Am I cycled?

[Meeko]

Me again! And boy am I excited...

API test kit is reading today....

pH: 6.8
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0 !!!!
nitrate: its an orange colour and hard to say so between 10-25

Am I cycled? and if I am, is it possible that those 2 water changes brought the nitrates down and that is why they are only 10-25ppm and not higher?

So before I go add fish, just to make sure, should I add another dose of ammonia to make sure it all goes through in 24 hours ?

 

[Colin_T]

Whilst your name looks familiar I can't remember what has happened in your tank.

If the tank has been set up for a month or so and you had ammonia and nitrite and they went up and down, and now you have nitrates, then get some fish. Do not bother adding any ammonia.

You can do another big water change today and add the fish tomorrow. This will reduce the nitrates even further and the fish will have a nice clean tank to live in

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Now the big question is, what fish are you getting?

 

[Meeko]

Its in the other thread I posted in this forum but we will just put it down to old age

I am not sure what to start with, maybe a school?

 

[Colin_T]

lol, most people know what fish they want before they set up the tank, You set up the tank, did the filtration and don't know what you want to keep

 

[Essjay]

First a quick summary from the other thread:
Meeko had been adding 4 ppm ammonia every time it dropped to zero with the result that nitrite and nitrate were so high the cycled stalled. He/she did water changes to get the levels down.

But now we need to know - after the water changes did you add more ammonia? The only way you can know if the cycle is complete is by adding 3 ppm ammonia and testing for both ammonia and nitrite 24 hours later. If they are both zero, the tank is cycled. If one, the other or both are not zero, the tank is not cycled.

 

[Meeko]

Nah I let it sit 2 days to allow the bacteria to catch up since the levels were so high.

I'm just heading to the LFS to buy some fish. Going to purely go on impulse with a quick search on google open.

 

[Colin_T]

Don't buy dwarf gouramis (Trichogaster lalius) or any colour form of them. They are riddled with diseases and never last long.

Don't get any fish from a tank if any fish in that tank have clamped fins, spots, are breathing heavily, or are rubbing on objects.

If you want fish with long flowing fins, do not get serpae tetras, black widow tetras, beunos aires tetras or tiger barbs.

If you want tetras or barbs get at least 6 of each species, preferably more.

 

[Essjay]

Since the tank is probably not cycled yet, make sure you measure ammonia and nitrite at least once every day after you get fish, and do a water change every time you see either of them above zero.

Since you had to do water changes to get nitrite down it is very unlikely you have enough nitrite eaters to cope with fish, unless you buy only a very few fish to start with and get more only when both ammonia and nitrite have stayed at zero for at least a week without having to do water changes to get them down. And test every day after each batch of new fish. Only when both have stayed at zero for a week after buying the final fish can you stop testing every day.

 

[Meeko]

I have now have 6 Harlequin Rasbora in the tank, one seemed really shy at first and went and hid in the wood but he has come out now and they are happily swimming away

Don't have the lights on so can't get a good pic just now but they all seem healthy and stress free. I followed the correct procedure for acclimating and adding them before someone asks.

Cool little fish, will give it a week or two and if there are no issues I will add another 4/5.

 

[Essjay]

I have the related Espe's rasboras and when I first got them they just huddled together in the back corner. Then I read on here that all the Trigonostigma rasboras (Espe's, hengel's and harlequins) don't like bright light. Having read Byron's recommendation of water sprite as a floating plant I bought some. As the water sprite covered more and more of the surface, the rasboras came out of the corner but only as far as the edge of the floating plants.

Based on my experience, I would strongly advise you to get some floating plants, there are several different types. They will do two things - provide shade for the rasboras and use the ammonia they make as fertiliser, leaving a smaller amount to be converted into nitrite.
And if you do get any gouramis as you mentioned in another thread, they too appreciate floating plants.

 

[Colin_T]

Don't take this the wrong way but every shop has its own methods for adding new fish to a tank. Sorry but I have to ask, how did you acclimatise the fish to the tank?

My preferred method is to floating the bag of fish in the tank for 30minutes. Use a clothes peg to hold the bag to the side of the tank and stop it tipping over. 5 minutes after you first start floating them, add a cup of tank water to the bag. Wait 5 minutes and add another cup of tank water to the bag. Do this 4 or 5 times and then pour the water and fish into a clean bucket, and use a net to carefully catch the fish out and add them to the tank.

