Hello all, I'm new here...

[Autopsywoman]

I am making the requisite introduction (as requested). My name is Amber, and I'm a fishoholic. My husband and I are trying to get our 55 gal. tank to "normalize" as it has been rather neurotic of late. We had 4 comets, which we recently found a new home for. The tank was in a state of disarray (bad ammonia and nitrates!) so we recycled it. We waited for about 3 weeks and finally got a normal chemical test (0 nitrites, 0 ammonias, 20 nitrates, pH 7.0) so we were told it was safe to get new fish. We got 8 varying types of tetras to school together. They have been in the tank now for 2 days and the chemistry is going wacky again. So, that is why I'm here - to get help with that.

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard Amber.

 

[Zagz]

Welcome to AA!

 

[neilanh]

Welcome to AA!

In order for your tank to cycle, you need to supply it with an ammonia source. It appears, from your post, that you just let the tank sit for 3 weeks. This doesn't help anything to build up the good bacteria that you need in your tank. So, now that you've added fish again, they're creating waste (which turns to ammonia) and your cycle is just starting.

Please read the article, linked in my sig below, about the nitrogen cycle. This will explain it.

 

[laxpatrick]

Welcome!

 

[Autopsywoman]

Oh, it wasn't just sitting - we had a Pleco in there the whole time. We were feeding him and he was creating waste. And we had been testing the ammonias and they had gone up to a high point and then come down again, as well as the nitrites, nitrates... that is why we assumed that it had cycled again. We also have plants in there, and we had used some of the beneficial bacteria supplement that was recommended to us by a fish dept. person (not sure if that was good or not). In any event, our tank seems to like to cycle continuously because even before we tried to recycle it, it was constantly going through ammonia spikes, and then nitrate spikes. The pet store told us it was because of the comets (he said they produce alot of ammonia...). In any event, now we are doing constant water changes to keep the poor fish alive.

 

[Autopsywoman]

Thank you everybody.

 

[FishyLuva]

Welcome to AA!