My Tank is Cycling - Still confused!!!

Cichlids4Ever · 10-23-2006, 12:40 PM

hi folks....
I have read everything there is to read on cycling and I am still confused about my situation.

I added gravel and ornaments from my existing aquarium.
I did one water change in the 8 days I have it set up.
Here's where I am at.

GH & KH are 100 - (good for cichlids)
PH = 8.2 (good for cichlids)
nitrite=.25
ammonia= under .25 - nearly zero.
nitrate= there was just a slight trace if my eyes serve me correctly.

So, I know what the goal is, but what do I do?
Change water or not?
My computer was down so I had to ask people at pet stores and I am getting mixed answers. Some say 10% water change until cycle is done, and others say don't change water.
I was also told to add stress zyme or birospira since I didn't do the fishless cycling method.
Sorry if this is a duplicate post, but I need to know what my next move is. Right now I see no danger to the fish. Things look pretty good to me

Jay · 10-23-2006, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Right now I see no danger to the fish. Things look pretty good to me

me too!

Water changes should be used to reduce toxic spikes, you are showing just trace. IMO things are moving along.

Regards,
Jay

Cichlids4Ever · 10-23-2006, 04:17 PM

Thanks Jay!
I hate to be a bother.
My problem was not being able to find ammonia, and being SO far from town, I went ahead and stocked my tank knowing what I could be in for.
Maybe because the fish are small and I have high water volume I may luck out.
I'll be posting back when things settle down.

Tommy Gun · 10-23-2006, 05:18 PM

Cichlids4ever,

Just remind me once, you did have an ammonia spike previously and now you are showing lower nitrite readings than before?

If that is the case, (ammonia has risen and fallen, and nitrites have risen and fallen) then your tank is definetly doing good. According to my test booklets, you will be ok once you have had the rising and falling ammonia and nitrites have risen and fallen to anything below 0.30 ml/L (ppm).

Cichlids4Ever · 10-24-2006, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tommy Gun

Cichlids4ever,

Just remind me once, you did have an ammonia spike previously and now you are showing lower nitrite readings than before?

If that is the case, (ammonia has risen and fallen, and nitrites have risen and fallen) then your tank is definetly doing good. According to my test booklets, you will be ok once you have had the rising and falling ammonia and nitrites have risen and fallen to anything below 0.30 ml/L (ppm).

Tommy,
No,
I never had any high ammonia or anything else.
Up until this morning, ammonia was barely a trace, and nitrite was about .25.
I just took readings this morning and the ammonia is up to between .25 and .50, the nitrites are at .50, and I even see traces of nitrates at about 5.0

What do you think?
Am I still safe or should I pull some water out?

gm333 · 10-24-2006, 11:34 PM

Watch your fish real well, you can tell if they are extremely stressed pumping gills, shaking, laying on bottom. The more waterchanges you do the longer you prolong the cycling. What fish have you stocked so far?

Cichlids4Ever · 10-25-2006, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gm333

Watch your fish real well, you can tell if they are extremely stressed pumping gills, shaking, laying on bottom. The more waterchanges you do the longer you prolong the cycling. What fish have you stocked so far?

The types of fish I have are listed in my signature below.
The ones listed in the 135 gallon tank.
They are showing no stress signs yet, but I am not confident they will get through this.
P.S. This mornings water parameters have changed.
I am now getting 1.0 for nitrites, my ammonia is now at ZERO!
And I have 5.0 nitrates.
I know nitrites are lethal to fish also, but it looks to me that these readings are OK???

gm333 · 10-25-2006, 04:53 PM

Sorry, just came on to the scene, the fish you have listed are hardy fish, so they will probably make it just fine. It is good that the ammonia reading is at 0, the nitrites is not good, but ok if they dont go any higher, it should start coming down if your ammonia is definitly down to 0. The nitrates should not bother the fish for the short time it will be high. If the fish do seem to be stressing dont hesitate to do a waterchange, better to prolong the cycle than having the fish die.

Cichlids4Ever · 10-25-2006, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gm333

Sorry, just came on to the scene, the fish you have listed are hardy fish, so they will probably make it just fine. It is good that the ammonia reading is at 0, the nitrites is not good, but ok if they dont go any higher, it should start coming down if your ammonia is definitly down to 0. The nitrates should not bother the fish for the short time it will be high. If the fish do seem to be stressing dont hesitate to do a waterchange, better to prolong the cycle than having the fish die.

GM,
Things are looking good. The nitrites have actually decreased slightly since my last post.
Still zero ammonia and 5 nitrates, which I hear is perfect.

I guess my final questions would be:
1. If the nitrites continue to fall and eventually hit zero, how long after that do I start regular weekly water changes? My water is still cloudy.
2. At what point do I do filter maintenance?

These questions are very important because I wouldn't want to have my cycle crash!

Thanks for your input!

gm333 · 10-25-2006, 10:21 PM

After the nitrites hit zero and the nitrates are still falling rapidly wait till the nitrates even up or fall to zero (perfect nitrates are 0) then you can do a waterchange. I do 20-30% waterchanges every week on all my tanks. Find a schedule that works good for you, at least 30% every 2 weeks. As far as filter maintenance I only clean my floss material every couple of weeks. I keep lots of ceramic media in my tanks and they only need to be rinsed with tank water when they start to get slimy looking. Dont clean the gravel and filters the same week. This tends to drastically reduce your bacteria levels causing problems.