Fish In Cycle

[weejen]

i was forced in to doing a fish in cycle. came home from work and tested my water.

results and 3pm today
ph 7.8
amm 0
nitrite 1ppm
nitrate 10ppm

so i did a 65% water change
test results at 4.40pm today
ph7.4
amm 0
nitrite 0.25ppm
nitrate 5ppm

so i did a further water change at 5pm
test results
ph 7.4
amm 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5ppm

am i doin things rite? and do my results look ok for a fish in cycle. i have been doin at least a 50% water change everyday and temp matching water and using de-chlor

 

[wolfwolf]

It seems right to me. I think you could slow down on the water changes. Opinions vary but if you have hardy fish I would not worry about .25 ammonia or nitrite.

How big is the tank and what is the stocking level?

 

[weejen]

its a 55l tank with 3 mollies on it

 

[tom_os]

i agree with wolf

i am doing a fish in cycle as well and so far i have had small readings of ammonia or nitrite and when i had a did about 25% change they practically disappear

i have 2 guppys 2 danios 1 tiger barb and 2 albino corys in my 60l tank and they are all fine.

just keep an eye on the levels and if you get a reading do a 30%ish water change just to help the filter along

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with the others, the mollies might get by with being more loose like that since they are not too delicate.

A more explicit way to state your goal, however is to say that you want to vary the number and size of water changes such that when you do your morning or evening tests, you only ever reach 0.25ppm of either poison as the max. It could be that 50% daily is more than you need to acheive that, you just have to test and see.

On average it takes about a month of this to fish-in cycle a filter although the individual variations are pretty large. Your ultimate goal, the thing you're looking for, is to be able to go two days in a row without having to do any water change and seeing double zeros at all 4 test times of those 2 days. Then you are probably cycled, but you should continue the twice a day testing that week and then drop to once a day the next week before easing to less frequent checks.

Remember, part of the concern is that mild permanent gill and/or nerve damage from the two poisons may not show symptoms, you may just find later that the fish has a greatly shortened life, perhaps making you feel frustrated at some later point when you lose it. At least with a full effort you can feel more relaxed that you did all you could. Of course, its all up to the individual and I don't feel there's anything wrong with someone feeling that level of effort may be too much.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Jen,

I'd be interested to hear what fish shops you use? Maybe you know of some which I don't?

Cheers

BTT

 

[weejen]

the mollies came from the local pet shop in biggar. dont realy no many other good places

 

[backtotropical]

Theres one or two in Central Edinburgh, but the best shops are out beside me.

East Lothian Aquatics in Macmerry (Biggest LFS in Scotland)
Outside Inside Aquatics in Haddington (Great for plants and planted tanks)

Theres also good shops in:

Dundee - House of Pisces

and

Fife - Ultimate Aquatics

All 4 are worth a look.

Also Aquacadabra in Edinburgh.

BTT

 

[weejen]

cool i shall try check em out o my day off

 

[weejen]

just tested my water again today at half 2. just uner 24 hours from last test


results
ph 7.4
amm 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5ppm


does that mean my tank has cycled with fish in if results are like this

 

[backtotropical]

Thats good news Jen. No mature media required for now then.

It is a good indication that your tank is cycled, but a better indication will be if you test again tonight and tomorrow morning and tomorrow night and get 0 readings for both ammonia and nitrite each time.

Good luck and keep us updated on your progress.

BTT

 

[weejen]

tested again today bout 3pm and got same results today as i did yest . iam glad i finaly got my tank cycled without losing fish. thanx for everyones help. all the testing and water changes realy are worth it in the end

 

[backtotropical]

Glad you got there with no fatalities. Well done.

 

[weejen]

how long should i leave it b4 adding a couple of new fish? and any sugestions?

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Jen,

It would be a good idea to leave it for at least a week, and keep testing over that week to make sure you consistently read 0 for both ammonia and nitrite. This gives you the best chance of avoiding further ammonia spikes when you add more fish.

The most important thing from now is not to stock more fish too quickly. I find the best policy is not to add more than 1/3 of your existing sock at any time. For example you have only 3 mollies just now (correct me if thats wrong), so i'd recommend adding only 1 more molly or the equivalent of 1 molly the next time you get fish. It doesn't seem like much at the moment, but as you stock the tank more, you can add more fish each time. Hope that makes sense.

After you add more fish, you should monitor the water closely for at least a few days to check for ammonia and nitrite.

Cheers

BTT