New aquarium owner

[Greg5530]

Ok no nitrites at this point, I will continue to be patient!

 

[jetajockey]

Yep, just keep being patient. Fishless cycling can take 4-6 weeks or more, just like a regular fish-in cycle. I don't like staring at empty tanks either so I fish-in cycle everything. Just hang in there and hopefully you'll see some movement soon.

 

[Greg5530]

Ok guys, I tested water tonight and Ammonia level has dropped between 1-2 and nitrites have started to show believe it was .25 ppm. Am I ready to put fish in or should I wait and dose ammonia levels back up to 4 ppm. And if I am ready to put fish in should I do a 50% water change and what is the best way to do a water change? Thanks again for any help!

 

[Andrew McFadden]

What is the nitRATES?

 

[Greg5530]

Nitrates are between 0-20

 

[Andrew McFadden]

I don't believe its ready so I would have to say dose it back up. But its getting closer for sure it should be able to change the ammonia to nitrite where both will read 0 but your trates will read something. I asked jetta to help us out here because he is like a pro when it comes to water quality stuff. But he is not online right now so I'd dose it up and wait (as I'm sure you need to) to see what he says. It won't hurt anything it just needs a little more time

 

[Greg5530]

Andrew, I just checked the levels again and ammonia level is at 1ppm, nitrites at about 1-2ppm and nitrate at about 20. I'm going to dose back up to 4 ppm and check back tomorrow? When I test using the test strips my gh is about a 60, I think that's kind of high should I even worry about that? Ph maintains a 7.5, I use the master kit for all my ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels so worry not lol. I must tell you I'm getting excited now and can't wait for the wife to stop nagging about the water lol.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

I never test gh so I wouldn't be concerned with it as for the ph it will be fine. Your filter is starting to build up the bacteria it needs so ot shouldn't take much longer. It is exciting when you have been waiting this long . I have never done a fishless cycle so that's why I asked jetta to tag along here. And the whole empty tank thing for weeks drives me crazy so I always do it fish in lol. But it is a lot more work everyday. But I've heard doing it fishless you'll have bacteria built as strong as stones lol. Plus with fish in if you don't stay with it constantly you could lose some fish.

 

[Greg5530]

Yea I know I lost a couple , ok so I'll report back tomorrow to see what has happened to the ammonia.

 

[Greg5530]

Andrew, I dosed ammonia back to 4ppm and today there is 0 ppm, nitrites at about 5ppm highest that is on the test kit. Nitrate is between 20-40. I dosed ammonia back up to 2ppm I don't want to starve the bacteria. What is next on the game plan?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Andrew, I dosed ammonia back to 4ppm and today there is 0 ppm, nitrites at about 5ppm highest that is on the test kit. Nitrate is between 20-40. I dosed ammonia back up to 2ppm I don't want to starve the bacteria. What is next on the game plan?

Have you started picking out fish yet? Your almost there those nitrites should turn to nitrate then water changes to lower the nitrates then fish. So your almost there yaaaaaa lol if you need help with fish stocking I'd start a new thread in freshwater section.

 

[Greg5530]

Ok so I should keep testing and wait until the nitrites disappear in to nitrates and then just keep doing water changes or do like one big water change. And also what is the best way to actually do a water change again I'm new to this and never even done any water change since I filled the tank.

 

[Greg5530]

And do I want to keep the ammonia levels up.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Ok so I should keep testing and wait until the nitrites disappear in to nitrates and then just keep doing water changes or do like one big water change. And also what is the best way to actually do a water change again I'm new to this and never even done any water change since I filled the tank.

This link shows you what we use to siphon the water out to do water changes. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&..._pw.r_qf.&fp=7642b631dcdbf977&biw=980&bih=588

You'll also want to pick up a clean 5 gallon bucket to drain enough water into to swish your filter into. This will save your bacteria and not kill and wash it away.

Now for dosing it back up just add a little bit to keep your bacteria fed. Eventually (very soon) the nitrite will become nitrates and you'll want to do a 75% water change and then test your water the next day. You should have then 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and below 40 for nitrates. If its not then a 50% water change is what you should need to do. If your water tests good after that you can add your fish. So is start planning on getting fish and figuring out what all you want within the next couple of days. If its going to be a long time before adding fish you'll need to dose very small amounts of ammonia till you add the fish. Just make sure before you add you test the water and do water changes as needed.

You should do 25-50% water changes weekly after adding fish to keep the chemistry correct.

I think that's it or at least all I can think of . Good luck with picking out the fish

 

[Greg5530]

Ok Andrew so right now I need to wait until nitrite disappears in to nitrate and the do water change to remove the nitrate or get it below 40. Then test next day and levels should be at ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 40 or below.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Ok Andrew so right now I need to wait until nitrite disappears in to nitrate and the do water change to remove the nitrate or get it below 40. Then test next day and levels should be at ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 40 or below.

Yep if its going to be awhile before getting fish just add a little of ammonia to keep it between 0-1

 

[Andrew McFadden]

How's it testing today?

 

[Greg5530]

i dosed it up to 2ppm last night before you told me only to dose between 0-1 and this morning ammonia was between .25 and .50. Nitrites are still through th roof and Nitrates are at 40 PPM. I went and bought a sypohen kit and a new bucket to do the water changes with. Now for the Filter you said something about buying a 5 gallon bucket and put the filter in that when doing water changes with water from the aquarium or new water sorry im a bit confused and dont want to have to start all over again. .

 

[Andrew McFadden]

I know its not easy to dose just try and keep as close to .25 .
50 but not over 1 as best as you can. Without the ammonia the nitrites will start going down but trates will start going up.


When you clean the tank for here on out once a week. You'll need to put the old water in the 5 gallon bucket then just shake the filter around in the old water so it doesn't kill the bacteria in it. When the filter looks to be falling apart then you need a new one try adding a new filter a couple days before you change the water. This way you shouldn't have what we call a mini cycle.

 

[Greg5530]

Ok so my fish tank is on the 2nd floor of the house I can bring the hose from out side all the way up to the room it is in but how would you go about adding the water conditioner? Prob stupid question but still had to ask