So confused about all of this differing aquarium information...

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RachelG

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So I have read numerous articles online about how to cycle a tank using flakes, and I have been doing so with a ten gallon tank. But when I was talking about it to an owner of a local fish store, he told me that it does not work at all. It won't get my bacteria colony started because it "doesn't produce ammonia because no fish is eating it and pooping it". I thought it just rots in the water, producing ammonia. I feel more inclined to believe someone who owns a fish store over some random person on the internet, but there were plenty of sources explaining how cycling with flakes does work...So I'm not sure who to believe. I have had readings of ammonia and such since starting with flakes, but...

Another fish store owner told me that the API master test kit is not accurate at all, and merely provides a "ball park estimate". But according to product reviews and people on forums, this thing is supposed to be hella accurate???? I'm getting so confused by all of this conflicting information...

The first store owner also told me that leaving the lights on on the tank will lower the ph, and that the ph will rise again when turned off...Is this true? In all the artlicles I've read this past month and a half, that is the first time I have heard of anything like that...Wouldn't that harm fish? He also recommended mollies for my ten gallon. Now I'm just a beginner, but even I know that a four-inch fish is not right for a ten gallon. He has been helpful, but now I'm wondering if whether he is just full of crap or if all of the articles and forums I've read have been incorrect...

But the ten I am cycling with flakes has had low ammonia readings and then a huge nitrite spike which is pretty much disappeared, and there is a little nitrate now. This tank has been cycling for only two weeks. Assuming this flake method does work and the API test is in fact accurate, Is it possible that this tank has cycled this soon? If the readings continue like this for the next few days, will it be safe to add a fish or two soon?

Also, any stocking suggestions for a planted ten gallon would be appreciated. I'm leaning heavily toward three or four hi-fin platies, all male or all female. (three if female, since they get bigger) But I am not quite set on that yet, so still looking for ideas.:) (and no, i cannot get a bigger tank, unfortunately...Maybe someday I can have a big tank with cichlids or angels...)
 
Sounds like you re on the right track. You want several days of zero ammonia & nitrites before you add fish. And your nitrates should be below 20, if they re higher then do water changes before adding fish.
How much food are you adding? I read to put in like enough to equal a grain of rice & crush it up really fine.
Read the articles about fish less cycling on this forum & when you re given advice that doesn t seem right, trust your instincts & ask questions here.
Best of luck :).
 
So I have read numerous articles online about how to cycle a tank using flakes, and I have been doing so with a ten gallon tank. But when I was talking about it to an owner of a local fish store, he told me that it does not work at all. It won't get my bacteria colony started because it "doesn't produce ammonia because no fish is eating it and pooping it". I thought it just rots in the water, producing ammonia. I feel more inclined to believe someone who owns a fish store over some random person on the internet, but there were plenty of sources explaining how cycling with flakes does work...So I'm not sure who to believe. I have had readings of ammonia and such since starting with flakes, but...

Another fish store owner told me that the API master test kit is not accurate at all, and merely provides a "ball park estimate". But according to product reviews and people on forums, this thing is supposed to be hella accurate???? I'm getting so confused by all of this conflicting information...

The first store owner also told me that leaving the lights on on the tank will lower the ph, and that the ph will rise again when turned off...Is this true? In all the artlicles I've read this past month and a half, that is the first time I have heard of anything like that...Wouldn't that harm fish? He also recommended mollies for my ten gallon. Now I'm just a beginner, but even I know that a four-inch fish is not right for a ten gallon. He has been helpful, but now I'm wondering if whether he is just full of crap or if all of the articles and forums I've read have been incorrect...

But the ten I am cycling with flakes has had low ammonia readings and then a huge nitrite spike which is pretty much disappeared, and there is a little nitrate now. This tank has been cycling for only two weeks. Assuming this flake method does work and the API test is in fact accurate, Is it possible that this tank has cycled this soon? If the readings continue like this for the next few days, will it be safe to add a fish or two soon?

Also, any stocking suggestions for a planted ten gallon would be appreciated. I'm leaning heavily toward three or four hi-fin platies, all male or all female. (three if female, since they get bigger) But I am not quite set on that yet, so still looking for ideas.:) (and no, i cannot get a bigger tank, unfortunately...Maybe someday I can have a big tank with cichlids or angels...)

