First Tank Cycling, Now What?

[thatfishguy]

I have a 10 gal, that i have 2 zebras and one female guppy in. I started out with more zebras and another guppy but they have all died . I didnt know about fishless cycling before i set my tank up, as they people at petsmart said nothing about it. Im sorry those fish were sacraficed due to my lack of research but i have learned now. I have recently read up about cycling and started doing water changes.

Reading before 1st water change
Ammonia : Looks to be a little over 4ppm
Nitrite : Looks to be JUST A TAD over .25 ppm
Nitrate : 0ppm

After a week of doing water changes
Ammonia - 2ppm
Nitrite - 1ppm

Where do i go from now? The fish seem to be healthy, are these new readings good?

Thanks for looking

 

[sparky_555]

When the cycle is done the amonia should be at 0ppm. Also are you adding dechlorinator to the water when you are doing water changes?

Guppy's are not the ideal fish to be cycling a tank with also.

 

[Don155]

The readings still look a bit high. From what I've heard, you should shoot to keep both Ammonia and Nitrite below 1 ppm. Just continue changing the water until the readings come back within that range. You may need to do a couple of back to back changes of about 20-30% to get it there. (Change about 30%, wait an hour or two and then do it again.)

Then continue to change the water daily or as needed to keep the levels low. You need to be sure not to overfeed the fish. Once a day or once every other day is fine. And only give them as much as they will eat with 2-3 minutes, no more than that.

Look for somebody willing to donate some mature filter media or gravel from an established tank. (A friend, LFS, or someone on the forum who's close to your location) If you can't find a donator, then go ahead and purchase a live potted plant from a LFS, preferably a plant from a tank with fish in it. It will help get the cycle started and completed faster.

Make sure to use a dechlorinator such as Seachem's "Prime" or Tetra's "Aqua Safe" when changing the water.

HTH,
Don T.

 

[thatfishguy]

Thanks for the replies, and yes i am dechlorinating the water. I will start doing more water changes also.

 

[Cheffi]

Have a look at the link on my signature and see if there's anyone near you that could donate media and get you started. Good luck.