Some advice please

[Lurker79]

I have had aquariums for most of my life, but I am realizing that I don't know nearly enough about it. I currently have 2 tanks one is a 55g community with platies, mollies, and 2 bn plecos. The other is a 10g that I have been using strictly as a fry tank. I noticed that I was losing a fry or two everyday so I knew something must be wrong. I got a master kit and have tested it the last 3 days. The 55g has looked great each time, but the fry tank numbers were off. Since fry are sensitive I decided to move them back to the 55g in a breeder box and they are all doing great and I haven't lost anymore since. I had fallen for the lfs rule of cycling your tank and had only run it for a few days with no fish in it before adding the fry. I guess it never completed a cycle. So this is where I was and where I am now.

3 Days ago:
pH 7.6
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 1
Nitrate 0

Now:
pH 7.2
Ammonia >.25 ( It is between 0 and .25 on the color chart)
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

From what I have read it doesn't look bad but it need some nitrates to be cycled. There are no fish in it now but there were fish in there for more than a month including pregnant adult platies a time or two. My question is since it had fish in it and has some decorations and plastic plants from the 55g will it cycle without me adding anything else to it.

 

[jlk]

Do you haves source of ammonia for this tank such as fish food, bottled ammonia or raw shrimp? Without a source of ammonia to feed your good bacteria, there will not be any cycle progression from your present numbers. Any bacteria that may be present need a food source (ammonia) to survive and thrive.

Another option is to add a few fish back to the tank and proceed with a fish-in cycle. Frequent testing and water changes will be necessary to keep the fish healthy during the process.

A third option if you do not plan on using the tank right now is to move the filter(s) to your main tank to cycle then use them when you need to setup the smaller tank again.

How you would like to proceed will be up to you and what will be most feasible. Hope this helps!

 

[Lurker79]

That answers my question thank you. I am going to put a few fish back in and continue with a fish-in cycle. Would 3 adult platies be sufficient? Frequent testing and water changes is not a problem, but I am still a little unclear on when to change the water and how much of it to change. If I understand correctly I change the water for a .25 or higher on ammonia but the percent to change is the question. Also, I am assuming I need to change it if the nitrites are high (or even present?) but I am unsure about that part. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mrvincent]

Some test kit like my API ammonia test always give a false 0.25 positive, my tank is mature and I didn't added any fish to it. They thrive and there's no ammonia in my water.

If you change 50% of water that contain 0.50ppm ammonia with clean water, it should lower to 0.25ppm

 

[jlk]

Water changes generally are needed based on your parameters. For example, if your testing .50ppm of ammonia and/or nitrite, a 50% water change will cut this in half assuming there is not any ammonia or nitrite in your tap. Many people will do a second 50% wc to cut the .25ppm further in half (.125ppm).

It's generally recommended to keep toxin levels at or below .25ppm. Using a product such as Prime or Amquel Plus gives a bit of wiggle room temporarily but it's not a substitute for actual water changes to remove toxins. Use your judgement and also watch your fish's behavior. If they are showing signs of stress, it's perfectly fine to do additional wcs as needed. Just make sure you are temperature matching and conditioning the new water. Hope this helps!