new tank doing a fishless cycle - first time

[HeatherW]

thanks guys! I found 4 more polka dot loaches at the fish store today so a scooped them up! haha who wants to pay shipping when you don't have to. these guys look nice. So I think i am "maxed" out now. my hubby thinks maybe there are too many rainbows - we will see.

I will get him to pull out the good camera tomorrow and snap some nice photos for me.

 

[HeatherW]

tank pictures

a few pics of my tank - not on the good camera, but at least it is something

a couple of the front of the tank

 

[HeatherW]

more pics

a side view of my tank and a couple of my rams

 

[jlk]

Looks great, Heather!!!!

 

[HeatherW]

OK, and another update on my water... still kicking out the nitrites (.35ppm today) hope it adjusts soon

 

[librarygirl]

OK, and another update on my water... still kicking out the nitrites (.35ppm today) hope it adjusts soon

Congrats on the fish! Looks great! Just do some extra water changes when you see nitrites, hopefully it'll adjust in a few days. Good luck!

 

[HeatherW]

well I guess I am not completely cycled!

tested the water today and I am definitely doing a nitrite spike.
temp 79.9
amm - 0
Nitrite - 2
PH - 7.6

so over the course of the day I have done 3 50% PWCs. I also added a couple pieces of shale for my rams and some java moss (or at least that is what I think it is)
hopefully my bacteria will kick in and start doing their thing!

 

[HeatherW]

Guess we are now doing a Fish IN cycle

Well, I guess my tank was not really cycled. After 3 50% PWCs yesterday I checked the water again today.
temp - 79.9
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 2
PH - 7.6
Nitrate - 30

so I just did 2 back to back PWCs. I now have a question about my filter media. what should I be doing with it while I am doing my PWCs? on my smaller tanks it is not a big deal because it doesn't take that long to empty and refill, but on the 90 gallon... well it takes a while to get it all done, and then I am supposed to wait another 15-20 minutes to let the dechlorinator finish up before I turn the filters back on. how long is too long to let the filter media just sit there while I am changing everything out?

 

[jlk]

They should be fine while you doing a water change! I just wouldnt take an extended lunch break while doing the change. I forget what type of filters you have, but most filters stay atleast partially (if not completely) full of water when you turn them off. Hopefully, your nitrite issue will straighten itself out very soon!! Im sorry this happened!!

 

[HeatherW]

They should be fine while you doing a water change! I just wouldnt take an extended lunch break while doing the change. I forget what type of filters you have, but most filters stay atleast partially (if not completely) full of water when you turn them off. Hopefully, your nitrite issue will straighten itself out very soon!! Im sorry this happened!!

i have two aquaclear 110s that I am running. the top part with the little ceramic rings (biomax i think they call it) is not under water for sure. not sure about the sponge stuff. but you think it will be ok? I think it might be a total of an hour... is that OK? I will have to time it next time

 

[HeatherW]

so i just tested again (to see how the water changes went) and now I am at .5ppm
should I leave it until tomorrow or test again later? do another set of water changes??

 

[jlk]

If your using Prime, you should be fine until tommorrow. Obviously, if your fish seem in any kind of distress, i would consider another pwc.

 

[HeatherW]

well I let it go for the dya. retested water today
temp - 80.2
amm - either 0 or maybe .25 (hard to read)
nitrite - 2
PH - 7.6
I did 2 back to back water changes again today. any idea how long this is going to go on? do I have several weeks of this nitrite spike or am I close to the "wake up one day and they are all gone" point. I will say on a positive note I am getting pretty good at doing PWCs on the 90 as well.

 

[jlk]

Hopefully, this is short-lived!!

 

[HeatherW]

still kicking out the 2ppm of nitrites... more water changes... now I can't tell if I have a trace of ammonia in there or not... all the colors are starting to blur together again. at first I say none, then the longer I look at it the more it looks like there might be some in there after all. I guess it really doesn't matter because I am changing out the water anyway.

could I be reading ammonia now? I know my filtration is good and I didn't think I had too many fish...
90 gallon tank, running 2 aquaclear 110s.
10 rainbows (5 bosemani, 5 turquoise)
15 harlequein rasboras
6 polka dot loach
2 rams
2 molly
1 dwarf gourami

 

[HeatherW]

things are definitley looking better! teted today:
temp - 80.8
ammonia - 0
nitrite - .25
PH - 7.6

so do I need to do a PWC today or can I let it go?

 

[jlk]

What a relief!! No, you fine to skip the wc today- the Prime can handle this amount of nitrites. Im glad things are stabilizing!!

 

[HeatherW]

What a relief!! No, you fine to skip the wc today- the Prime can handle this amount of nitrites. Im glad things are stabilizing!!

yay! I was hoping it would be ok. I hope this means that maybe tomorrow all will be gone and I will finally be fully cycled.

thanks for all your help!!

 

[HeatherW]

finally cycled!!

yay! it worked!! finally! I am officially cycled! I am sure of it, but will continue to check my water daily for a while - kinda nervous about it still.

thank you to all who helped me through this! I was worried there for a while that this was not going to work and that maybe I had messed things up somehow. but the good news is everything is looking good.

temp 81.3
ammonia -0
nitrites -0
PH - 7.6

I will check the nitrates in another day or two.
had a scare last night about my loaches and I am watching one of my rainbows (swimming at the top) but I KNOW it is not my water. I checked the nitrites last night when I was worried about my fish and saw that the nitrites were at 0 so I tried to relax and know that everything was fine. hopefully this fish will pull through but I am sure the water is not an issue... after all I have been doing lots of water changes since he arrived and now everything is at 0 like it should be!

and... my rams laid eggs yeserday. here are a couple of pics of the eggs. not the best, i know but they are kinda hidden back in there

 

[jlk]

I am VERY glad everything is back to normal!! Good work staying on top of your water changes & keeping everybody healthy during this bump in the road! Your rams are indicative of healthy water because they spawned- most fish dont bother wasting energy on reproduction if conditions arent ideal. Great job, Heather!