The idea of pouring the fish into a bucket and scooping them out, is to reduce the amount of water from the shop, getting into your tank. Aquarium water is full of microscopic organisms that can harm fish, so the less water from the shop tanks that goes into your tank, the fewer potential diseases that will be introduced. And I know the fish can transmit diseases too but if the fish look healthy, then most of the disease organisms (assuming there are any) will be in the water.

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re: lighting. In the morning turn the room lights on or open the curtains. Wait 30minutes or more before turning the tank lights on. This allows the fish to wake up from room light or natural light, rather than having a bright tank light come on over a dark tank.
At night, turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait 30minutes or so before turning the room light out. This lets the fish settle down at night and go from light to semi dark to complete darkness.

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Only feed the fish once a day, and feed them a few hours after the lights come on. The fish should eat all the food within a 20-30seconds. Any uneaten food should be removed after this time.

If you are feeding flake food, crumble it up a bit so it is easier for the small fish to eat.

And monitor your water quality for ammonia and nitrite

 

[Meeko]

Don't take this the wrong way but every shop has its own methods for adding new fish to a tank. Sorry but I have to ask, how did you acclimatise the fish to the tank?

My preferred method is to floating the bag of fish in the tank for 30minutes. Use a clothes peg to hold the bag to the side of the tank and stop it tipping over. 5 minutes after you first start floating them, add a cup of tank water to the bag. Wait 5 minutes and add another cup of tank water to the bag. Do this 4 or 5 times and then pour the water and fish into a clean bucket, and use a net to carefully catch the fish out and add them to the tank.

The idea of pouring the fish into a bucket and scooping them out, is to reduce the amount of water from the shop, getting into your tank. Aquarium water is full of microscopic organisms that can harm fish, so the less water from the shop tanks that goes into your tank, the fewer potential diseases that will be introduced. And I know the fish can transmit diseases too but if the fish look healthy, then most of the disease organisms (assuming there are any) will be in the water.

-----------------------
re: lighting. In the morning turn the room lights on or open the curtains. Wait 30minutes or more before turning the tank lights on. This allows the fish to wake up from room light or natural light, rather than having a bright tank light come on over a dark tank.
At night, turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait 30minutes or so before turning the room light out. This lets the fish settle down at night and go from light to semi dark to complete darkness.

-----------------------
Only feed the fish once a day, and feed them a few hours after the lights come on. The fish should eat all the food within a 20-30seconds. Any uneaten food should be removed after this time.

If you are feeding flake food, crumble it up a bit so it is easier for the small fish to eat.

And monitor your water quality for ammonia and nitrite

#

Yeah that is very similar to what I done. Both ammonia and nitrite reading 0. Not put the lights on yet either but I have woken up to one issue with one of the Rasbora.

He is swimming down the bottom away from the others and keeps flipping around or not moving at all, now from what my book on fish illness is telling me it sounds like swim bladder disease but I wonder if it is the same little guy that went and hid in the wood? Once he left the wood he did school with the rest of them but there was always one lagging behind a little bit so maybe he has arrived sick. I will try get a photo but as I say I don't have the lights on yet. The rest seem fine and in good colour and seem to be playing the game of who can swim against the current the best.

 

[Meeko]

I found him under the wood. RIP.

 

[Colin_T]

If the fish was doing loops and spirals in the water then it had a protozoan infection. Monitor the others over the next 2 weeks. If any of them act weird let us know immediately. Hopefully there won't be any more issues but just monitor them in case.

You can also contact the shop you bought them from and ask if they have a warranty on fish. Some do some don't. But you probably got a dud fish and they should replace it if the water is good.

 

[Meeko]

I read up on that and it doesn't sound like what was wrong with him, he could have just been a really weak fish. In all honest the others are doing fine, good colour, playing about with each other. The tank is positioned next to my bed and when I woke up this morning they all came to the side and greeted me, well at least that is how I am taking it

As for the shop, I called and was told there is a no return policy as they can't be responsible for the fish when they leave the store. I thought that was poor service to be honest especially for a fish that only cost a couple of quid. and as a fairly new customer who is likely to spend a bit of money there I thought they would have replaced him. I may need to look in getting my fish elsewhere.

Slightly back on topic, I've tested my levels each day since I got the Harlequins and the levels have been good, no sign of ammonia or nitrite and nitrate remains between 5-10ppm. Will give it a week, and add another 6/7 so they have a proper school. I do feel slightly bad for them though as the tank is pretty bare. I have alot of plants coming on Tuesday including water spirte so hopefully they will like that.