Fish In Cycling Log

[Ryandsimmons]

Thanks to a surprise gift of 4 Serpae Tetras and 2 Black Skirted Tetras My plans for a fishless cycle have turned into a fish in cycle.

First thing I did was run and buy lots of plants, I now have 6 plants. plus a nice log with 2 more plants on that I purchased from the local aquarium.

Anyway... Story so far

Day 1 (Friday) Rinsed new tank, installed everything, put in gravel etc and put in lots of the "Cycle" fluid that came with the tank. Also added a few flakes to try to start ammonia flowing through. pH 8, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, Ammonia 0

Day 2 (Saturday) did a 40% water change to clear the silt etc, added more cycle fluid. A few more flakes. pH 8, Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0

Day 3 (Sunday) Did a 20% water change early morning, water is now crystal clear. Added last of Cycle fluid. Readings are pH: 8, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, Ammonia 0

Got the fish in the afternoon, got the plants an hour later. Have not fed them yet.

Day 4 (Today) Checked all looks good this morning. pH 8, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, NitrAte 5ppm

This is all good right? I'll do a 10% change tonight (and daily for the first week) but I am hoping the plants will buffer the tank a fair bit?

Also am a bit worried about one of the black skirted tetras. The base of it's tail is swollen, with a bump on either side (sticking out horizontally, it looks like it has a ball bearing under the skin) Should I be overly concerned about this, it looks very healthy otherwise, no spots or anything.

 

[OldMan47]

You are at the very beginning of a fish-in cycle. The product that you used probably won't hurt anything but it will have done no good either. So far your chemistry readings are showing no build up of ammonia but that is likely to change in the next day or two. The plants may help a little if you have enough light to promote good plant growth but 8 plants is not really very many to support your fish. If the plants do not grow well, they will add to the biological load in the tank so keep an eye out for any dead leaves and remove them. Now you are in a wait and see mode. When you start to see some ammonia, you will need to judge how fast it is building and how much water change it will take so that levels never exceed 0.25 ppm.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree, your Fish-In cycle hasn't even started yet and unless the tank size is way up there (perhaps 60 US gallons or more) then you will have a pretty significant fish load for a fish-in cycle, which just means that those 6 fish will probably produce enough waste that you'll need to test frequently and probably change a pretty significant amount of water.

You have a couple of great things going for you however ... Its clear from your post that you are watchful and care a lot about the situation and secondly you have this good forum to turn to.

As OM has said, the plants are a two-edged sword, making things better when they are growing healthily but making things worse if they fail. Water changes with good technique will be your main and most powerful tool in a fish-in cycle. Be sure and read our fish-in article, linked in OM's signature area up there. The trick is to figure out through trial and error what percentage and frequency of water change will keep the levels of both ammonia and nitrite(NO2) at or below 0.25ppm (as measured by a liquid test kit) maximum before you can get home for the next testing and water-changing session. The usual starting habit is to measure twice a day, morning and night 12 hours apart roughly and to always keep logs of your findings and thoughts in your notebook entries so you can gradully adjust things and make life easier on yourself. If the tank is about 20g or larger then a hose refill type setup may help if the water changes get hard.

Hopefully it won't be as bad as what I've described! Good luck!
~~waterdrop~~

 

[Ryandsimmons]

Day 5: (Fish now in 36 hours) Ammonia: 0, pH 7.8-8, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate 5ppm

I didn't get a chance to do a water change as I didn't get home from work until midnight last night, but readings had not changed. Will do a 30% water change when I get home tonight. Have just started feeding the fish so will test again tonight (twice a day) to check that this doesn't cause any spikes.

 

[Ryandsimmons]

Day 5 (evening): pH 8, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10

25% water change

 

[waterdrop]

 

[Ryandsimmons]

Addendum: Mature media added. (Many thanks onebto)

The media that came with my Fluval U3 was simply 10 or so bead type things that took up maybe 1/4 of the filter cartridge. I have now squeezed in sponge/cloth type media into the same section that fills it 100%. I think that is more media than is needed, so unless I hear otherwise my plan is to leave it for 2 weeks to allow the colony to form, then remove maybe 50% of the new media. Mostly as I am a bit worried that having the "factory setting" of the cartridge 25% full, but now it being 100% full may impair waterflow. That will then leave the original beads and enough sponge media to very lightly fill maybe another 50%.

 

[onebto]

Addendum: Mature media added. (Many thanks onebto)

The media that came with my Fluval U3 was simply 10 or so bead type things that took up maybe 1/4 of the filter cartridge. I have now squeezed in sponge/cloth type media into the same section that fills it 100%. I think that is more media than is needed, so unless I hear otherwise my plan is to leave it for 2 weeks to allow the colony to form, then remove maybe 50% of the new media. Mostly as I am a bit worried that having the "factory setting" of the cartridge 25% full, but now it being 100% full may impair waterflow. That will then leave the original beads and enough sponge media to very lightly fill maybe another 50%.

Is there a noticeable degradation in water flow ? its important not to reduce the surface agitation that the outlet of the pump makes as this is were the large majority of water oxygenation takes place.

If it does it may well be you need to thin the media out a bit as to how much you can load that sort of pump up I have no idea as I have never had one of those filters.

