Am I Ready For Fish?

[Lhutch]

amonia 0
nitrates 10ppm
40gal cycled
currently no live plants
sandy bottom
(brackish) might i add, im sry im not in the right section but my first questions were considered in this section
plants,hiding places
overfiltered

thanks for the help!

 

[dthoffsett]

Did you fishless cycle, and how long did you cycle? What is your nitrIte reading?

And just out of curiosity, what are you going to stock with?

 

[Lhutch]

i actually did something weird
first 2 weeks of cycle i put a fish in,tookout,left it running for about 3 weeks after that without fish
so i cycled for month and a little while
my nitrate reading is 10ppm,tap water is 5ppm
2 f8s,maybe some pineapple mollies

 

[dthoffsett]

Did you have any ammonia source once you removed the fish, because without a food source, your bacteria will have starved and died out. Not sure where your extra 5ppm of nitrate went.

Also, did you add mature media to your filter? Cause if it is in fact cycled, 5 weeks is rather fast for a cycle with fish, especially since you took them out after 2 weeks.

 

[Lhutch]

the tank is cycled when i said i took the fish out i put some filtermedia i had in my 20gal into the filter running like 4weeks ago and i have 0 amonia 10ppm nitrate, am i ready?

 

[Gremily]

Was there an ammonia source after you removed the fish?

 

[doresy]

your cycling is a little confusing. zero ammonia and 10 nitrate with the history you have given MAY not equal a cycled tank.

How about trying this as a make sure test ok?

Providing you have no fish in there Add enough pure ammonia to raise levels to 5ppm. Leave for 12 hours and test for ammonia AND NitrIte (note the i)

IF the ammonia and nitrIte tests are at complete zero then you are cycled. (I say this only because of the fact that you have had fish and matured media in)

ANY traces of either means you are NOT cycled and any fish you introduce will be in danger.

If zero then test for nitrAte and if it reads above 20ppm then do a massive water change and add fish within 12 hours.

 

[Lhutch]

i dont have any ammonia in my house sama: , but i did have a fish in there after i thought i finished my cycle(my brackish moray eel),and i maybe did 1 water change with him and i had him for about 3 weeks,is there any substitute i can put in,windex has amonia hahahahaha i dont wnana kill my fish,maybe i should just do a big waterchange and see if my nitrates lower?

 

[doresy]

sorry for the repeat but have you EVER tested for nitrItes?

You worry so much about nitrAtes which are less harmfull in levels lower than 60ppm but make no mention of nitrItes which must be zero

 

[Lhutch]

i tested for nitrates today,and yesturday, it seemed when i tested yesturday i had higher nitrates from when i did a water change today then tested the tank 3 hours later and it looked like i had less, i use API test stuff,thanks any suggestions?i have a 40gal doresy, and from what i hear you can drop them in low brackish and they can even go into marine,check my brackish post for more details on tank info, i do plan to upgrade when it gets to that point,(trying to make it perfect for the puffs)

 

[n3ont3tra]

I think you may have misread. We're asking for You're Nitrite reading, not nitrate.

 

[Lhutch]

oooo 10ppm

 

[n3ont3tra]

Then what's your nitrAtes?

 

[doresy]

Yes, it is getting a little tiresome but here goes

NitrItes (please for the last time notice the i) N I T R I T E not, i repeat, not NITRATE!!!

As I said earlier and on your other posting, what are your N I T R I T E levels

 

[Lhutch]

i am confused
i did a nitrate test and i got orange wich is 10ppm
what are u asking?