Advice- moved 3 week cycled tank to bigger one 4 days ago.

[jen1313]

Hi all, hoping for some advice here- new and trying but struggling!

i had a 75L tank that i'd only had running about 2 days to correct temp etc, i added nitro goop to this and was told i could add fish immediately. i added some guppies, mollies, tetra, dwarf guarami, a platy and x ray fish. levels were fine, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and had nitrates when first tested.

i got a 320L tank a few days after having the 75L as i realised it was going to be too small and i wanted more fish, i hadn't done anything with the 320L at this point i was still buying new equipment for it.

i then ended up having about 0.25 of nitrites about 2 weeks into having the 75L tank running with fish in, so i was advised to do large water changes i done an 80% and a 60% within a day. the nitrites did not go away they stayed around 0.10, the levels on the nitrates then were very low and also my kh went very low also to practically 0. my mollies ended up having shimmies because i didn't realise that my water was not hard enough for them (my rookie mistake here in buying conflicting conditions fish)- so i re homed them. guppies were/are doing fine, so is the platy.

results were normally, about (using strips)

PH- 6.5
KH- About 40
nitrates- 5-10

so i set the new 320L tank up last week and decided to move them over on thursday afternoon. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites in the new tank at this stage. i moved over fish, decor, gravel and filter from the old tank into the new, the 320L has 2 fluval 305 filters in, but my old filter from the 75l tank wasnt one i could remove the sponge from/open up, it was sealed shut, so i moved that as is.

fish seem to be doing better and seem happier, however, its now been about 4/5 days and nitrates still 0. i am confused by this, the tank is underpopulated now quite significantly and im wondering if that's why they aren't rising very fast? i don't have real plants in this just plastic. i have ordered some more nitro goop and some more fish which are arriving late next week as i thought that would speed up the process of the nitrates developing. i'm confused though- is my tank still cycled? i was getting nitrates with 0 ammonia 0 nitrites but levels of nitrates prior to the very large water changes, just that occasion a few days before i moved the fish into the new tank where is had very low levels of nitrites.

currently my tank is same PH, KH- i used API kit which was 2 drops-around 35 apparently. i'm about to do the API nitrate test now- this is 0ppm

thanks in advance!

 

[Essjay]

You've mentioned KH - what is the GH? GH is more important to fish than KH, which only affects fish indirectly as it stabilises pH.

 

[jen1313]

You've mentioned KH - what is the GH? GH is more important to fish than KH, which only affects fish indirectly as it stabilises pH.

GH is very low, about 50, i will do API test on that in a minute for you too.

 

[Naughts]

You seem to have had decent advise and/or researched well. The only misconception is the length of time to cycle a tank fully. It averages at 6-8 weeks for fishless cycling, and is generally longer for fish-in cycles as the ammonia levels are less controlled.
You will need to do daily testing for nitrite and ammonia, with large water changes when the tests are not zero, for several weeks.

 

[Essjay]

Don't bother testing nitrates unless you think they are over 20 ppm. For cycling, ammonia and nitrite are the important things to look at. They need to be zero.

 

[jen1313]

You've mentioned KH - what is the GH? GH is more important to fish than KH, which only affects fish indirectly as it stabilises pH.

6 drops - 107 for GH just now

 

[jen1313]

Don't bother testing nitrates unless you think they are over 20 ppm. For cycling, ammonia and nitrite are the important things to look at. They need to be zero.

hey, both of those are 0 atm

 

[jen1313]

You seem to have had decent advise and/or researched well. The only misconception is the length of time to cycle a tank fully. It averages at 6-8 weeks for fishless cycling, and is generally longer for fish-in cycles as the ammonia levels are less controlled.
You will need to do daily testing for nitrite and ammonia, with large water changes when the tests are not zero, for several weeks.

thanks, i was under the impression my 75L tank was cycled after using goop though- my results for 2 weeks were0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and about 10 nitrates.

 

[Naughts]

thanks, i was under the impression my 75L tank was cycled after using goop though- my results for 2 weeks were0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and about 10 nitrates.

I am unaware of any scientific study on the results of this product but those readings were promising, did you use mature filter media maybe? I hope it works again on the large tank.

Have you considered keeping the guppies and platy in the 75l? You could harden the water for them with a substrate such as argonite.

 

[Essjay]

Is the goop this one

Nitrico - The Trop Company

Tropical fish delivered to your door with a 7 day guarantee!

www.tropco.co.uk

Another member has told me that this stuff might work as it's prepared on site by the seller and it has to be used within 3 days.

 

[jen1313]

Is the goop this one

Nitrico - The Trop Company

Tropical fish delivered to your door with a 7 day guarantee!

www.tropco.co.uk

Another member has told me that this stuff might work as it's prepared on site by the seller and it has to be used within 3 days.

that's the one, the only concern was it said if you have low KH it may not work, and i do have quite low KH as mentioned. i have ordered another pouch so i hope it does something!

 

[jen1313]

I am unaware of any scientific study on the results of this product but those readings were promising, did you use mature filter media maybe? I hope it works again on the large tank.

Have you considered keeping the guppies and platy in the 75l? You could harden the water for them with a substrate such as argonite.

i believe they make this bacteria from a main filter sponge or something. i can't remember the details but it seems supported by alot of fishkeepers within the UK and seems to have success. it is a bit pricey for a larger tank though. you can add fish in immediately when you've put it n your tank apparently.

do you think me adding more fish next week with more goop is a recipe for disaster wiht the readings i currently have?

yes i have been thinking about that, i would like more guppies and some mollies again if i did move them into the 75L. i just don't want to take on too much too soon, i've only been keeping fish for just less than a month now really and i'm still learning, i want to get this big tank right really and know what i'm doing with that. its like a science experiment all this stuff haha! didn't realise how complicated it can be/is.

 

[Essjay]

Low KH does slow bacterial growth. 2 reasons - the bacteria need inorganic carbon, and low KH can cause a pH drop which also slows their growth.
There's a detailed explanation in post #111 here.

New to the forum

The pH needs to be above 6.5 for cycling. The lower the pH, the slower. This is what the method on here says about pH during cycling If it does drop, it can be raised again using bicarbonate of soda, but one the cycle is finished, let the pH be what it wants to be. Sorry but it is just not...

www.fishforums.net

 

[jen1313]

Low KH does slow bacterial growth. 2 reasons - the bacteria need inorganic carbon, and low KH can cause a pH drop which also slows their growth.
There's a detailed explanation in post #111 here.

New to the forum

The pH needs to be above 6.5 for cycling. The lower the pH, the slower. This is what the method on here says about pH during cycling If it does drop, it can be raised again using bicarbonate of soda, but one the cycle is finished, let the pH be what it wants to be. Sorry but it is just not...

www.fishforums.net

wonderfully helpful thread!

 

[jen1313]

Low KH does slow bacterial growth. 2 reasons - the bacteria need inorganic carbon, and low KH can cause a pH drop which also slows their growth.
There's a detailed explanation in post #111 here.

New to the forum

The pH needs to be above 6.5 for cycling. The lower the pH, the slower. This is what the method on here says about pH during cycling If it does drop, it can be raised again using bicarbonate of soda, but one the cycle is finished, let the pH be what it wants to be. Sorry but it is just not...

www.fishforums.net

am i doing the correct thing in adding more goop and fish next week to my readings currently? i don't want to make things worse, i mean, everything seems 'ok' at the moment just that the nitrates are 0 but i don't know how serious/what that actually means int he grand scheme of things! ty for all your help guys