As mentioned last night Ill get some decent pictures of those 2 platy's later see what you think fish forum species index:

http/www.fishforum...ic/46309-platy/

Regards onebto

 

[Ryandsimmons]

Addendum: Mature media added. (Many thanks onebto)

The media that came with my Fluval U3 was simply 10 or so bead type things that took up maybe 1/4 of the filter cartridge. I have now squeezed in sponge/cloth type media into the same section that fills it 100%. I think that is more media than is needed, so unless I hear otherwise my plan is to leave it for 2 weeks to allow the colony to form, then remove maybe 50% of the new media. Mostly as I am a bit worried that having the "factory setting" of the cartridge 25% full, but now it being 100% full may impair waterflow. That will then leave the original beads and enough sponge media to very lightly fill maybe another 50%.

Is there a noticeable degradation in water flow ? its important not to reduce the surface agitation that the outlet of the pump makes as this is were the large majority of water oxygenation takes place.

If it does it may well be you need to thin the media out a bit as to how much you can load that sort of pump up I have no idea as I have never had one of those filters.

As mentioned last night Ill get some decent pictures of those 2 platy's later see what you think fish forum species index:

http/www.fishforum...ic/46309-platy/

Regards onebto

The water flow looks fine, in fact it may actually help as I was suspicious that the flow was a bit high before.

I am more concerned after a few weeks as the tank keeps running the filter will get clogged with silt and stuff, with the natural decrease being exacerbated by an overfilled filter. But that is months away if it happens at all.

I showed my wife the Platy's and she loves them. I'd love to buy them off you when my tank has settled a bit thanks.

 

[onebto]

Addendum: Mature media added. (Many thanks onebto)

The media that came with my Fluval U3 was simply 10 or so bead type things that took up maybe 1/4 of the filter cartridge. I have now squeezed in sponge/cloth type media into the same section that fills it 100%. I think that is more media than is needed, so unless I hear otherwise my plan is to leave it for 2 weeks to allow the colony to form, then remove maybe 50% of the new media. Mostly as I am a bit worried that having the "factory setting" of the cartridge 25% full, but now it being 100% full may impair waterflow. That will then leave the original beads and enough sponge media to very lightly fill maybe another 50%.

As mentioned last night Ill get some decent pictures of those 2 platy's later see what you think fish forum species index:

http/www.fishforum...ic/46309-platy/

Regards onebto

The water flow looks fine, in fact it may actually help as I was suspicious that the flow was a bit high before.

I am more concerned after a few weeks as the tank keeps running the filter will get clogged with silt and stuff, with the natural decrease being exacerbated by an overfilled filter. But that is months away if it happens at all.

I showed my wife the Platy's and she loves them. I'd love to buy them off you when my tank has settled a bit thanks.

Every one has there own schedule for cleaning there filters, your absolutely Wright though they do clog up and its important to clean the filter media in old tank water you may off picked up on that already some including myself usually use the reduction in flow output as a sign to do the clean.

Once your tank has cycled it maybe advisable to remove the media I gave you and replace it with media designed specificly for your filter, or just trim it down, most people only replace media when it is absolutely falling apart.

As for the Platy's you will be doing me a favour so no charge (besides they are a very cheap fish to buy) but its probably best to wait till your tank is cycled before adding them to your tank

 

[Ryandsimmons]

I've been thinking about the current situation, and from my understanding of the cycling process I think I should actually be stocking my tank a lot more at the moment.

Although it is a new tank, I have just put in a lot of mature media, in fact the media I put in is twice at least what the filter comes with. In this case won't the bacteria be dying off in order to reduce the levels to that required by the tank?

Now I understand that you add fish in weeks apart to allow the bacteria time to grow, but if there is already a large colony shouldn't I throw more fish in now, thus avoiding a mini cycle as the bacteria dies off, then regrows as more fish are added?

 

[OldMan47]

I would keep track of the chemistry in the tank for at least a week and make sure you really are cycled before accepting OneBTO's kind offer of more fish.

 

[Ryandsimmons]

I would keep track of the chemistry in the tank for at least a week and make sure you really are cycled before accepting OneBTO's kind offer of more fish.

I wouldn't be able to buy anything in any case until at least the 10th, and I am happy to wait, I was just unsure whether to aim to stock faster than planned. I have seen several posts along the lines of "transferring full media means your tank is already cycled." So thought maybe getting 3 more of the smaller tetras (making a shoal of 7) and 4 more black skirts (making a shoal of 6) would be advisable to make the fish less stressed.

 

[waterdrop]

No, less stress due to proper shoal size is a much more minor thing that the kind of major survival stress that would hit the initial tetras that are in there now if the tank is not cycled and begins to show traces of ammonia and/or nitrite. It can take many days for these traces to first start to show up in a new situation, so you have to give it at least a week or maybe two before feeling you actually may know the real situation with the water chemistry. Tanks and water chemistry are a much slower changing thing than beginners first realize. Besides the filter possibly being not cycled at all, there's the possibility that the mature media transfer will not fully "take." Its rare but it does happen sometimes, so that's also one of the reasons for being patient and watching the test results over the week or more.

The whole hobby is all about slowing down and relaxing more in life. There's no real need to rush the setup and buildup of fish and plant stocking as they are one of the more active and pleasurable aspects of the hobby and the chance to observe and learn should be savored. You sound to be doing things right, so a good tank setting should eventually be yours to enjoy.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Ryandsimmons]

Day 6: pH 8, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0.25, Nitrate 10-20?

Wow! no Ammonia, but nitrite suddenly appearing and nitrate seems to be growing very very fast. Will do a 10% change, but just got home at 12am and honestly have no energy after work to do more. Nitrate is hard to determine, definitely more than 10, probably around 18 looking at the colour.