swordtail acting funny

[robinp]

i started my 10 gallon tank about 6 wks ago. i started with no fish and when the all the levels were 0 (ammonia nitrate and nitrite) i added 2 albino pineapple swordtails and 2 mickeymouse platys. none of the fish really ate alot and then started acting lethargic and i checked the ammonia and it was too high (this was 5 days later). i have been doing 25% water changes whenever the levels are higher than 0...i use cycle when i put the new water in and i also have salt in the water (2 tsp)

thats just a little background... i have heater and filter also

the fish seem to move around better when its dark in the tank because when i turn on the light the albinos bump into things...its kind of wierd. and i put some live brine shrimp in there and i thought they would go crazy but they just kind of ignored them and the mickey's ate some of them....

can someone give me some insight? the fish do not seem extremely happy...the ammonia is low right now...

 

[peaceablegarden]

Welcome to AA. Sorry you're having troubles and sorry no one has responded yet. Hope all your fish are hanging in there so far.

Unfortunately it sounds like even though you thought you were cycling the tank, you might not have been. You either would have done a fishless cycle by adding ammonia (best way to cycle) or you cycled with fish. Generally speaking, after cycling you will have some NitrAtes. Because its zero, I'm thinking now since adding fish, the cycle has started and that's why your ammonia spiked.

You're doing the right thing with water changes (that's key) and you may need to do them daily until your tank is really cycled (also keeping track of your parameters as you have been doing is important).

Let us know how things are progressing or if you have any more questions.

 

[Bigfoot1030]

I agree it sounds like your tank wasn't cycled. I would also suggest reviewing the cycling sticky at the top of this forum and the some of the articles in the article section.

 

[robinp]

I was familiar w cycling except for adding ammonia ( when u do it without fish-duh I shoulda known better)

Because there's ammonia in the water now if I put the fish into another established tank will the tank continue and finish the cycle? I really don't want the fish to die. I feel real bad

 

[peaceablegarden]

Oh gosh, don't feel bad. You're doing the right thing by coming here with your questions. No worries.

If you have an established tank where the fish will fit in, sure, I'd do that. Good question about there being enough ammonia to finish the cycle if you remove the fish. I don't think I can answer that.

You can leave the fish if you keep up with the daily water changes and keep good track of the parameters. One thing that will help the cycle go a little faster would be to 'seed' the tank. Using used filter media from another established tank will definately jump start the process and move it along faster. Second to that would be gravel or decorations. Those things all harbor the good bacteria you need.

Maybe someone else can jump in about removing the fish and moving the cycle along.

 

[robinp]

I took a bio filter from an established tank and I will tale some gravel today and put in mine. Along w the water changes I am using ammo lock everyday to lessen the toxicity.

 

[peaceablegarden]

Sounds good. Looks like you're heading in the right direction. You'll be at it for a while, probably 4-6 weeks until its cycled, but hang in there, it's well worth it.

 

[robinp]

thanks for all your help!

 

[peaceablegarden]

You are very welcome.

 

[gzeiger]

The existing ammonia level will not be enough to cycle the tank.

You need to develop colonies of two different types of bacteria in your filter, one for processing ammonia and one for processing nitrite. Bacteria reproduce pretty fast, more than doubling their population each day given sufficient food, but they won't grow at all unless sufficient food is being provided. Given only a single shot dose of ammonia (regardless of how much is in there) what will happen is that the ammonia-eating bacteria will develop to a point where they have consumed virtually all the ammonia available before the nitrite processors are really able to start reproducing at all.

To avoid that problem, at some point as the ammonia level drops it's necessary to add additional ammonia so that those bacteria don't starve to death before the other colony catches up.

The ammonia that you add should be pure - check the ingredients label to be sure it doesn't contain "surfactant" (soap) or other chemicals which might leave a residue harmful to fish. To my knowledge we've found satisfactory products only at Ace Hardware and Piggly Wiggly grocery stores, sold in generic house brand bottles under the label Clear Ammonia (typically in the cleaning products section). These run a bit less than $1 a quart, which should be enough to cycle about 2000 gallons worth of aquarium.

You want to add just a few drops at first and test levels. Aim for around 5 ppm for fastest speed, and note that levels above 8 can significantly inhibit the cycle.

Since you have access to an established tank you should be able to do this quickly. If you have canister filters, just remove some of the media from the old one and add it to the new. If you have hang on back filters, take the dirty filter pad out of your old filter and rub the new filter pad against it to get some of that layer of scum off, then replace each pad in its filter. This puts a large amount of bacteria in the new filter to start off, and the old filter will recover so quickly it won't register on your test kit. I've reduced cycle time to under a week doing this, and others have reported even better results.

If you buy a new tank in the future, buy the filter two weeks in advance and just run two filters on your established tank (preferrably transferring bacteria as described above) until you have the new tank ready. Then when you set up the tank you just move the filter over and it's already cycled.

I'm not familiar with a product called "cycle." Is that a bacteria supplement or a dechlorinator?