3 weeks into fish in cycling.

[Doodles_one]

Currently have a cycling fish tank approx 65L with 6 cardinal tetras and 1 angel.

Test results are.

0-.25ppm ammonia
0 nitrite
And 0 nitrate.

Is zero nitrate okay? Or should it be higher. We're only into the third week and new to this. Just wondering of the figures are looking good and if we can add another angel for the our 1 angel fish.


Cheers

 

[Nimo]

sound like you are just starting to show ammonia, keep a close eye on your readings first ammonia will go up then nitrites then you start seeing nitrates. You are gonna most likely have to do daily water changes to keep your levels as low as possible, and use water conditioner such as Prime with every change. I recommend prime because it removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia and it detoxifies nitrite and nitrate and provides a slime coat most others on the market don't do as much you end up using multiple chemicals to keep fish safe

 

[Nimo]

also when you use Prime it is a little more expensive than other chemicals but you don't have to use as much at each water change so it lasts longer and as I said before it takes care of every thing for the most part and you don't have to buy a bunch of other stuff so it saves you money in the long run. With a fish in cycle you are gonna be doing a lot of water changes to keep your little guys healthy and safe

 

[LyndaB]

As mentioned above, the cycle is ammonia which converts to nitrite which converts to nitrate.

You MUST do water changes to get that ammonia level down since you are doing a fish-in cycle.

Do NOT add any more fish until the tank is cycled.

In my opinion, this tank, which is smaller than 18 gallons, is too small for angelfish.

 

[Doodles_one]

Will ammonia show up in the third week of cycling though? We had a huge ammonia spike in the first to second week which nearly killed the angel but he some how fought it and survived. I thought being the third week the nitrite cycle would be well and truly going?

 

[Doodles_one]

To add to that. At that time we were doing 50% water change almost once a day and stopped feedin for a while.

 

[Nimo]

During cycling you will have hiccups, sounds like now you should be getting in to the nitty gritty of the cycle, my 30 gal did that when it started to cycle, now that it is moving again it should go ahead and cycle. Don't vac the substrate unless it gets really dirty because beneficial bacteria grows there as well as in the filter, If you have to vac, do surface cleaning only. keep up with water changes and you are on your way to a fully cycled tank

 

[LyndaB]

No food = no fish waste = stall in cycle.

Feed as usual, I would feed every other day myself, and then your cycle will move along.

Water changes are necessary whenever you have above .25 ppm ammonia. Once the ammonia converts to nitrite, and it's different with each tank as to how long it takes, then you still need to stay on top of water changes. Only when you have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites and <20 nitrates can you back off on the frequent water changes.

Also, there's an "edit" button with each post you make. If you have something to add, just hit the edit button and add to your post.

 

[Nimo]

Unless you can get some help seeding your tank it can take 8 weeks to fully cycle. Don't get discouraged just keep up water changes it will balance it self

 

[BBradbury]

Fish In Cycling

Currently have a cycling fish tank approx 65L with 6 cardinal tetras and 1 angel.

Test results are.

0-.25ppm ammonia
0 nitrite
And 0 nitrate.

Is zero nitrate okay? Or should it be higher. We're only into the third week and new to this. Just wondering of the figures are looking good and if we can add another angel for the our 1 angel fish.


Cheers

Hello D...

You don't need to be concerned with nitrates. They're at the tail end of the cycling process and at low levels, aren't toxic to your fish. This kind of cycling method is very simple. You just need to test the tank water daily for traces of ammonia or nitrites. If your test shows even a trace of either of these pollutants, then remove and replace 25 percent of the water. This will get the water properties back into the "safe zone".

As long as you carefully monitor the water chemistry, your fish will be fine.

B

 

[Doodles_one]

4th week into cycling now and our ammonia levels are up at around 6.0 ppm. Is this our ammonia spike? There's lots of crap on the bottom of the tank on the rocks. When we water change should we try get rid of it all. We did a water change the other day and there was lots of gunk floating around in the tank afterwards. Im not sure if we should vac it up or not.

 

[RedNeck]

6ppm??WATER CHANGE NOW! At least 50% now and 50% in a few hours....You HAVE to get that ammonia level down. You want to keep it under .50......I always did pwc when I got .25ppm when I was doing a fish in. I never even hit 6ppm during my fishless cycle.

 

[Nimo]

Definitely do 50% water change and vac some of the stuff off the top but don't stir up the substrate too much just get what is on top. Check ammonia again in about an hour or so if it is still extremely high do another large water change

 

[Doodles_one]

Alright. Cool. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks guys

 

[Nimo]

Be prepared for nitrites to climb quickly and nitrates just stay on top of water changes.

 

[Doodles_one]

So does this mean that it's really cycling now? Now that it's spiked that high after 4 weeks?

 

[jetajockey]

There's some great articles in the article section that outline the cycling process really well.

 

[Nimo]

Sounds like you are well under way with cycling now.It took my 60 gal 8 weeks to cycle. Keep up with water changes, probly will have to do them daily to keep levels minimized but at the end of all the work getting the cycle done it is well worth it.

 

[tamtam]

How often are you testing your water?
How often are you doing water changes?
You NEED to keep up with water changes, you should probably be doing them roughly 40% daily. With ammonia that high I'm surprised your fish are still alive. That is insane! You should not let your ammonia or nitrites go above .25, if they do then you need to do a water change.

Fish in cycles are not about spikes, if you were doing a fishless cycle then those spikes are fine but allowing these spikes will seriously harm your fish. You have to control these.

If you have so much junk in your rocks then vacuum them. There isn't a lot of BB in there and removing all that gunk is needed to help control your ammonia level. Once you get that waste under control switch off and do half your tank at a time if you are worried about effecting your BB. But from my understanding and research it shouldn't effect your cycle too much. The important thing is keeping your fish well and with built up waste it's going to throw your ammonia through the roof.

jeta mentioned those articles and they will really help you understand what is going on in your tank. At the very least check out these two
I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice
and
Fish-in Cycling: Step over into the dark side - Aquarium Advice

I can't stress enough the need to keep up on water changes and watching your levels. These are SO important

 

[Doodles_one]

Hey guys. It's about the 5th week now. It seem like nitrites aren't registering on my water test.

My ammonia is around .25 - .50 with daily water changes. Nitrites aren't registering and neither are nitrates. It's the 5th week so it seems really odd to me. Any suggestions on why?