He Meant Well, But I Need Some Help

[KrystaK]

I set up my 30 gal fish tank this weekend and I was really excited to get my fish (But cycle first) but still pretty excited for fish
So I was talking to the SO about what fish I wanted to get, showing him pictures to see if he thought they were pretty.
Well he came home yesterday all proud of himself for remembering their names and what they looked like.
 
Thank goodness he did't get my entire stock plan, just the ones he thought were prettiest and that I wanted most. 
But now I have 2 female dwarf gourami and 8 small neon tetras in my fully uncycled 30 gal. 
 
I hadn't even finished decorating the tank, I had planned to treat myself this weekend and go buy some plants  
So my tank is filled with all the fake plants and clay pots and such that I had stored in the basement
 
So I guess I'm doing a fish in cycle.
 
I'm testing the water daily, waiting for the ammonia spikes and such..
But I was curious as to what the symptoms of ammonia poisoning are?
I'm fully expecting some fin rot and possibly some ick due to stress, but ammonia poisoning is something I've only really head about.
I was also wondering if there is anything else to watch out for, and what to do if I happen to notice symptoms

 

[ShinySideUp]

Copied from the web:
 
Symptoms of ammonia poisoning:
 
Fish trying to breathe at the surface
- Gills are red or purple
- Fish are lethargic
- Lack of appetite
- Fish are on the bottom of the aquarium
- Red spots on the fins and body
 
If you get these there are only two things you can do:
 
1) Move the fish to a cycled aquarium (which is probably not an option).
 
2) Change the water, a lot of it. If your ammonia goes higher than 0, or at the most, registers over 0.25 ppm, then you should change water and a lot of it at once. Don't fiddle about with 10 or 20% changes, these will not be enough. You should be looking at 75 to 90% water changes perhaps every day until your filter can keep up.
 Ammonia is highly toxic to fish and the tiniest amounts will kill them.
 
However, there is a get-out if your water is favourable. if your pH is less than 7 you may be able to get away with more ammonia than you would think because below 7.0 ammonia tends to be less toxic ammonium. This drop in pH does not go on forever though and you can only hope to get away with this if your pH is down to about 6.4. Below this figure your cycle may stall and you will be back to major water changes.
 
It's a compicated subject, I wish you well.
 

 

[l_l_l]

Get the plants ASAP as they will help handle a lot of the bioload.

 

[MBOU]

I would personally return the fish or find a tank with someone that is cycled and can take them temporarily. Otherwise your cycling will take much longer and you will likely lose at best.... most of those fish.... Im sure the SO would understand if you explained it was to save their lives and why...

 

[Ch4rlie]

One other option might be considered, any friends or family with a established tank, ask if you can take some of their filter media, this would go a long way in helping cycle your tank much faster. Btw if you do get permission to take some media, take no more than a third of their filter media and replace with new media otherwise may cause spikes or mini cycle in their tank.

Also may be worth asking your LFS if they have any established media you can have or to buy, a few members have managed to get media from LFS.

Failing that, a bottle of Dr Tim's One and Only Nitrifying Bacteria may prove worth getting.

Fish in cycle is a lot if water changes and kinda stressful for you and the fish. May take a while but some members have been successful with fish in cycle though I won't really recommend it tbh.

Do let us know how you get on and what method you decide to do. Good luck

 

[KrystaK]

I have a 20 gal Betta tank (Currently houses 2 male Betta's) I can push the boys into the ends of the tank so the Gourami (Only one Gourami now ) and Neons can have the central 10 gallons. 
 
I finally found a store that sold household ammonia so I'll do a traditional fish less cycle. 

 

[DreamertK]

You could do a fish-in cycle, but its a huge hassle to have to change the water AT LEAST ONCE A DAY for a whole month. That's what I did and it was horrible back breaking labor.

 

[Meeresstille]

If you already have an established, cycled tank, you could take the filter media from that filter and rinse it in the water of your 30 gallon tank, just in front of the water intake tube of that new filter. Don't forget to turn off all electrical appliances on that tank to prevent shock! Then return that media back into your old filter! Once you turn on the new filter again it will suck up all that gunk and the bacteria with it, giving your new filter a head-start, seeding it with all that beneficial bacteria. Your cycling time will be greatly reduced!
 
I have done that 3 years ago, when I transferred 6 Rummynose Tetras from a 10 gallon tank to a 30 gallon tank. They had been sharing the 10 gallon with a Betta (following the suggestion of an LFS employee), but after some research I knew they needed a lot more space! The filter media stayed with the Betta, and the large amount of water in combination with the bacteria within the gunk from the filter media kept the ammonia levels at minor levels. The low pH of my tap water also helped keeping any toxicity concerns low!

 

[mhancock]

There is somewhere on here a list of who lives where and can donate media, for example I'm in Kent if that helps!

If ammonia is building up the neons will get darker especially the eyes or when you view them head on.

Get the plants ASAP as they will help handle a lot of the bioload.

I'm not sure the difference would be noticeable, certainly would not effect ammonia in first phase of cycling.

 

[l_l_l]

Well, in my case, I forgot to replug the filter after a water change and it stayed off for a day before I noticed..
Plugged it back in, check my water parameters, still at 0/0/0..
Not sure if it was because of the plants but I do have a lot..