29 Gallon Tank - Stuck With Fish-in Cycling

[mancin]

I received a 29 gallon fish tank as a gift. I have been doing my research for the type of fish I want and which ones are compatible. I just had the water tested and was told it was ready for fish. I have an underground filter as well as the filter that hooks on to the top and cycles water through. I am starting out with 8 fish: 2 red wag platys, 3 tiger barbs, 1 albino tiger barb, 2 tinfoil barbs. I wanted to have several barbs together because I read they do better in larger groups. I actually didn't research the tinfoil barbs.... they were suggested to me at the ma and pa shop I went to and now that I'm doing research on those, they apparently get HUGE! I would have gotten 2 more tiger barbs instead of the tinfoils, but they didn't have any left. I do tend to take good care of ALL of my pets, so if I need to upgrade to a larger tank later I will definitely do that. Since I'm a beginner, I don't want to try and conquer a larger tank right now. The fish were just acclimated to the tank last night, so I will be watching them very closely over the next several days. So far everyone is playing nice (but like I mentioned, I did do my research and did a compatability chart so I wasn't expecting MAJOR issues).

It was suggested to me to wait until the cycle period is over to add any plecos or loaches as they tend to be more sensitive (and there won't be much for them to eat right now -- however I did buy some algae discs).

Here's my plan:

Obviously I will know how well the fish are coping if they stay alive and active. I will be testing the water a few times a week to figure out the optimal time to add more fish (specifically, some type of algae eater). It sounds like it will probably take 4+ weeks for this to happen. At that point I thought it would be a good time to add the remaining fish. If the fish begin acting strangely, I'll probably test the water more frequently.

I would like to add some Zebra Danios, however they weren't currently available at the store I went to. I was thinking about getting 4 - 5. I am very interested in clown loaches, but I do understand they can get quite large. Kuhli loaches are nice as well. I don't mind Pleco's either, but I thought they also got pretty large (depending on the type). I'm not super picky on these, I just want something that is going to help at keeping the tank clean. I want to stay with one type of bottom feeder (either multiple loaches or plecos, not both).

Any suggestions or comments?

 

[mancin]

Wow I've learned quite a bit already from this forum just browsing around today. Unfortunately I thought I was more prepared than I am! I was prepared from the fish perspective, but not from the tank perspective. I read some great newbie threads and will be keeping a daily log of my water test results, rather than only checking a couple times a week. It seems I was one of those that was told to cycle with hardy fish rather than doing a fishless cycle. I felt like I had done sufficient research, but I guess not because I never came across that term -- but again I think that's because I was so focused on what were the ultimate needs of the fish (pH, temperature, compatability, etc) and not how I needed to fully prepare. All of those around me with some fish experience never mentioned it either. sigh. At least I've found this forum now, rather than after my fish began dying!!

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Mancin. If you can, I would return at least the tinfoil barbs and it would be best to return all the fish and go fishless.
You have fallen into perhaps the most common mistake of a new fish keeper, you are now in a fish-in cycle. I would encourage you not to buy any more fish of any kind until the cycle has been completed. You now will need to start doing daily water tests and doing partial water changes of about 50% every time you get an ammonia reading near or over 0.25 ppm. After a while the ammonia will become easier to control because you will be converting ammonia to nitrites. At that point you also need to keep nitrites below 0.25 ppm with water changes. When both chemicals are completely taking care of themselves, your water changes can be guided by keeping nitrates from rising more than 20 ppm above your tap water reading. For a more thorough treatment of the subject, there is a link in my signature area to a thread about doing a "fish-in cycle".

 

[mancin]

Thanks for your input. I wasn't planning on adding any other fish until later on. I got a very different story from the fish store than I am reading on here, and there seems to be much more expertise on this board! I will look into returning the fish, if possible. I certainly don't want to kill them due to a mistake I've made... they have done nothing wrong!

 

[always4lora]

I did the 'Fish In' cycle as i wasnt aware of all the cycling business and i was pretty overstocked but lost very little by putting the effort in with the water changes, cleaning ,testing of water . Only thing i lost was the 2 columbian sharks(after reading would never have fitted at all) and after given the tank along with the platy's i had to my parents the platy's have finally started dropping off, my beta/angels/goruami/rainbow fish are all still alive and kicking .

Just needs alot of effort and help from the people on here and you stand a better chance of your fish staying alive Taking them back would be best but if it's like my LFS they take things back for credit or cash

 

[mancin]

So I called the store and they will only exchange the fish within a week if it has died. They said it's not their policy to accept returns of fish if there is nothing wrong with them?? I'm not sure if that's typical?? Doesn't seem like it, so it sounds like I'm going to need to find another store going forward.

A co-worker of mine said he would be willing to take the tinfoil barbs when they are too large for my tank (he has a 125+ gallon, but it's not set up right now, he just moved in to a new house). I did buy a water test kit and have been testing the water religiously. So far I'm at a pH of 7.2 and the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates have been at 0. It is an API Test Kit.

I may have a friend of a friend that may be willing to donate media, but I don't know if it's the kind I need (not sure the kind of fish he has or his filtration system). As I mentioned previously, I have both an under gravel filter as well as a filter that sits on the side of the tank and spills water back in.

I guess I'm a little confused why the ammonia hasn't spiked yet? I did read all of the articles about fishless cycling as well as fish-in cycling, and unless I can find someone to take the fish from me, I guess I'm stuck with fish-in cycling. So far the fish seem fine. Very active and all are eating. I've been making sure they aren't overfed and they consume their food in about a minute.

I'm willing to do water changes as frequently as I need to so that the fish aren't suffering, but from what I've read, I need to see some type of reading above 0 for the ammonia or nitrites, and do a 20+ % water change at that point in time. Any idea when I should expect to see readings?

 

[mancin]

I plan on doing a 20% water change today, even if the ammonia and nitrites aren't over 0. I tested twice yesterday and was still showing 0 for both ammonia and nitrites. It has been a few days now and from what I've been reading on here, it is suggested to do daily water changes during fish-in cycling, and possibly more frequently depending on the test results. Would this be a waste of my time or a smart idea to do the water change even if the water test doesn't show anything YET? There seems to be quite a difference for the fish between 0 and 0.25, even though there is nothing on the test card between there. The fish were still doing well this morning.

The post I read by Miss Wiggle said that a reasonable amount of fish are needed to get the cycle going, and it seems like I should be fine in that area. I guess I was just expecting to see ammonia readings within the first couple of days? Being a newbie at this, I don't know how long it would take the ammonia to jump from 0 to 0.25, or from 0 to anything ABOVE 0.25. I don't want to run into doing a test and everything shows perfect, and then the next day everything is 2 or 3 times what it's supposed to be. Can anyone lend insight into this?

 

[OldMan47]

If the present size of your fish, not their final size, is small, you may get away with not having to change water more than every few days. It sounds like so far it hasn't gotten too bad.

 

[mancin]

If the present size of your fish, not their final size, is small, you may get away with not having to change water more than every few days. It sounds like so far it hasn't gotten too bad.

Yes right now they are all pretty small. The platys are about an inch and the rest are about an inch and a half.