cycle or not???

[marbles21]

ok i have another question..... as some of you know i have a 120g freshwater tank. it has been set up for a week now. the water is crystal clear. i checked the amonia yesterday and it is a little high (but not to high) and some people said i am going through a mini cycle since the tank was established when i got it and moved it to my house. my question is should i let the cycle take its course and then do a water change or should i do a water change now?
thanks for the help!!!

 

[neilanh]

Are there fish in the tank?

If yes, you need to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels below 0.5ppm. If nothing is in the tank, you can let it go, but you'll need to provide a source of ammonia to keep the bacteria alive.

 

[roka64]

How high is your ammonia/nitrIte/nitrAte?
Ammonia can burn fish's gills, nitrIte is also toxic.

 

[marbles21]

ok its done cycling. the water is clear and he amonia and nitrite are 0. should i do a water change now before i add some fish?

 

[Sum22]

Check your nitrates. If they are above 40ppm a water change would be a good idea. You could do a water change since it isn't going to hurt anything even if you nitrates are already lower than the 40ppm.

 

[CaptainAhab]

That's pretty quick for both to go to 0 in 24 hours. Usually it's one that goes to 0 while the other one rises then falls to 0. If you want to be sure, dose 1 more time and see how long the spike/fall/spike/fall takes. Where did the ammonia source come from over the last week?

a one week cycle is very quick.

Perhaps you haven't gotten started yet?

 

[Sum22]

The tank was already established and recently moved, so it is possible that it has gone through a mini cycle already, assuming ammonia has been provided.

 

[marbles21]

its been up for over a week now, and yes it was already established. i think it was a mini cycle because they both rose and then fell seperatly..... i had food and a some guppies as the source of amonia.

 

[marbles21]

so i just added 7 glo light tetras a couple days ago and just checked my water perameters. my amonia went from 0 to1.5 and my nitrite went from 0 to 0.3 is this normal? is something wrong and or what should i do?????

 

[saffikeagan]

Sounds like another mini-cycle...do PWCs and wait it out. You added a lot of fish at once so the bacteria colony will take a while to grow big enough to handle the additional bioload.

 

[marbles21]

ok how often should i do water changes and how many of these cycles should i expect, or can you even tell? also i noticed that the fish keep opening and closing their mouths quickly, is thia because of the high levels?

 

[rich311k]

Do water changes as often as needed to keep ammonia and nitrites under .5ppm. The gasping is from ammonia or nitrite poisoning, it burns their gills and they don't get enough O2 so the breath harder.

 

[marbles21]

so today i did a 60% water change and then i checked the water perameters a couple hours later and they are still the same, what should i do????

 

[rich311k]

I think you need to get the tests confirmed. Try testing your tap and if possible have your LFS test your water.

 

[marbles21]

ok ill do that should i clean the gravel when i do a water change or not?

 

[Alaris]

ok ill do that should i clean the gravel when i do a water change or not?

Yes. Gravel gets yucky and needs to be vacuumed. The python is a gravel vac and siphon in one that hooks up directly to the sink and is recommended by many members.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3910&ref=3532&subref=AN&

 

[marbles21]

I thought that while the tank cycled you should not clean the gravel???

 

[Alaris]

I think that if you have fish in the tank, then you need to vacuum the gravel.

 

[CaptainAhab]

Don't vac the gravel. Your bacteria are colonizing there as well. After the cycle is finished and going forward I would only vac 1/3 per water change.

 

[robertselbe]

another question along the same lines

If the fish produce ammonia and the bacteria consume the ammonia and produce nitrAtes and nitrItes where dose the nitrates and nitrites go in the cycle????