Ammonia Level, New Tank, Few questions!!

[j_mcgreggor]

OK I hope someone can help me....


I have a NEW 20 gallon tank. My PH level has constantly been at 8.0. I know it's a little high. It has been cycling since Thursday the 5th of November. So 5 days so far.

OK here is my problem. I am cycling with 4 zebra danios (I was told these are very hardy fish for this process) MY ammonia level is at .25-.50 and the fish seem to be doing fine. I am feeding LIGHTLY once a day. I still haven't gotten any Nitrite readings yet. Should I be worried about the Ammonia level at this point? I know I need ammonia for the bacteria. ALSO my PH level seems pretty high. I've been reading that a lot of tropical fish need 6.5-7.0 PH.

I also have a few live plants that I have planted. I'm sure they haven't established themselves in the tank yet. Is it a good idea to have new plants in there during this process??

ALSO! Do I need to do any water changes during the cycling process. I'm worried that the ammonia may kill the fish even though they still do not have any signs of distress.

THANK YOU SO much!!

[peanutbowl]

It seems that your ammonia level is on par with what you would normally see with a fish in cycle. Unfortunately, this is not the preferred method of cycling the tank. At this point you should read the sticky in this forum titled "getting help". Try to provide as much of that information as you can from the sticky as it will help everyone better help you. In the meantime, you should watch the video tutorials here....

http://www.fishtankforums.com/16-sit...tutorials.html (The Video Tutorials)

I'll take a stab at a few of your questions

Should I be worried about the Ammonia level at this point?

Yes. Ammonia is toxic to the fish and these levels should be controlled as much as possible through large water changes.

ALSO my PH level seems pretty high. I've been reading that a lot of tropical fish need 6.5-7.0 PH.

If you are interested in breeding, then yes, you'll have to figure out a way to adjust. For now, don't worry too much about it. Fish can adapt to the pH. And with a pH of 8.0, you are well buffered which is a good thing.

Is it a good idea to have new plants in there during this process??

In my opinion, yes. The plants will use up some of the ammonia in the tank, hopefully helping your fish.

That should answer some of your questions. Post again with some more info and we can try to help you out some more. Include what types of plants you have.

Most importantly, Welcome to the forum.

[j_mcgreggor]

See my biggest concern about the Ammonia is the cycle process. Don't you need ammonia so the bacteria has something to eat? Or will just regularly feeding the fish ( and their waste) be enough to trigger the process???

I tested again and still no sign of nitries. I did a 25% water change last night which lowered the ammonia to .25 . I have drops for the PH but many places say to keep it cause it may adjust itself in time. I personally don't like using too many chemicals if I don't need to.


Also on a happy note. My fish seem to be doing just fine. I've had them since Thur and no signs of ammonia poisoning.

What steps should I take at this point???

[peanutbowl]

Yes, the plants will use some ammonia to grow and compete with the beneficial bacteria essentially prolonging the cycle process. To get the full benefit you would want to load the tank with plants. A few plants may not provide a very effective service. Some planted tank folk have reported extremely mild cycles in tanks that are jam packed with plants.

At this point, you want to help your fish out by doing water changes every couple days. Don't let the ammonia get to very high levels or your fish will suffer greatly. Change water daily if need be. But as long as ammonia is present, the bacteria will grow to match.

I wouldn't try to adjust the pH with chemicals. There are other less dramatic ways to deal with that. For now, you seem to be in good shape. And generally, chemical adjustment is only temporary.

What steps should I take at this point???

i say again....

At this point you should read the sticky in this forum titled "getting help". Try to provide as much of that information as you can from the sticky as it will help everyone better help you. In the meantime, you should watch the video tutorials here....

Post again with some more info and we can try to help you out some more. Include what types of plants you have.

Good Luck!!

[Edicson]

im not sure if it still matters to you at this point, dont know if you finished cycling the tank or not, but here go my two cents...
when you are cycling and the ph is high the ammonia is less toxic to the fish, so high ph at that point might be a good thing. also sometimes during the cycling process ph would go up and down, depending what chemicals are in the water and how much of them. so it is better to not mess with the ph during cycling process.
if you have fish in the tank, i recommend (usually i dont like recommending any type of chemicals or any sort of thing to add to tanks, but...) something called biozyme. Its powder bacteria booster. it cost me less than $4 and has done wonders for me. i had to re-start tanks and using this they would be cycled in 7 days. usually after the 3 or 4 day you start seen nitrites. in a week cycle is done. so this would help the fish alot since they wont have to stay in poison for so long.
hope this helps