I know it seems weird to believe someone on the internet that you've never met, but almost everyone on here is really great about giving good advice. The store owner is full of crap, like you suspected. In a planted tank, the ph level rises during the day and lowers at night, because co2 is used by plants during the day, (or whenever the lights are on), during photosynthesis, and co2 lowers ph. However, in most tanks, with most fish, the difference is not enough to hurt the fish. The API master test kit is not bad at all, it could be much better, but I think the readings are right to at least .2 ppm or .2 on the ph test. So if you get a ph reading of 7.4 it is probably between 7.2 and 7.6, which is good enough for most people. Flakes work like fish poop, and are broken down by bacteria into ammonia. So yes, you are cycling, and the guy who told you that is wrong. Remember that stores try to sell you things, so they often will lie (or are just wrong), so don't ask them for advice, unless you know they know what they are doing, and are honest.

You should be able to add fish when you get an ammonia reading of at least 3ppm, and in 24 hours it goes to 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. Then you can add your first few fish. What were your exact readings, for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?

:welcome: to AA!
 
The nitrite spiked up to the highest color reading a few days days ago, but now it has shot down to pale blue, the lowest. Ammonia is also showing the palest yellow. This has been the reading for two days. Nitrate is bobbing around between five and ten ppm for the past five days. Are the plants affecting the nitrate? I am adding about a teaspoon of fish flakes every day, wrapped in mesh for easy removal when I add a new batch of it. Did i mention this has only been cycling for two weeks? Doesn't this seem to be going a little too quick? My five gallon seemed to have cycled in just under three weeks, as well. Something must be in my water to make the process speed up.
 
The length of cycling time varies with each tank. Also you stated you have plants. How many and what kind.? Plants use ammonia and nitrates and will speed cycling. Silent cycling done with plants is becoming more popular. So I'm not overly surprised your tank is cycling fast at all.
 
The length of cycling time varies with each tank. Also you stated you have plants. How many and what kind.? Plants use ammonia and nitrates and will speed cycling. Silent cycling done with plants is becoming more popular. So I'm not overly surprised your tank is cycling fast at all.

I have three small java ferns attached to driftwood, two decent sized anubias attached to driftwood, a few bundles of anacharis weighted down with small pieces of driftwood, and some hornwort floating at the top. The tank is pretty full of plants and driftwood. In fact, I think I might remove something to provide more swimming room. I packed all of those in there to provide hiding spots for sparkling gouramis, but I'm not getting sparkling gouramis now so it probably isn't needed.

I also just noticed a tiny white snail in the tank. Should I remove it? It's a quick mover!

I'm going to do a water change and vacuum some of the gravel. I notice I have lots of detritus worms. That's probably because I haven't yet done a water change since I began cycling. Since the snail and worms are living in this tank, does that mean it is habitable? Or are these things just hardier than fish?
 
I have three small java ferns attached to driftwood, two decent sized anubias attached to driftwood, a few bundles of anacharis weighted down with small pieces of driftwood, and some hornwort floating at the top. The tank is pretty full of plants and driftwood. In fact, I think I might remove something to provide more swimming room. I packed all of those in there to provide hiding spots for sparkling gouramis, but I'm not getting sparkling gouramis now so it probably isn't needed.

I also just noticed a tiny white snail in the tank. Should I remove it? It's a quick mover!

I'm going to do a water change and vacuum some of the gravel. I notice I have lots of detritus worms. That's probably because I haven't yet done a water change since I began cycling. Since the snail and worms are living in this tank, does that mean it is habitable? Or are these things just hardier than fish?

Yeah, your plants are definitely helping. IDK much about snails, but I know they can infest your tank, so unless you want that then remove it.

And yeah, worms and snails are much hardier than fish, although 0 ammo and 0 nitrite is habitable for fish, it may not stay that way.
 
With all those fast growing plants (anacharis and hornwort) you pretty much did a silent cycle. If your ammonia and nitrites are both 0 and you have readable nitrates then your ready to start stocking.

The snails and detris worms probably came in as hitchhikers on the plants. Whenever you get new plants it's best to soak them in a 4:1 ratio of water to hydrogen peroxide 3% for 20 minutes. This kills most snails, eggs, and other unwanted hitchhikers. You can remove any snails you find but you probably have a lot more than you think.
 
Thanks for the advice, guys. I'm going to see if I can pick up a couple of platies today and acclimate them. My tests look pretty good and consistent, and hopefully everything is ready.
 
Any idea what shape shell the snail has ? If is a flat spiral, likely a ramshorn. If it's more conical, not sure, as bladder snails, the most common, are usually black or brown.

Snails do some very useful things in a tank. They eat leftovers, dead leaves, etc. They eat algae, keep glass clean. Some are very decorative. But the smaller species tend to reproduce quite fast, and you can end up with a lot of them.

It is a personal thing, if you like them or not. If not, remove it, but plants often come with snail eggs on them already, and you can suddenly see a lot of tiny snails. Many think they appear from nowhere, but they hatched, is what happened.

Personally I like to let a few of them hang around. I keep several species for their usefulness and their colours, but the common bladder snail, and brown ramshorns, I will pick off the adults if I see many of them.

