newatsalt
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hello to all. My name is Tim and I am new to this community. I have a really big problem that needs freshwater aquarists expert opinions to rectify my problem.
First of all, my wife bought my son a 29 gallon aquarium. She didn't know any better and basically set it up and started stocking it with 7 fish. She put the proper water conditioner in and that day she an my son were out buying fish. I have been away on business for 2 weeks and came home to a major ammonia problem.
For the past 2 weeks, I have been doing a daily 25% water change. I have been using Prime to detoxify and dechlorinate the water. Somehow, these fish are staying alive, however, after doing the water changes, the ammonia spikes to between 1 and 2 overnight.
I have been testing for nitrites and there are none present whatsoever, so at this point (a total of 4 weeks the tank has been setup) I am still spinning my tires. I have even added stress zyme or quickstart to the tank for the beneficial bacteria and nothing. I also have a marineland bio wheel filter.
My question to you all,
1) am I prohibiting the nitrifying bacteria from growing doing a daily water change?
2) What is the common practice of jumpstarting a fish cycle tank? I do know with fish in the tank, they are creating fish waste and ammonia. How do I convert that ammonia into nitrites?
At this point, I am at a loss. Any advice would help.
Thank you in advance,
TIm
First of all, my wife bought my son a 29 gallon aquarium. She didn't know any better and basically set it up and started stocking it with 7 fish. She put the proper water conditioner in and that day she an my son were out buying fish. I have been away on business for 2 weeks and came home to a major ammonia problem.
For the past 2 weeks, I have been doing a daily 25% water change. I have been using Prime to detoxify and dechlorinate the water. Somehow, these fish are staying alive, however, after doing the water changes, the ammonia spikes to between 1 and 2 overnight.
I have been testing for nitrites and there are none present whatsoever, so at this point (a total of 4 weeks the tank has been setup) I am still spinning my tires. I have even added stress zyme or quickstart to the tank for the beneficial bacteria and nothing. I also have a marineland bio wheel filter.
My question to you all,
1) am I prohibiting the nitrifying bacteria from growing doing a daily water change?
2) What is the common practice of jumpstarting a fish cycle tank? I do know with fish in the tank, they are creating fish waste and ammonia. How do I convert that ammonia into nitrites?
At this point, I am at a loss. Any advice would help.
Thank you in advance,
TIm