Help Cycling.

[Joshwainwright]

Is anybody willing to help me cycle my tank with fish in it?

Meaning help I mean me updating you by email and you telling me what to do.
Please say yes somebody as my fish are dying 1 by one...

 

[Colin_T]

You can pm me and I will respond when I have time. If you are losing fish while doing a fish in cycle, then cut back on feeding and do some water changes. It is a good idea to do a partial water change each day during a fish in cycle. You can change as much water as you want but normally you change about 1/3 to 1/2 of the tank volume. Make sure the new water is free of chlorine / chloramine and has a similar temperature and pH to the tank water.
If possible make up some water in a bucket/s and let it stand overnight with the conditioner in. Then do the water change and refill the buckets so they are ready for the next day.

Can you provide some info on the fish that are dieing and also have you tested the tank water for ammonia and nitrite?

 

[Joshwainwright]

I'm getting a testing kit tomorrow.

The fish that are dying are mollies and guppys.

 

[Tolak]

What size tank, and how many of each species? What make & model of filter are you running, and what product are you using for dechlorinator?

 

[Joshwainwright]

TANK SIZE
Length = 76cm
width = 30cm
height = 37cm
capacity = 17 gal / 79 liters

FISH
2 plec (gibbiceps)
4 guppies
6 mollies
2 danio

Filter
Elite stingray 10

dechlorinator
King british Safe guard

 

[Tolak]

I moved this to New To The Hobby, as the Scientific section is for more highly advanced topics presented & debated in a scientific manner.

The general guideline for a traditional cycle with fish is 1" of smaller fish for every 5 gallons of water. This would mean a couple of guppys, or a couple of danios in your situation. Those plecs are going to get big fast 12"+, they need a new home. With the rest of the stock that tank is really full for a cycled & mature tank.

If this tank is cycling you will need to do somewhere around a 75% water change daily. That dechlorinator does convert ammonia to ammonium, which is a good thing, add double the suggested amount with each water change.

 

[Colin_T]

you have lots of fish in a little tank. The Gibbiceps catfish can get pretty big and will need a bigger tank when they are older. The other fish will be fine tho, but if the mollies are sailfin mollies, then they will get to a reasonable size and could do with a bit more room.

Normally when doing a fish in cycle you only want 4-6 small fish to begin with. Then you don't add any new fish until the tank is mature (after a month or so).

Right now I would keep the feeding down to once a day and do a 50% water change each day. Increase the surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.
If you have some live plants in the tank, then have the lights on for about 16hours per day. Hopefull the plants will use up some of the ammonia and help the fish survive the cycling period.

 

[Joshwainwright]

I moved this to New To The Hobby, as the Scientific section is for more highly advanced topics presented & debated in a scientific manner.

The general guideline for a traditional cycle with fish is 1" of smaller fish for every 5 gallons of water. This would mean a couple of guppys, or a couple of danios in your situation. Those plecs are going to get big fast 12"+, they need a new home. With the rest of the stock that tank is really full for a cycled & mature tank.

If this tank is cycling you will need to do somewhere around a 75% water change daily. That dechlorinator does convert ammonia to ammonium, which is a good thing, add double the suggested amount with each water change.

Were planning on giving the plec away when they get big and getting some more small ones, we just want them to do a job really.
So all I need to do is monitor the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels whilst changing 75% of the water daily?

 

[Joshwainwright]

you have lots of fish in a little tank. The Gibbiceps catfish can get pretty big and will need a bigger tank when they are older. The other fish will be fine tho, but if the mollies are sailfin mollies, then they will get to a reasonable size and could do with a bit more room.

Normally when doing a fish in cycle you only want 4-6 small fish to begin with. Then you don't add any new fish until the tank is mature (after a month or so).

Right now I would keep the feeding down to once a day and do a 50% water change each day. Increase the surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.
If you have some live plants in the tank, then have the lights on for about 16hours per day. Hopefull the plants will use up some of the ammonia and help the fish survive the cycling period.

I have 2 sets of bubbles in the tank and I think the plants are struggling from low CO2 levels.

 

[Colin_T]

The plants won't struggle from low CO2 if you have lots of aeration. The air bubbles will maximise the oxygen levels in the water, but they will also allow CO2 to keep coming into the water.
Water normally holds a certain amount of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen gases. These are kept at a pretty stabile amount but can vary under certain circumstances. If there is lots of surface turbulence then more gases can get into the water. This can mean you get more oxygen in the water but it also means that if the CO2 is used up by the plants, then it will be replaced quicker in a tank with surface turbulence.
If you have a CO2 unit adding carbon dioxide to the tank, then you don't want to increase the surface turbulence because it will drive out the excess CO2 you are adding.

 

[Joshwainwright]

Right then, i really don't have a idea about cycling whilst fish are living in the tank, what do i need to do?

I know about cycling without fish but fish-in...

 

[Tolak]

As stated, large daily water changes. This lowers the effects of ammonia. Doubling the dechlornator will assure any ammonia is converted to ammonium between water changes.

 

[Colin_T]

just feed the fish once a day and do a water change every day or whenever the ammonia level goes above 1ppm. Continue doing this until the tank has cycled (after about a month).

 

[Joshwainwright]

Ok, I'll update you tomorrow when I've done all the tests on the water.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Like stated above, water changes is the name of the game for a fish-in cycle to complete properly.

If you Ammonia and/or NitrIte go above .25 ppm, do a water change to bring it back down.

If you have an Ammonia level higher than .25 ppm, this can give the fish permanent gill damage.

If you have a NitrIte reading over .25 ppm, this can give the fish permanent nerve damge.

Also, both of these, if fish are exposed to the high levels of Ammonia/NitrIte, can be fatal to an fish.

Finally, NitrAte starts to be harmful to fish if it is 50+ ppm.

So, multiple daily water changes are needed to keep the Ammonia and/or NitrIte down at or below .25 ppm.

Over time you will find that your Ammonia and/or NitrIte levels are not rising that high, that fast all the time, and this is because you are starting to colonize beneficial bacteria in your filter that process these two parameters.

Once your Ammonia AND NitrIte hold steady at zero for one week, WITHOUT you doing any water changes, you can consider yourself cycled!

Like stated above, this entire process takes on average 4-6 weeks.

-FHM