didn't cycle tank

[VeeFour]

I, like so many others before me, did not know about cycling my tank before adding fish. Since I found this site and did some reading, I'm on my way home this evening to try and save my fish. I'm going to do a water change of about 5 gallons. I'm on day 5 of having fish in the tank.
What are my odds on saving the fish?

 

[rykitten]

Well, what sort of fish do you have, how many and what size tank?

I too did not know about cycling. I started off with 11 and ended with 4.

 

[VeeFour]

sorry
THe tank is a 30 Gallon.
I have
3 cherry barbs
3 tiger barbs
3 swordtails (two female, one male)
2 fish that I were told were tetras, but they a about the size of the tiger barbs. Silver in color with black tiger stripes)
1 white mollie (black one dissappeared, I suspect the cat)

THe tank has both an undergravel filter, and the typical water pump style filter.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I didn't know about cycling until October and I have been keeping fish for 2 years!! All my fish survived until I went tropical, then I lost 3 during the cycling process. 2 balas and one plec, it's a shame but I know I could never have housed them anyway.

 

[rykitten]

One of my swordtails, 2 black skirt tetras and 1 platty survived.

The swordy had a severe case of body rot, he most surely should have died. The platty had fungus and pop eye. The tetras didn't get sick at all. Lucky guys.

I would just be diligent with the water changes. Make sure you don't get any chlorine into your tank and keep checking the parameters.

 

[boozybears]

I didn't learn about cycling until almost a week after I bought my first fish. I did lose some through the initial amonia and nitrite spikes but most survived. We just made sure we did 15-20% water changes every single day and conducted all the tests for the water levels each day. I'm not sure how hardy all your fish are but with care most should make it!!

Good luck! (and don't beat yourself up.... most of us have been there!)

Make sure you post lots of questions and get advice all the way through the process... everyone on here is great and will be more than willing to help!

Val

 

[aquarius]

i didn't know about cycling either. i added a lot of guppies and two swirdtails to the tank and my tank cycled without me knowing so. when i tested the water, a month later, everything was pefect. during the process, i only lost one fish but i learned my lesson

 

[totalbolshevik]

sorry
THe tank is a 30 Gallon.
I have
3 cherry barbs
3 tiger barbs
3 swordtails (two female, one male)
2 fish that I were told were tetras, but they a about the size of the tiger barbs. Silver in color with black tiger stripes)
1 white mollie (black one dissappeared, I suspect the cat)

THe tank has both an undergravel filter, and the typical water pump style filter.

The tetras are black skirts.

Not sure about the barbs, since I've never had them. Don't know if the swordtails will make it. I had one once, and when I got a new tank and was cycling it (before I knew what cycling was) he died. However, I'd only had him for a few days and he never did look too good. I have two black skirt tetras, both of which have lived through a lot... Same goes for the molly as with the swordtail...

First of all, you should get a testing kit--this should include ammonia, pH, and nitrite at the very least. Nitrate is also handy, but not quite as important. Test the water as soon as you can. Do a small water change (10-15%) every day until your ammonia starts to break down into nitrite and so forth... Good luck.

 

[StanTheBetta]

If its black skirt tetras then I would think they would live. IME they could probably live in pee (although I don't advise that) I don't know about the barbs though or the molly, but I think your black skirt tetras will be fine.

 

[BigHilda]

You could try adding some Bio Spira if you can find it. I had success when using it - it adds a bunch of bacteria to the tank and really can speed up the cycle. Some people have had success with it, others not. I got a small package for $12.00, and then you just add it to the tank. It's live bacteria so it's supposed to help cycle the tank quickly. Mine cycled in 11 days and I didn't lose my one fish (it's a betta).

 

[SailfinGirl]

Your lfs should do a water test for you, most do, sometimes for a small charge. Just until you get your own kit. good luck!

 

[VeeFour]

Hey, thanks for the replies folks.
I'm going to the store today on my lunch break to get a test kit for amonia. I have test strips that test for both types of nitrate, the buffering capacity of the water, total harness of the water and ph.
I do have a bit of news that I think to be good news. I remembered that I still had my old gravel from the tank in a bucket, including some water from the old tank. I took some of that gravel and placed it in the tank. Since it's a different color, I placed it inside the decorative "shipwreck" to hide it. Hopefully it contains some bacteria from the previous tank. I also used some of the water that was int he bucket with the gravel. It had a bit of a green tint from obvious algae. In hopes that it contained bacteria as well (and knowing that the algea would help with the amonia) I poued it into the tank after my first water change. I poured it into the filter, and not the tank thinking that since most of the tanks water will go through that filter, if I got the bacteria in the filter, it would work a bit better. Who knows if it will hep at all, but it's was worth a shot.
I do have another question. On my affore mentioned testing stips, under the "buffering capacity" it shows my tank as being a bit low and it tells me to "add buffer up". However, when at the store I can't find anything that mentions "buffer up" or anything. What should I be adding that will increase the buffering capacity.....and what does the buffering capacity do anyway.
Thanks again.

 

[tmlhaus]

Watch those tiger barbs. They like to be in larger groups than just 3. They are mean and nippy, so you might lose some fish because of them, not because it's not cycled. I'd trade them in for more tetras because tetras also like to be in groups of at least 5-6. Good luck.

 

[VeeFour]

I read up a bit on my tiger barbs yesterday. THe website i was at mentioned that they like to nip at fins, so I watched them last night. They really seem to keep to themselves. Active little guys they are, and the have some quickness to them when eating. I didn't notice them bothering any of the other fish in the tank, so I may just be lucky there.
THanks for the heads up, and I'll continue to monitor their behavior.

 

[nirvanarama]

i would advise using stress zyme, its a filtration enhancement so it should speed up the cycling. however, these products are quite controversial in their results (some succeed, some dont), but i would still advise it as i was one of the lucky people!!