Just so you know, these small snails are hermaphrodites, so they can lay eggs without a mate. The eggs themselves are laid in a small blob of clear jelly. Bladder snails leave an irregular blob, ramshorns leave a neat little crescent shape. If you see these, you can wipe them off pretty easily and stop them hatching, just toss them out.
 
Any idea what shape shell the snail has ? If is a flat spiral, likely a ramshorn. If it's more conical, not sure, as bladder snails, the most common, are usually black or brown.

Snails do some very useful things in a tank. They eat leftovers, dead leaves, etc. They eat algae, keep glass clean. Some are very decorative. But the smaller species tend to reproduce quite fast, and you can end up with a lot of them.

It is a personal thing, if you like them or not. If not, remove it, but plants often come with snail eggs on them already, and you can suddenly see a lot of tiny snails. Many think they appear from nowhere, but they hatched, is what happened.

Personally I like to let a few of them hang around. I keep several species for their usefulness and their colours, but the common bladder snail, and brown ramshorns, I will pick off the adults if I see many of them.

Just so you know, these small snails are hermaphrodites, so they can lay eggs without a mate. The eggs themselves are laid in a small blob of clear jelly. Bladder snails leave an irregular blob, ramshorns leave a neat little crescent shape. If you see these, you can wipe them off pretty easily and stop them hatching, just toss them out.

It wasn't a ramshorn, it a bit conical/round and white, but I haven't seen the snail since the first time I spotted it. I have a zebra snail in my five gallon, and I was thinking about getting one for my ten. Are those hermaphodites as well? Mine keeps laying eggs on everything(which I know won't hatch in freshwater) so I have been calling it a "she".
 
If the snail you saw is light in color (but can be darker too) and conical in shape most likely you have a Malaysian Trumpet Snail. They normally stay in the substrate during the day light hours scavenging and aerating the substrate and then come out at night. That could be why you aren't seeing it. They are live bearers and give birth to a single tiny baby once a month if I remember right. Their population is determined by how much food is available. The more food there is the more snails are born.
 
Zebra snails are Nerite snails. They are not hermaphrodites. Their eggs need brackish water to hatch, so they just sit there wherever they are laid. I find they tend to slowly vanish over time, I think they simply dissolve, much as snail shells themselves will once the shell's owner has passed on.

I think Nerites are the most efficient algae eating and general cleanup snails you can get, and are quite attractive as well. There are a few species, commonly seen are the Zebra, the Horned or Thorny Nerite and one called variously a Spotted, Tire Track or Tiger Nerite, among other names. They have regular, sort of diamond shaped dashes of black or dark brown on an orangey brown background shell. All work equally well for cleanup crew, but Thorny nerites are a bit smaller and slower growing. I've had one or two get to be the size of a Zebra, but most of the Thorny Nerite I've had did not grow that much.

Malaysian Trumpet Snails are indeed live bearers, but they have several babies per birth. They release them fully formed at the water's surface, usually at night. Often found in filters, apparently quite happy. Leave a plastic cup or bag floating and you will find it with many tiny MTS on it one morning, all about the same size.

They are pretty easy to ID. Have a sharply conical shell, roughly 1/4", to possibly 3/8" inch diameter, [for a really big one], at the foot end. Shell tapers in a spiral, evenly to a sharp point, not unlike an ice cream cone shape. Small foot, even full grown; rarely exceed 1&1/8" in length as adults. Tend to be fairly light coloured, often show up nicely on black substrates. Extremely efficient algae eaters, don't eat plants and good general cleanup crew. They like to burrow, so they tend to churn up substrates as they do it, which is not a bad thing. Can help prevent gas pockets from forming if you allow crud to accumulate too long in the substrate, because their burrowing aerates the substrate. But they don't damage roots or uproot plants as they work. Many fish keepers seem not like them because they reproduce very fast, but they are not hard to cull and I find their usefulness far outweighs the occasional inconvenience of having to cull. I can usually sell them when I do, or give them away.

There are other snails with similarly conical shells, but they are much larger. One you see is the Poso, or Rabbit snail. Really do look quite rabbit like, humping along on a small foot. Bright yellowy colour. These snails have one baby at a time, laying a single egg in an internal brood pouch. They release it fully formed, larger than a bladder snail at birth. MT snails also lay their eggs in an internal pouch.

I recently learned a tip for distinguishing the sexes of rabbit snails. Males are thought to have longer antennae, females shorter ones, and females tend to be larger once full grown. I am now trying to see if the same is true of MT snails but it is hard to see their antennae, as they are quite small.

The light coloured snail you saw before might well have been a young pond snail. Their shells are often quite pale.
 
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