animallover09
Aquarium Advice Activist
Last Thursday I started a ten gallon tank with new sand in it. I took four ornaments from my already cycled 50 gallon tank and put them in my 10 gallon in hopes of cycling it faster. I put tap water into the tank Thursday and let it sit until Sunday to help the sand settle and get the extra particles out.
Now, I know what everyone is going to say "Shame on me" but I started my tank with Tetra's SafeStart. But for my 50 gallon cichlid tank that I started a couple of months ago, the SafeStart worked just fine. So before I went to get my fish on Sunday, I put in the SafeStart. Now I am kinda of wishing I would have just done a fishless cycle. However, it's too late for that, which is why I am asking for advice.
Here is what's in my tank:
Tetra Whisper 10-30 filter
Black Sand
4 ornaments from my already cycled tank
Heater (78 degrees)
Light
Airstone
Japanese Moss Ball
Egeria densa plant
List of fish:
2 male guppies
Longfin Zebra Danio
Longfin Leopard Danio
Longfin Gold Danio
3 White Skirt Tetra's
~7 or 8 baby snails (1 snail died) (I can't find the rest-they stay hid)
2 ghost shrimp (I had 3 but one died)
Levels:
Ammonia 0.50 ppm
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20 ppm
pH 8.0
Yes, I realize that these levels aren't good for the fish and I am trying to do everything I can to get these levels safe. But everything I have tried isn't working. The ammonia has flutuated between 0.50 and 0.25. The nitrites have always been 0 and the nitrates have fluctuated between 20 and 5.0. The pH has been high and I've tried putting in some pH regulator to get it to 7 but I don't guess it worked.
After seeing that the SafeStart didn't work, I added the rest of the bottle after I bought the fish in hopes that it would work the second time. Wrong. So in order to get the ammonia down, I have been adding Prime (which I've only done about 3 times). Which lowers the levels a little. Should I keep adding more Prime to get the ammonia down? Should I do a water change? Should I rinse the filter media? I'm not sure what to do and I don't want any of the fish dying.
I've put in 2 algae wafers since I got the fish in hopes of keeping the rest of my snails and ghost shrimp alive. I'm not sure if this is hurting or helping the cycle.
The fish seem to be doing just fine. All are eating and swimming around. One white skirt tetra seemed to be stressed yesterday but I noticed another white skirt picking on him so that may have been the cause. He seems fine today.
Please help! I'm stuck on what to do!
Now, I know what everyone is going to say "Shame on me" but I started my tank with Tetra's SafeStart. But for my 50 gallon cichlid tank that I started a couple of months ago, the SafeStart worked just fine. So before I went to get my fish on Sunday, I put in the SafeStart. Now I am kinda of wishing I would have just done a fishless cycle. However, it's too late for that, which is why I am asking for advice.
Here is what's in my tank:
Tetra Whisper 10-30 filter
Black Sand
4 ornaments from my already cycled tank
Heater (78 degrees)
Light
Airstone
Japanese Moss Ball
Egeria densa plant
List of fish:
2 male guppies
Longfin Zebra Danio
Longfin Leopard Danio
Longfin Gold Danio
3 White Skirt Tetra's
~7 or 8 baby snails (1 snail died) (I can't find the rest-they stay hid)
2 ghost shrimp (I had 3 but one died)
Levels:
Ammonia 0.50 ppm
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20 ppm
pH 8.0
Yes, I realize that these levels aren't good for the fish and I am trying to do everything I can to get these levels safe. But everything I have tried isn't working. The ammonia has flutuated between 0.50 and 0.25. The nitrites have always been 0 and the nitrates have fluctuated between 20 and 5.0. The pH has been high and I've tried putting in some pH regulator to get it to 7 but I don't guess it worked.
After seeing that the SafeStart didn't work, I added the rest of the bottle after I bought the fish in hopes that it would work the second time. Wrong. So in order to get the ammonia down, I have been adding Prime (which I've only done about 3 times). Which lowers the levels a little. Should I keep adding more Prime to get the ammonia down? Should I do a water change? Should I rinse the filter media? I'm not sure what to do and I don't want any of the fish dying.
I've put in 2 algae wafers since I got the fish in hopes of keeping the rest of my snails and ghost shrimp alive. I'm not sure if this is hurting or helping the cycle.
The fish seem to be doing just fine. All are eating and swimming around. One white skirt tetra seemed to be stressed yesterday but I noticed another white skirt picking on him so that may have been the cause. He seems fine today.
Please help! I'm stuck on what to do!