Am I Wasting My Time? Should I Call It Day?

[Ishyfishy]

Hi there

I ended up getting 2x balck mores 4 weeks ago. The chap at the pet shop said it would be fine to put the fish in the tank after a week!! So i've been fish-in-cycling for the last 4 weeks and nothing is happening!

I've been doing 50% water changes when the ammonia has exceeded 0.25. I've been using daily 5 in one test trips and my nitrites have always been zero and my nitrate levels never go past 15 (my tap water is 5). GH, KH and ph are all normal.

My fish tank is 13.5 gallons and my two black mores are about 2 inches long (inc tail). I know I am kinda overstocked but I will be getting a bigger tank in several months time. The filter I am using is Elite 15 which processes 300liters and hour. I will be putting another filter in there soon - PF1 filter, which also processes about 300 liters an hour - as i've been told that gold fish are very messey fish. I haven't been doing any gravel cleaning, as i've been told to leave the gravel alone.

What am I doing wrong - should I take the fish back, cos I dont want to keep stressing them out with the water changes?

 

[LolaLouie]

Your test results sound strange, perhaps because you are using strips which are very inaccurate. I would invest in a good liquid test before giving up!

Good Luck

 

[aaronnorth]

Liquid test are more accurate than them 5 in 1. Also you don't have to include the tail when calulating your stocking levels. You should clean the gravel when you do water changes, at least once a week, as this helps with nitrates. Test your tap water because tank may be cycled after 4 week but your tap water could contain ammonia.

Don't give up, you have to be patient in fishkeeping but once everything is sorted, it is very relaxing to watch.

 

[Scotty001]

Hi there

I ended up getting 2x balck mores 4 weeks ago. The chap at the pet shop said it would be fine to put the fish in the tank after a week!! So i've been fish-in-cycling for the last 4 weeks and nothing is happening!

I've been doing 50% water changes when the ammonia has exceeded 0.25. I've been using daily 5 in one test trips and my nitrites have always been zero and my nitrate levels never go past 15 (my tap water is 5). GH, KH and ph are all normal.

My fish tank is 13.5 gallons and my two black mores are about 2 inches long (inc tail). I know I am kinda overstocked but I will be getting a bigger tank in several months time. The filter I am using is Elite 15 which processes 300liters and hour. I will be putting another filter in there soon - PF1 filter, which also processes about 300 liters an hour - as i've been told that gold fish are very messey fish. I haven't been doing any gravel cleaning, as i've been told to leave the gravel alone.

What am I doing wrong - should I take the fish back, cos I dont want to keep stressing them out with the water changes?

I'm sorry to say but i would take the fish back and do a fish less cycle, its much much better for the fish !!!

The lfs should never have said its ok to put fish strait in a tank after only 1 week, unless you had mature filter media donated to you too. it took one of my tanks 5 weeks to cycle.

From my experience i would throw away the 5 in 1 test strips there not worth the plastic they are printed on, i started with some test stops and according to them my stats were good and ready for fish (1 week later and no fish left) i thought something my be amiss, i did think that some of the strips shades never did quite match, a little different so had to guess what the read would actually be, i decided to get an API aster kit, (£17) and was the best money i have ever spent, it sowed that the 5 in 1 strips were well out !!! the API kit tests all the major stats, Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ph high and low range, they're easy to use last for age's and v accurate !!!!!!

Once my stats were down and showing i was good for fish i went to my local lfs with a sample of my water got them to check it and they got the same results as i did !!!! so i was ready, 2nd time round. now i have a nice healthy tank and can easily keep an eye on the stats.

As for the goldfish they can be messy and need good filtration, and you should be cleaning the gravel, gravel keeps very very little good bacteria and houses all the poop and nasties which get caught between the stones, this will cause your ammonia and nitrites / nitrates to spike !!!!! if they are left alone !!

AND as for giving up NO !!!!!! stick at it keep reading the forums and ask as many questions you can think of !!!!!! there is no such thing as a silly or stupid question (apart from he ones that you don't ask) anything your not sure of just post it here there is always some one who will respond who is knowledgeable and has tonnes of experience, when i first started out i had so much to learn and with the help and info from the guys here I'm doing well so far.

When you get your tank cycled and going you will be so thankful you didn't give up, theres nothing like sitting on the sofa or laying on a bed watching the fish going about their daily business, nothing can quite help you relax as much, and as you will see each and every fish has its own funny character.

Good luck getting your tank cycled and as i said stick at it, any questions just post them, there are many many knowledgeable people here only to happy to help.

Scott

 

[darkwolf29a]

Having set up several tanks, without using the fishless cycle...the choice is yours, really.

I know some people say that the fishless cycle is better, but....it takes forever. Myself, I like caring for fish, not caring for water. That stated, I haven't done a cycle in over a year, but have set up several tanks. I just take my filter media and run it through my current filters foir a couple of weeks, take some old gravel from another tank, and call it a day. That has worked for me for just about every fish I have now, except my Oscar...who was my original big tank donor. LOL

You have the fish, doing normal maintainence, i.e. water changes, isn't any more stressful on them than it will be once the tank is cycled completely. If you can get some substrate or filter media from someone...put it in a mesh bag, and let it cycle through.

It takes time to get bacteria growing.

 

[Ishyfishy]

Hi

Thanks for all your sound advice!! I've decided to keep the fish and stick with it. I'm using an amonnia liquid testing kit, but I'll get some more nitrites/nitrates/ph/kh/gh.

I also will try and find someone who can donate me their filter media - hopefully!

I've been using a substance called 'cycle' which apparently contains good bacteria - is this worth continuing with or am I wasting my money? I've been told it's as good as media filter - but I think thats a load of codswallop!

Regards

Ishyfishy

 

[backtotropical]

Hi,

The foremost viewpoint on this forum seems to be that Cycle is useless.

Carry on using it until its finished (theres no point throwing your hard earned money in the bin), but i wouldn't buy any more.

If you can get mature media from somewhere, thats 1000 times better.

What area are you in, maybe someone on here could donate some?

Cheers

BTT

P.S. Glad to hear you're not giving up. Fishkeeping can be testing at times, but thats half the fun!!

 

[Mikaila31]

I suggest that you get a liquid test kit. The strips are most likely the problem. You should of gotten nitrite reading awhile ago. Also if nitrate is 5ppm in your tap and 15ppm in your tank. I think it is safe to say you have some bacteria in there and your strips are most likely not reading the nitrite.

 

[Ishyfishy]

Hi

I bought some liquid testing kits over the weekend - and my readings are:

Amonia = 0.25

Nitrite = 0

Nitrate = 20

My Nitrites always stay at 0! I'll keep testing - thanks for your advise.

Regards

Ishyfishy

 

[Fryfly]

Hi Ishyfishy,

My tank results were doing exactly the same - Just ammonia and no Nitrates. It'll come just keep at it.
Just 2 mollies? You're most definitly not overstocked, unless you have loads of other fish. I have exactly the same tank - Elite startup 60 litre right? When you get your tank cycled you can start choosing some friends for your mollies

 

[Ishyfishy]

Hi

My Nitrites have finally spiked - yippeeeeeeeeee!! My readings this morning were:

Ammonia = 0.25

Nitrites = 1


How long left do you think until my tank is cycled? It's been about 5 - 6 weeks until I first started!

Regards

 

[aaronnorth]

it can take up to 8wk, maybe another week and the nitites should of dropped but every tank is different

everyone told you, you shouldn't give up