fish in cycle advise

[tinxy]

hi guys ive had my tank running for two weeks now and really need some advise

i started my tank up with tap safe as per the instructions and some bio starter and the tank water was cristal clear all the gravel was washed twice and the next day i came home to see my missus had added 2 goldfish strait into the tank within 10 hours the water was really cloudy and i emptyd the tank to start from fresh cleaning all the gravel again and did the same process again ,but i added the goldfish back in as i cleverly stood on the goldfish tank and broke it .

again the next morning the water had become really cloudy again ,i took advise from the local fish store as was told to just leave the tank as it is and it would clear up ,
It did begin to get better and then turned into a visible cloud that you can see moving around the tank .


today i bough a testing kit so i can work out whats going on and have found out on this site how wrong i started so ive removed the goldfish and am gusseing that the goldfish will have given me a nice amonia starter for my now fishless cycle ..


but i have
no nitrate
no nitrite
and between 0.25 and 0.00 ppm amonia
can anyone help explain whats going on and what steps i should take as im unsure what to do but really dont want to back to square one and empty the tank again

any help to this complete noob would be greatly apreciated cheers james

 

[stingrays4]

Hi and welcome to the forum now to your problem The goldfish would give you a start on the cycle but you still need to add a source of ammonia. I use waterlifes bio mature - plain simple and almost foolproof? There is a guide on here somewhere but me not been on this site long either Good luck

 

[tinxy]

ahh thanks pal i was under the impression the goldfish would produce plenty of amonia as they defacate alot cheers james

 

[jlk]

How big is your tank and what type of goldfish are they? Are you trying to do a fish-in cycle (with the goldfish) or a fishless cycle? I do not believe your tank is cycled yet. Please read up on cycling-there is ALOT of great advice here!!! Im not sure how to post the links but im sure someone will soon! For right now, daily water changes are essential to keeping your fish alive and well if you are keeping them. Daily testing of your water parameters (amm, nitrite, nitrate) will also be necessary. What type of testing media are you using (strips or liquid)? If you are doing a fishless cycle, you will need a source of ammonia to feed your bacteria daily. Please let us know if you are doing fish-in or fishless so we can better help you!!

 

[epiphysis]

Here you go:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html

 

[tinxy]

rite cheers for the link when i first put the fish in i had no idea of cycles then i read up on them loads and have got myself confused and dont know what would be quicker to cycle the tank fish in or fishless .ive halready had the fish in for two weeks so far .im using a liquid test as was told the strips are crap .

my tank is 125 liter juwel with the bioflow 400 filter + a air difuser .

my aim is a tropical fish tank and i have removed the goldfish because i am woried about diseases as there just ones that i won at a fair and also have no idea what type they are .

ive kept the temp below 70 as i read its better for the bacteria growth ,


im after advise as to what you guys rekon the best way to go about this is do i
start again full fishless cycle
carry on with the fish in the tank
carry on but leave the fish out and start adding amonia
also with so low amonia and no nitrate or nitrite what has caused my cloudyness if it isnt a bacteria bloom cheers james

 

[librarygirl]

rite cheers for the link when i first put the fish in i had no idea of cycles then i read up on them loads and have got myself confused and dont know what would be quicker to cycle the tank fish in or fishless .ive halready had the fish in for two weeks so far .im using a liquid test as was told the strips are crap .

my tank is 125 liter juwel with the bioflow 400 filter + a air difuser .

my aim is a tropical fish tank and i have removed the goldfish because i am woried about diseases as there just ones that i won at a fair and also have no idea what type they are .

ive kept the temp below 70 as i read its better for the bacteria growth ,


im after advise as to what you guys rekon the best way to go about this is do i
start again full fishless cycle
carry on with the fish in the tank
carry on but leave the fish out and start adding amonia
also with so low amonia and no nitrate or nitrite what has caused my cloudyness if it isnt a bacteria bloom cheers james

So what happened to the goldfish? Did someone with a tank take them or do you still have them? If you still have them, what do you have them in? This is important.

Fish-in cycles and fishless cycles take about the same amount of time. Fish-in cycles are just harder on the fish (b/c of toxins in the water) and you b/c of the water changes you need to do to keep water safe for the fish.

If you still have the fish you may as well put them in the tank and do a fish-in cycle. Whatever you have them in now is still going to be an issue for them b/c as they pee and poo they are going to produce ammonia which is toxic. So you may as well have them in the tank. If you gave them away and don't have any fish then you can do a fishless cycle.

