to almost instantly cycle an aquarium.

 

[JDogg]

what is the proper ammonia level supose to be??
ph--- level???
nitrite level???

im at 7.6 on ph
im at 1.0 on ammonia
im at 5.0 on nitrite

i looked in thstickys and could not find no answers

Your tank is cycling. Your ammonia and nitrite should both be a zero. How old is the tank? I know you just recently removed your undergravel filter, that might have something to do with it. You're going to have to wait it out. Some people recommend water changes to lower your values but I believe water changes during a cycle will only make it take longer. You could try something to speed up the cycling process with a product like:

http://www.marineland.com/products/mllabs/ml_biospira.asp

I have found two doses spaces about a week apart to be neccesary to almost instantly cycle an aquarium.

if you have fish in the tank i think you should do a PWC ASAP, it will slow you cycle, but i will SAVE your fish

 

[boggerscott]

ok i just did a 20 gallon water change and used stress coat for the chlorine and for the fish. thanks guys, ill keep you posted.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

people recommend water changes to lower your values but I believe water changes during a cycle will only make it take longer.

When cycling with fish always perform water changes when the levels get that high. Yes, it will take longer but it will lesson the stress on the fish.

 

[docrak]

people recommend water changes to lower your values but I believe water changes during a cycle will only make it take longer.

When cycling with fish always perform water changes when the levels get that high. Yes, it will take longer but it will lesson the stress on the fish.

You're looking at up to 2 months cycling with water changes. More if you touch your filter. I have gone through endless cycling as a newbie. Ammonia poisoning can cause permanent damage to fish’s gills. Even though it looks like your fish pulled through their life span will be reduced. You may have saved them today, but with damaged gills they won’t live long. Minor damage can be repaired but with permanent damage these fish are as good as dead already.

I still believe it's best to get the cycle over with a quick as possible and any fish you loose are unavoidable casualties. This may seem heart less and cruel, but it is the best way to do it. Any other way will result in fish loss also. All you're doing is extending the fish's exposure to harmful toxins. Killing them slowly. Even 0.5 ppm of ammonia is toxic and will cause gill dammage if exposed over long periods.

Don't add more fish to a cycling tank.

Go buy a cycle helper like Biospira ASAP!

Lots of plants will help also. Hopefully that package of plants will arrive on Monday.

 

[flyjawn]

i would say add as many plants as you can afford - you can always take them out later if you don't like them but they will help keep your levels lower...

 

[rkilling1]

Some people recommend water changes to lower your values but I believe water changes during a cycle will only make it take longer.

Sorry for this tangent, but I just have ask this question and it's related to the OP, some what. :? (or should this be a seperate thread?)

Why would it take longer to cycle? I don't understand the reasoning behind this. (please enlighten me, because I can't seem to get this idea. Maybe it's because I just got off a 12 hour shift and my mind is not working.)

We all know that the bacteria resides on tank equipment(mostly the filter) and the tank itself and very little in the water column, correct? (unless you have a bacteria bloom) I would think that in a cycling tank, more bacteria would be in the water column then an established tank, but the amount would still be small, so the loss would be minimal. (at most, with this idea, it would only take an extra day or two as compared to not doing a PWC)

If my NH3 was 1.0 PPM and I did a 50% PWC and lowered that value to .5 PPM, how would that slow down the cycle? There is still NH3 available to the bacteria. It's not like the bacteria will reproduce any faster with a higher level of NH3, they have a fixed multiplication rate. If there is food available the bacteria will grow. If the NH3 level was 1.0 PPM or 10.0 PPM the bacteria will still multiply at a set rate or am I missing something?

I can understand if the NH3 level was 0 and if you performed a PWC that it would remove food from the current level of bacteria, but in this case you have ample food for the bacteria.

When you preform a PWC you are adding a lot of O2, which is good for the bacteria.

I have no supporting data for either doing a PWC or not doing a PWC, just people saying that it is not a good idea to do so.

(sorry for rambling on, I need to get some sleep.) Hopefully this comes across as a question, as it is, and not trying to pick a fight.

 

[docrak]

Why would it take longer to cycle? I don't understand the reasoning behind this. (please enlighten me, because I can't seem to get this idea. Maybe it's because I just got off a 12 hour shift and my mind is not working.)

I have no supporting data for either doing a PWC or not doing a PWC, just people saying that it is not a good idea to do so.

You know you're right. I have no supporting data and have not been able to find any research on this topic. I have found several web sites that state it is OK to change the water because as you mentioned the water it's self does not contain that much bacteria.

I can however tell you from personal experience that doing water changes during a cycle has taken longer. One of my first mistakes as a newbie was cleaning the filter during the cycle. The tank never did cycle. I haven't cycled a tank from scratch for years now so I can't say that I am an authority on cycling nor did I do well in biology class in high school. As I said in my original post, it's just opinion based on personal experience. I don't think I was trying to convey my opinion as fact, but it may have come across that way.

One day when I have the time I'll have to setup a couple of tanks and run an experiment on this.

 

[boggerscott]

ok ok i hope were all getting along here. well im glad that you have told me not to clean my filters cause i have been like every 5 days. i wont no more. what is the true tail sign that a tank is cycled??? i did get the plants docrak and i cant thank you enough. thanks a bunch. i really cant fit any more plants in my tank but some moss maybe its pretty full, i think for now .cause ill plant one and 3 will pop up. :? im going to wait and see how it grows up. does this look like enough plant load?? to help it cycle faster??

 

[rich311k]

Your tank is cycled when ammonia and nitrite are both zero. Your tank is looking nice. You have room for plenty odf plants in there. They will fill in rapidly. Looks to me like you are off to a great start.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The true sign that a tank is cycled:
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate >10

 

[boggerscott]

ok