Yeti's 55gal FW Journal (Pix and Flix)

[Yeti]

50% PWC today.. stats are still the same:

Temp: 78
pH: 7.8
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
NH4: 1.0

I am gonna change my #1 filter today.. see if that will help any..

 

[Yeti]

Got a new fish today! I got a Lyretail Swordtail.. he's bright orange and he isnt quite full size, he has plenty room to grow.. I added him to the tank and turned the lights off to let him calm down and adjust.. More news later!

 

[rkilling1]

yup im about to do a 50% PWC , as long as i just keep up my routine it should adjust itself, i mean they aren't dead yet! haha

Update: did a 50% PWC and a test, the results are identical from the last test.. all 0's except the NH4 is 1.0...

Do you have chloramines in your tap water?

 

[Yeti]

no clue how to check, but I have dechlorinators in it..

 

[SCFatz]

Yeti,I would would hold up on adding more fish.

More fish means more food/fishwaste and in your case thats going to mean higher levels of ammonia faster.Best I can tell you are at the start of the cycle.You have about 6 weeks of daily (or almost daily depending on bioload) water changes ahead.

Try to keep that ammonia number under .5

Larger changes are ok if needed (75% is fine) but keep in mind that the larger the % changed out,the more critical the water temps match so as not to swing the temp in the tank.The presense of ammonia in the tank is stressful enough,driving temps up or down quickly will only add more stress....and stress often leads to death.
For larger changes I actually move my temp indicator to the sink and spend a few minutes getting it perfect.Perhaps thats overkill,but It works great.

BUT most importantly.STOP ADDING FISH.Adding new (more) fish really is going to drive your chances of success down.

 

[Yeti]

well all of my fish seem happy so i wouldn't say it wasn't a success.. I don't plan to add any others for a bit anyway.. and .5 is unreachable.. even if I do 75%, vac the gravel and everything it seems to ALWAYS be at 1.0....

 

[SCFatz]

Yeti,

I know where you are at with this tank.Trust me.Been there and done it without having a clue what I was getting into...then I found these forums and things got complicated.Pretty steep learning curve indeed...esp when you have fish swimming around.

I went back and read every post in this thread.If you got to a spot where it was "time to add fish" I missed it.I saw where you asked and I saw you got an answer,but I would have said no.
Some of your numbers suggested that your cycle was getting there,perhaps even halfway there,but nothing complete what so ever imo.

Whats curious to me is the now absent nitrite and nitrate.Not sure whats going on there without knowing every detail of how you have handled things thus far.

As far as the advice you are getting from myself and a few others adhere to it.Simply put, we "know" because we've done it.We learned it and we asked and we screwed up and we asked ect ect ect...

Now I'm just going to be straight foward here but please don't think I'm being mean or a jerk.

well all of my fish seem happy so i wouldn't say it wasn't a success

How your fish "seem" is ZERO indication of the condition of the tank/water and your status cycle wise.

and .5 is unreachable.. even if I do 75%, vac the gravel and everything it seems to ALWAYS be at 1.0....

.5 IS reachable...and sustainable... period.What you need to do is get some tap water,declorinate it and run the ammonia test on it.Let that be you baseline for zero.If you are at 1ppm and you change 50% it should move to .5....it really is that simple.
It is possible you have faulty kit as well.

I don't plan to add any others for a bit anyway

If you add more fish before you know the cycle is complete you are shooting yourself in the foot.Based on your most recent numbers I can't agree this is a success as of right now.Not saying it can't or won't be...just saying its not there yet.

I'm also going to point out three things that you have either ignored or misunderstood.These things are important until you test at positive for ammonia then 0,positive for nitrites and then 0,and finally positive for nothing but nitrates.Your results when cycled sould be 0/0/10 or 20 or so...

1.NO MORE FISH (did I mention that one already?)
2.No deep gravel vacs..lightly sweep the top to remove solids.
3.DO NOT remove clean or otherwise disturb the filter.

Number 1 will keep this as managable as possible.
2 and 3 are about letting the bacteria populate so the water will eventually test nothing but nitrates.

Anyhow,like I said...I'm not trying to be a jerk.I'm just being blunt and trying to help.This a great hobby and you found the worlds best web site for help imo.These guys know this stuff hands down and will help eveytime they can.

Can you post some updated results?I'm curiuos as to what all the numbers are....

Take care and best of luck,
Fatz

 

[Yeti]

I realize its been a bit for some pix, so here we go:

Side of my Pleco.. he's being more active now he comes out and eats when the lights are ON and swims around a bit then hides...

Here's my Lyretail Swordtail.. he is a floater/surface swimmer it seems...

And my two Mystery snails.. yeah I know they are going to explode with LOTS of snails.. Ill just give them away or whatever.. no biggie right now.. (the angel hasnt figured out they move yet haha)

 

[black hills tj]

lookin good!

 

[severum mama]

That's a really pretty swordtail.

*edit* for lack of reading....

I should have read your thread more closely. I really don't know how I missed that. SCFatz is a million percent correct with regards to his posts. I guess I just kinda figured that since it had been a while since your last post, that you had added the fish after cycling was complete.

The problem is, cycling isn't complete. When your tank is cycled, you will always have a 0 reading for ammonia and nitrites (both EXTREMELY toxic to fish). You will have some nitrate reading. Nitrates are much less toxic to fish, and this is what we seek to remove during routine water changes.