There are two links in my signature: new tank with fish (read this if you still have the goldfish) and new empty tank (read this if you dont' have the goldfish). Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[jlk]

Ok-lets try to help you out! Goldfish from the fair are typically common goldfish. If you want a tropical tank, they wont work (goldfish are coldwater fish). They also grow to be quite large and really need a pond environment. Fishless cycling is the most humane way to go but fishin cycling is not impossible either. If you have a way to rehome the goldfish, i would continue with a fishless cycle using ammonia as your source of food for the bacteria. Please read the link and ask away with questions! I dont believe you need to start from scratch and clean everything (unless the fish were sick) but just start with dosing ammonia daily (up to 4ppm) until you start to see nitrites. Then continue dosing daily until amm & nitrites come up zero and you have an excess of nitrates. That means your tank is cycled and the proper bacteria have grown to convert amm>nitrite>nitrate. You remove the nitrates through water changes until they are below 20ppm. I believe turning up the heat a bit actually helps speed up the process (someone correct me here if i am wrong?) rather than turning it down. I hope this helps a bit! Can anyone else advise here???

 

[tinxy]

thanks so far guys its helping me work out whats really going on, the goldfish have been put in a goldfish bowl with a air stone and i do a little water change every few days but with out sounding horible im not hugely fussed on there future one of my missus mates offered to pick them up this week end and have them for her tank . also ive been round loads of pet stores asking for pure amonia but none have herd of this method or sell it and all keep trying to sell me products that get rid of amonia so you can add fish strait away ,but after reading all the advise on here iwould much rather do a full cycle first ,
cheers james

 

[librarygirl]

thanks so far guys its helping me work out whats really going on, the goldfish have been put in a goldfish bowl with a air stone and i do a little water change every few days but with out sounding horible im not hugely fussed on there future one of my missus mates offered to pick them up this week end and have them for her tank . also ive been round loads of pet stores asking for pure amonia but none have herd of this method or sell it and all keep trying to sell me products that get rid of amonia so you can add fish strait away ,but after reading all the advise on here iwould much rather do a full cycle first ,
cheers james

I'd take the fish out of the bowls and put them in the tank. The bowls are really not fair for them as they have no room and the smaller amount of water will grow toxic more quickly than the tank. Even if you aren't going to keep them, for their health I'd move them to the tank and do 50% water changes daily until your friend can pick them up.

Pet/fish stores either won't acknowledge fishless cycling (some aren't even allowed to do so) or they don't know about it. You'll need to get the ammonia from a hardware store; ACE Hardware brand is best but any pure ammonia will do as long as there are no surfectants/dyes/perfumes listed in the ingredients on the bottle and as long as it doesn't foam when you shake it. If you're in doubt, as about the brand on here and we can let you know if it's the right stuff.

What size tank does your friend have, do you know? I'd ask him/her for some filter media or something from her tank (filter media is best if s/he can spare it without throwing their own tank into a mini-cycle) that will help kick-start your cycle.

 

[jlk]

Just a note on Ace Hardware ammonia-if you dont have an Ace Hardware near you, Amazon sells Ace Hardware brand ammonia (10% janitorial strength). I think its the best ammonia out there for cycling. Other brands may not list 'additional' ingredients and you are taking a chance using them. Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[tinxy]

updAte i now have 9.5 % ammonia with no additives except water its from a uk chain called homebase and have seen online that others have used it sucessfully also checked and shook the bottle no foam what so ever ,
so i want to aim for 4 ppm yes ? and how soon do i test to check this after adding the ammonia and i have read up that i need to check whats goin on after 24 hours for nitrate and nitrite and top up the amonia as neccesary

"also if its worth telling you i have her api master test kit not sure weather it makes a difference or even if this kit is any good "

thanks for the help and advise so far guys cheers james

 

[tinxy]

ammonia now at 4ppm so fingerers crossed tomorrow i should have maybe a little activity as ive had my tank running for two weeks already cheers james

 

[tinxy]

also juat about to drop in some seeded gravel from a work mates tank should help speed things up so i gather

 

[tinxy]

first test showed a small drop in ammonia .25ppm aof nitrite and 0 nitrate so somthing is happening james

 

[jlk]

Glad to hear things are starting progress! Keep us posted!

 

[tinxy]

test now shows 2ppm of ammonia .3 of nitrite halfway beteen the 2 so quessed at .3 and between o a 5 ppm of nitrate so it is being converted yay , just waiting on my nitrite spike now keeping a close eye on it

cheers for the help and kind words people
james

 

[librarygirl]

Nitrites and nitrates are a good sign. Sounds like things should take off.

 

[tinxy]

now seems to show 2 to 3 ppm of amonia like its gone up slightly ???? but nitrite now on 5 ppm and about to go off the scale and nitrate is starting to get a gold tinge instead of yellow so nearing 5 ppm things seem to be going well ,

do i keep the ammonia at this level or let it drop to zero the refeed again cheers james

 

[librarygirl]

It's difficult to tell the difference between the greens on the API kit and in different light you can see different colors. It shouldn't have risen so I'm guessing it's just a testing error. I'd let it go another day and see how much it drops.