My 29 gal tank is a month old, FW

[mt6571]

Just joined the group & trying to learn the basics of cycling, we started a month ago, waited a week before adding fish. We had no live plants at the time, we now have 4. We have 24 fish, 4 mollies, 3 Danios (zebra), 4 asst guppies, 6 neon tetras, 1 Kuhli Loach, 3 Platies, 3 Glo fish, 4 snails. We did not add all these fish at 1 time, over the last 3 wks. I think we have too many fish for a 29 gal, although we have been told we should be fine. We have a 40 gal filter, not a canister, it hangs on the back. We have 2 bubble stones. We just did an ammonia check, by strips & an ammonia tester suction cupped to sidewall, both said stressful. I added ammonia tablets to see if this will change it. We do a weekly water change of about 4 gal. Basically, we need to know, is the approx 4 gal weekly change good? ANY tips will be appreciated!

 

[brennae]

You need to do an immediate water change if the ammonia reading is that high. and no a 4 gal a week change is not enough. I would change at least 10 gallons to 15 gallons of water. I suggest you get a test kit,, API Master Test kit for freshwater is a good one. Strips are not reliable. You will get varying advice on exactly how much water to change weekly but in an emergency situation such as you have now you might check and change the water daily before all the fish die from the ammonia poisoning. Not to be mean but ammo tabs will not solve the problem and a large water change will possibly save your fish's lives.

 

[PNWaquarist]

If you're still doing a fish-in cycle, your water changes should to be larger (or more frequent than what you're doing now). I'd use Seachem Prime to help protect the fish from ammonia during the cycle.

Find an established procedure and follow it verbaim.

 

[mt6571]

OK, thanks to both of you. Do you see a difference in the way your fish act/behave when ammonia is high? Our fish are acting as they normally do. Water temp is 76, is this too low for the fish we have?

 

[PNWaquarist]

Fish that are suffering from ammonia poisoning are usually gasping at the surface of the water for air. A better testing kit (such as the API kit) will help. If you see a teeny-weeny bit of green hue in the ammonia test, but no sign of nitrites in the nitrite test, your tank has no appreciable level of ammonia.

See here about cycling with fish in the tank.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

I would definitely change at least 10 gallons for each water change. I do that weekly for my 29. You probably want to do it more often if it does turn out that your ammonia is high. Like, daily with that many fish. IMO, you added too many fish way too fast. It's best to give it at least a week or two between adding each group.


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[mt6571]

Do we need to get rid of some fish? I will start doing a 10 gal change from now on.

 

[brennae]

I would for now if you can.

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