New to the Hobbie

[ChrisMerlino]

Hi, All.

I'm new to this hobby and hope to learn a lot on this forum. I currently have a 55 gallon freshwater tank which I'm embarrassed to say has been struggling because I listened to the "experts" over at PetSmart and added fish a week after filling the tank up and dumped in the jump-start bacteria. What a bloody shambles that was.

As of a week ago, I thought I was through the nitrogen cycle. NH3 and NO2 were at zero. NO3 was 10-20. PH was 6.8-7.0. I'm pretty sparing with the food. I feed them every other day and only what they eat in a few minutes. This lasted about a week, but now I have NH3 at .5. NO2 is still 0. NO3 is around 10. I'm not sure what to do since water changes might hinder the NO2 and NO3 growth. Any thoughts?


Chris

 

[dalto]

As of a week ago, I thought I was through the nitrogen cycle. NH3 and NO2 were at zero. NO3 was 10-20. PH was 6.8-7.0. I'm pretty sparing with the food. I feed them every other day and only what they eat in a few minutes. This lasted about a week, but now I have NH3 at .5. NO2 is still 0. NO3 is around 10. I'm not sure what to do since water changes might hinder the NO2 and NO3 growth. Any thoughts?

You have decide if you are prioritizing the speed of your cycle or the well being of the fish since Ammonia is fairly toxic.

Also, a water change might disrupt the cycle somewhat but I have never had them make a real massive difference. With fish-in cycling I usually do water changes frequently and I have never seen a significant increase in cycle time. It is pretty much always somewhere in the 4-6 week timeframe for me.

 

[ChrisMerlino]

Right. I'm at ten or eleven weeks and I have this ammonia spike after it was at zero. I changed 20% and the numbers are the same. I'll probably do another 20% tomorrow. What else can i do to reduce the ammonia?

 

[dalto]

Right. I'm at ten or eleven weeks and I have this ammonia spike after it was at zero. I changed 20% and the numbers are the same. I'll probably do another 20% tomorrow. What else can i do to reduce the ammonia?

You need to do a bigger water change or more frequent water changes. Removing 20% of the water only removes 20% of the ammonia.

 

[ChrisMerlino]

But won't that also cut the nitrites (already at zero) and nitrates (currently at 5-10)?

 

[dalto]

But won't that also cut the nitrites (already at zero) and nitrates (currently at 5-10)?

Yes, it will. In the case of nitrates water changes is how you remove them so it that is a good thing. In the case of nitrites, it will cut them in half but that shouldn't be a big problem. New ammonia is constantly being produced and converted into nitrites. Since yours is close to 0 it either means that you have not got far enough in the cycle for nitrite production to begin OR your nitrite converting bacteria are doing their job and converting the nitrite to nitrate as it is produced.