You absolutely should not add any more fish until you are sure the tank has cycled. Trust us on this one, as apparently Fatz and myself have both been down the same (incorrect) road. Unfortunately, you already have the fish, so you'll probably need to do DAILY 50% water changes to bring that ammonia level down. You'll need to keep ammonia under .5, and nitrite under .25. Change as much water as necessary to do so. I understand that you said that water changes won't bring the ammonia level down under 1.0. I don't mean to be rude, but that just means that you need to change more water... even if it means a 75% change as SCFatz suggested. Daily water changes are very important, as it is the only action you can take that will help your fish during the cycling process. Daily testing is essential as well during this time, to keep an eye on how cycling is coming along. Do not clean the filters or vacuum the gravel until you are sure that the tank has cycled.

Please, take our advice on this one. We are only trying to help you be as successful as you can be with your new tank. If you take our advice, this will go much more smoothly. JMO.

 

[SCFatz]

Hows the water testing?

A minicycle would include an ammonia spike as well as nitrates and possibly nitrites.That would be Fact.

I spent some time keying in that post (bad typer) earlier today...and I did it for all the right reasons.I guess we will both pretend its not there from here on out.

Best of luck!

 

[Yeti]

wow no matter what % of PWC i do the NH4 is ALWAYS 1.0... yeah I figure if 55galons is 1.0, then a pwc of 27.5 gallons in theory should bring it to .5.. (one divided by half is .5 right??) but Ive done 75% PWC damn near DAILY and its ALWAYS.. with a HUGE CAPITAL A always 1.0... i dont know what the heck.. and when I started I cycled the tank.. the ratings went all crazy and then I got all zeros with a little nitrate.. and then once the fish went in.. it was always 0 N02, 0 NO3, and 1.0 NH4... if you can figure out what the hell is going on, then kudos to you.. but ive tried lots of things.. PWCs, NH4 removing chemicals (although I didnt use anywhere NEAR the dose it told me to because I didnt want to disturb the conditions any more) I havent changed a filter or did any DEEP DEEP vacs of the gravel as of yet..

so quit saying that I am not listening to you.. Ive tried everything so far..

here just to make you people happy Im going to go do a 50% pwc.. and a water test.. I GUARENTEE it will be 0,0,1.0...

Edit: k heres the results after a damn near 65% PWC

Temp: 79
pH: 7.8
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
NH4: .. WTF..0 ppm FINALLY!! I didnt do anything different, just a larger water change than usual...

<Insert Foot In Mouth>

well its finally there.. now to maintain it.. I wasnt questioning your intelligence or anything, I was simply stating that I was already doing everything that everybody kept yelling at me to do.. and this time of course to make me look like an 455., it is 0 lol.. thanks though

 

[SCFatz]

well its finally there

Man you are really gonna start to hate me lol.

Its a good thing that the ammonia is low.It shouldn't be zero,but if its close enough to look like zero thats good for the fish.

Now this important.Right now you test at 0/0/0.Test it again for all 3 tomorrow.If its ammonia thats positive (it will be i think) then you are at the start of the cycle.IF it nitrites you are at the middle (or abouts)....if its ONLY nitrates the tank is cycled.

When the tank tests for nothing but nitrates,you will be "finally there".

Get us some new results tomorrow....regardless,we'll help you figure it all out.

Type to ya soon,
Fatz

 

[Yeti]

Okay I didnt do a PWC today but here's the results from the water test:

Temp: 79
pH: 7.8
NO2: .25
NO3: 0
NH4: 0

If I did a PWC this test It would have been 0's So according to what you say, im in the MIDDLE of a cycle.. well I guess thats better than the beginning

on a lighter note when I first added my swordtail he just floated in one spot and didnt move around much, only to eat and then back to the same spot.. a few times I had to look real close to see if he was alive.. Well now hes all over the place, he loves to swim through the bubbles and they shoot him to the top of the water and then he darts back down and does it again.. crazy lil bugger.. once im 'cycled' i guess Ill add some more of them.. maybe pair them!

Edit: Here's a video of my swordtail.. kinda big.. low quality though sorry was taken on my phone..
Click Here

My snails are crazy too and are all over cleaning my ruins and plants, they eat any misc algae flakes that are lying around.. should I up how many im putting in when I feed.. right now I break one in half for the snails, and toss a whole one by the pleco

 

[SCFatz]

well I guess thats better than the beginning

It is!Just keep testing and keep that number down.Having high nitrites is a fish killing situation.

Also,keeping the number low means less bacteria will have to grow to consume it...which will result in the eventual nitrates.

Keep us posted!

 

[Yeti]

well I guess thats better than the beginning

It is!Just keep testing and keep that number down.Having high nitrites is a fish killing situation.

Also,keeping the number low means less bacteria will have to grow to consume it...which will result in the eventual nitrates.

Keep us posted!

should I be doing huge PWCs daily to keep the NO2 down?

 

[severum mama]

Do whatever it takes to keep nitrite under .25 (as low as possible). Good luck!

 

[SCFatz]

Do whatever it takes to keep nitrite under .25 (as low as possible). Good luck!

Right.Big changes if you need em.Two back to back if you must (I had to do it a few times).

Keep in mind that the amount you feed will directly effect how fast the trites rise so keeping the feeding light will work in your favor.

 

[TwoHobbies]

Just a thought.....You're adding some kind of Conditioner (like prime) during these water changes....Right

 

[macman7010]

man the tank looks freakiN!!! awesome, but you need to keep that nitrite down, partial water changes or even using something like amequel would work at this point.