Rookie mistake. Advice appreciated

[rjs2115]

Ok, so I started up my 29 gallon, using media from my friend's established aquarium.
His filter pad did not fit my filter, so I thought I could just slice it open and removed the stuff from inside (which i thought was the media and what I wanted). He later told me that that was just the carbon, and I needed the actual blue part of the filter pad in my tank.
So that whole time, I thought I was good to go and had a cycled tank. Again, newbie and dumb.
So I already had 6 black skirt tetras and 2 platy in there and everything was going good. Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate were all at 0...which I thought was good. Again, dumb new hobbyist. Sorry.
So I added my new friends, 2 bolivian rams, a clown pleco, and 5 guppies. (not all at once. Over the course of a week)
Everyone still seems healthy and happy, but my ammonia spiked to 1ppm. Still no trites or trates. I have been doing 30-50% water changes every other day and I cut back feeding to every other day. The ammonia is down to .25, but still no trites or trates.
So...what do I do now? Just keep up with the water changes? Do I still have a good 2-3 months of this ahead of me?

 

[cgthebeast]

Get anthor filter pad fast! It will help a lot and keep spikes low. I would also move the rams I to your friends tank for now, there incredibly senstive

 

[rjs2115]

He said he can give me another pad. Can I just float that pad in the tank? Won't look pretty, but will that do the job?

Surprisingly the rams seem to be the most energetic of all the fish in the tank.

 

[rjs2115]

Also, his tank contains 2 large blood parrots...so I don't think my baby rams would fair so well.

 

[cgthebeast]

Nope, just try to stuff it in the filter or cut it in half, remove the carbon and place it in there. Make sure to never expose it to tap water.

Hmm, that's a good sign then. Just keep an eye out

 

[rjs2115]

Ok, I'll see if I can get another pad from him.
So i just need the actual blue fabric...not what's inside the pad?
Do I put that in with my current pad, or do I take that one out?

 

[cgthebeast]

Ok, I'll see if I can get another pad from him.
So i just need the actual blue fabric...not what's inside the pad?
Do I put that in with my current pad, or do I take that one out?

Keep both in for now, and just the blue part. You can take it out in a few weeks after it cycled

 

[Fishperson]

Anything that's been in his filter pretty much has some bb (beneficial bacteria) on it. So I think that your cycle should have started, and you would have seen nitrates if it weren't for so many water changes. And the ammonia "eating" bacteria just haven't caught up yet.

 

[Aqualady40]

I would add the blue part along with what you already have in your filter, test daily, and do pwc's accordingly....good luck

 

[rjs2115]

Anything that's been in his filter pretty much has some bb (beneficial bacteria) on it. So I think that your cycle should have started, and you would have seen nitrates if it weren't for so many water changes. And the ammonia "eating" bacteria just haven't caught up yet.

So I don't want to do as many water changes? Is that slowing my cycle down? I thought PWC were good

 

[rjs2115]

So I just tested high PH.... Shows around 8.4. What does the mean, concerning my cycle and ammonia levels?

 

[Fishperson]

So I don't want to do as many water changes? Is that slowing my cycle down? I thought PWC were good

No, it's not slowing it down at all. Water changes are almost always good!

It just doesn't show your nitrates, which might appear. Now, I might be wrong, that was just a hypothesis, since you already had some filter media type stuff, even if it was carbon.

So yeah, just do water changes if ammonia or nitrites are over .25 ppm, or nitrate is over 40 ppm (that is for most hardy fish, but for some fish 40 is not a good number, so keeping nitrates at around 20 ppm is much better).

Also, as far as pH goes, you should do a water change, actually, to fix that, unless your tap water pH is around there.

 

[rjs2115]

Thanks! Also just noticed my one platy is sitting on the bottom. It seems around some but then goes back to sitting on the bottom

 

[Rivercats]

This article explains all you need to do... I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

 

[Fishperson]

Well, that could mean one of two things. Your platy is pregnant, or sick. If it is a female, and she has a large, "squared off" belly, then she is probably pregnant (her belly should be strangely large, not just like platy large ). If it doesn't look pregnant, then it could be sick, or it could be ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate poisoning. Either way, test your water ASAP.

 

[rjs2115]

Well, that could mean one of two things. Your platy is pregnant, or sick. If it is a female, and she has a large, "squared off" belly, then she is probably pregnant (her belly should be strangely large, not just like platy large ). If it doesn't look pregnant, then it could be sick, or it could be ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate poisoning. Either way, test your water ASAP.

How do I know if the Platy is a female? He/She is kinda fat.
The water is still testing at .25 ammonia and zero on trites and trates. PH in mid 8.0 range

My buddy just gave me some gravel from his established tank. I am hoping this will speed up the BB in my cycle.

 

[owenhp]

You're tank will never cycle if you keep changing your water when change the water that brings down the ammonia, ammonia needs to rise and go down on its own before the nitrites start to go up. Then the ammonia will go away and you're nitrite will rise and then come back down then your nitrates start to rise this is called cycling.

 

[owenhp]

The same way you can tell the difference between a woman and a man the male has a little pentacle (spelling) on his bottom side the female doesn't.

 

[Fishperson]

You're tank will never cycle if you keep changing your water when change the water that brings down the ammonia, ammonia needs to rise and go down on its own before the nitrites start to go up. Then the ammonia will go away and you're nitrite will rise and then come back down then your nitrates start to rise this is called cycling.

The amount of ammonia that the bacteria need is so small, that it would take back to back to back 90 % water changes (or something ridiculous like that) to get it to the point that the bacteria don't have enough to "eat". To get a good size amount of bacteria you need some ammonia left, but it will build up over time. As long as there is some ammonia, but not more than .25 ppm, you are fine.

 

[Fishperson]

Male vs. Female Platy: