Cycling My Tank

[Rickster]

Hi


I am currently in the process of cycling my tank, I have 4 Danios which I put into the tank on day 4. I am now on day 7 (as of Sunday the 12th) and they are doing well, the tank is at approx 23-24 C. I tested the water today at about 13.30 and the readings were as follows:

Ammonia: between 0.25 and 0.50 on chart
Nitrite: 0.25
Nitrate: 20

Should I be thinking of doing a water change now? If so, by how much? I have run out of PH tester, I tested on day 4 and it was around 7.5, I will be getting more asap.

Thanks

 

[mwood2]

the main thing is to keep the ammonia and Nitrite down. As long as you have those down and a PH in the 7.0 range your tank will be fine. I just cycled my tank with a single Molly in it. It was a 5 Gallon tank and I did water changed every time the ammonia and/or Nitrite was .25 or above. My water changed where 20-50% each time. Chances are you will be doing daily water changed for a week or 2 for now untill the ammonia and nitrite stay below .25 for over a week. Then you can claim that you have a cycled tank (although some say 2+ weeks).

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with mwood2.

Your goal is to never let ammonia or nitrite(NO2) get above 0.25ppm and as such you will probably be doing 50% water changes daily or adjusting that amount and frequency up or down as you get feedback from your test results.

Your ammonia and nitrite tests will need to be liquid-reagent based of course or you won't be able to trust the numbers. The pH test should be liquid-based too but pH readings from strips is not terrible in a pinch, especially as long as you don't see pH "crashing" down into the lower 6's.

~~waterdrop~~