Cycling with fish

[gearyboy]

Im ten days into cycling with fish (dont moan at me please) I have 6 zebra danios in a 126 litre/29gallon tank. I had the tank running for 2 weeks before adding fish, now 10 days with the fish none of my reading have changed. Im testing for ph nitrate nitrite and ammonia. Im feeding them every other day- Is that ok? and the tank temp is running at 25.5. The fish are doing fine they have definately got bigger in the 10 days. I have done 1 water change in the time stated and I did dechlorinate the water before adding.

Is feeding every other day with flake food enough?
Should my readings have changed after 10 days?
My readings are PH 8.0
Nitrate 5/10
Nitrire 0
Ammonia 0

Is it just a case of being patient with the readings?

 

[@ombomb]

just a case of being patient

Probably the most important thing in the hobby.

 

[modernhamlet]

6 danios, lightly fed, and well filtered in a 29g may not cause a spike. This does not mean your tank is not cycling, it's just that the bacteria are keeping up with the limited waste. That's a good thing. Less suffering on the part of the fish.

I would wait until you hit a full 2 weeks and if tests are still 0 for ammonia and nitrites, add a few of your next fish. Keep it to less biomass than the 6 danios.

Wait another week, testing daily. If you don't get any ammonia or nitrite, add another small group of fish. If you do get a spike at any point, manage it as has been describe here many times and wait for a week after it returns to 0 to add more fish.

Repeat until stocked.

Make sense?

 

[gearyboy]

Yep that maks sense cheers Matt

 

[SkiFletch]

I too am trying to do a cycle with fish albeit with a much smaller biomass. I'm on day 8 and still haven't seen an ounce of nitrite/ate in my tank. You were smarter than I in your choice of fish to cycle with (danios as opposed to my dwarf gourami) but from what I understand patience is a virtue when going o-naturale. Many people who go fishless have reported 2 weeks plus of time before seeing the ammonia drop/nitrite spike.

Being that as it may I'm refraining from adding extra fish to increase the bio-load until either 3 weeks time OR seeing a nitrite spike, whichever comes first. I'm told that ammonia of any measurable levels is toxic to fish, so I have no desire to spike it above my current 3.0ppm level with extra buddies for my gourami.

Just my oppinions of course

 

[rdd1952]

6 danios, lightly fed, and well filtered in a 29g may not cause a spike. This does not mean your tank is not cycling, it's just that the bacteria are keeping up with the limited waste. That's a good thing. Less suffering on the part of the fish.

I would wait until you hit a full 2 weeks and if tests are still 0 for ammonia and nitrites, add a few of your next fish. Keep it to less biomass than the 6 danios.

Wait another week, testing daily. If you don't get any ammonia or nitrite, add another small group of fish. If you do get a spike at any point, manage it as has been describe here many times and wait for a week after it returns to 0 to add more fish.

Repeat until stocked.

Make sense?

[snapback]921232[/snapback]​

Sounds correct to me.

 

[gearyboy]

Cheers guys any more opinions is my tank ok? what to do next?

 

[modernhamlet]

What is your final stocking plan?

 

[gearyboy]

Had not thought that far ahead to be honest, as Im a beginner I need to work out how many fish i can have in?

 

[modernhamlet]

Well I guess the best way to start is to ask what fish you've seen at the LFS and liked.

I've found that the key to stocking a 29g is to make sure you have fish that will spend time near the surface, in the middle, and at the bottom. Assuming you're keeping the danios, you've got the top part of the tank covered pretty well.

The danios are very active and can nip the odd fin or too, so you might want to consider fish that don't have flowing fins and will do ok in a busy tank. Other than that, things are pretty open. Let's hear your ideas and go from there.

 

[Ryeguy]

Im kinda in the same predicament as you...although i had my tank up a running for a couple weeks, but screwed up when cleaning my filter, and used regular water to clean my foam...yes, yes im an idiot ) , wish i had found this site earlier...

anyway...im getting small ammonia readings, small nitrITE reading and some NitrAte readings still over the last couple days since i did it...so i assume i still have SOME benaficial bacteria left over because im still getting some NitrATEs...ive just been changing water everyday and hoping for the best...

 

[Clairel]

My zebra Dainos's are very funny, but they dont just swim at the top they swim all over the tank lol....

C x

 

[gearyboy]

And mine, I did think it was strange