Cycling Results !

[freshcichlid]

ok i have a list of all my results
Ammonia - .25
Nitrate - 40
Nitrite - 0
Hardness - 120
Alkalinity - 0
Ph - 6.4

Now what does this mean ! ?
thanks

 

[rdd1952]

How long have you been cycleing and are you cycling with or without fish? If fishless, how much ammonia did you add to start with?

 

[freshcichlid]

it actually has all those in my sig. in the 10 gallon tank, i had the tank before i joined here and never knew much about cycling (LFS only said to add drops) so now i bought a 5-in-1 test kit and got these results !

 

[freshcichlid]

can anyone help ?

are my fish alright ?

 

[rdd1952]

There's nothing in your signature (it may have not met the forum rules and been deleted - check here). You asked if your fish were alright so that tells me you are cycling with fish. The results you have are fine for fish. Abviously, your goal is to have ammonia and nitrite at 0 but the .25 isn't deadly. The nitrate level at 40 is pushing towards the uppermost limits of where you want to be.

You should do daily (or every other day) water changes of about 10 to 15 percent to keep the ammonia as close to zero as possible. Also, I don't know how many fish you have in the tank now, but keep in mind that once the ammonia and nitrite get to zero and stay there, you are cycled BUT only for the fish that are in the tank. If you add more, you will start to see ammonia and nitrite again so make sure you don't add more than about 2 or 3 small fish at a time. With a 10 gallon, you are very limited on what type and how many fish you can keep.

Just a side note, I would suggest getting a set of liquid test kits. They are much more accurate than the strips and also much cheaper in the long run. Here is what I have. One of these will probably last you close to a year, especially with only one tank.

 

[freshcichlid]

right now i have 2 juvi angels, 2 juvi cories, 4 juvi neons, i am getting 2 adult pleco from someone to house in there until my 40gallon is cycled, so they will be in there for a cuople weeks,i knoiw its a lot of fish, but they are all juvis and they have plenty of room.
i am going to do a 25% water change today and see what the results are after, how long after the change should i wait to get new results ? i dont want the new pleco to die, they are adult BN, if that means anything
and i just bought the test stips, they arent that great but if i find some drops aroudn i might get them,
would it be wise to add some stress coat to the fish because of the reults i have, and once i untroduce the new BN plecos ?
thanks

 

[bunjiweb]

daily is complete over-kill and depending on your tap water can be detremental, especially if your tank is new.

You should do a weekly 10-20% water on a normal basis. If you do this it will bring the ammonia down.

DO NOT use stress coat, it is COMPLETLY pointless and will not help the fish/cycle at all.

Dont put in BN plecs first, they should be added when your tank has been running for a MINIMUM of a month. Having said this adult BNs can be very resiliant at times, depending how good breed they are (alot are inbred somewhat). So its up to you on that one.

cichlids are alot hardier, even angels will surprise you. Cories and neons aren't worth cycling with either.

Remember to do gravel vacuums once a month or as part of your water change to release the pockets of nitrate and ammonia that build up in the gravel.

Ben

 

[sinistral]

Have you tested your tap water? I'd be curious about the alkalinity coming out of the tap. Zero KH might be concerning down the road.

 

[rdd1952]

The Stress Coat may help them if they look stressed by the slight ammonia you have but it's really not much more than a dechlorinator. As bunjiweb said, it won't help with the cycling. You do need to add it any time you add or change water but I'm sure you are already doing that. Also, water changes once a week is usually enough but with the large number of fish you have (or will have) in the 10 gallon tank, you probably should be doing them at least twice a week for now. Plecos, even dwarfs like BN, are big waste producers. It would probably be good if you could hold off on getting them until you are ready to put them in the bigger tank.

Edited for spelling.

 

[freshcichlid]

bunjiweb - im not sure if you know, but i already have fish in there, you said not to add them first, they would be the last to go in.

I am going to do a water change tommorrow when i can get a chance and to test my tap water.

seeing that my results are about the same can i add them in or not ?

 

[freshcichlid]

i just did a water change and the only change is that my ammonia went down some, on my kit it has a 0 and .25 mark, last time it was clearly .25, now its clearly lower.
so my ammonia went down but my nitrates are still high !
any solutions ?
and can i put my new BN plecos in there ?

 

[rdd1952]

The only way to lower nitrates is through water changes. How much water did you change? Have you checked your tap water to see if their are nitrates in it? I would hold off on the BN until you get your nitrates down and the ammonia completely to zero. Plecos are pretty messy so he will add a good bit of extra bio load to a tank that already has a slight problem.

 

[freshcichlid]

my tap results are
Nirate - 0
Nitrite - 0
Hardness - 25
Alkaline - 80
Ph - 6.4

I did a 25% water change also

 

[freshcichlid]

so how can i fix my problem ? i have too many nitrates and cant get rid of them, even through water changes they didnt go away.

 

[sinistral]

I really don't think you have a nitrates problem. Most fish can tolerate nitrates in that range. I do think you are pushing your stocking level (even with all the juvi fish)-- that would account for a nitrate level in that range.

The only solutions are to keep up with regular water changes and switch over to the bigger tank when you can.