Losses

[GRJ]

Hi all, as i have said on previous posts, i am cycling my new tank and have 5 fish in there, 2 zebra danios and 3 platys. I was told by numerous people before i set my tank up that these fish are good for cycling. I have a 108ltr tank with a Fluval 205 external filter and i ran the tank for a week and aded some Stres Zyme before introducing these fish. The fish have been in there 4 days and i have lost a zebra and a platy(the female one who also had fry yesterday). I knew this was a risk and its very upsetting(wish i knew of fishles cycling before!!!) but i want to know what i should do now. I only have two male platys and 1 zebra left. My water parameters are Ammonia 0.25 Nitrite 0.25 Nitrate 20 and PH 8. I think my cycling is underway as i have ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings. I have been doing 20% water changes every other day but now i am thinking that maybe i should do 10-15% water change every day. What does everyone else think about that and how long should i be doing frequent water changes? Untill the ammonia and nitrite read 0? I also added some Ammo Lock to make the fish a bit more comfortable and i dechlorinate the water with Stress Coat as it is meant to be good for the fish. Thanks.GRJ

 

[Jimb0b]

Just keep monitoring the water and do daily changes 10%-15%.Looks like it's started cycling so hopefully your filter will start doing it's work soon.
Any spikes in your test results then increase water change volume.If they decrease then you know your filter is starting to do it's job but keep an eye on readings.Also add new stock slowly after the initial cycle has finished and monitor the water daily when you do,kind of a mini cycle will happen as you increase the bio load until your filter can cope.

I personally don't go for all these chemicals myself,dechlorinator and that's it.I figure the least ammount of stuff you put in the better but each to their own i guess and there isn't much a good water change can't help sort out rather than some chemical.

 

[GRJ]

Thanks for that, its all new and a bit scary at the minute and i hate losing fish. the other zebra danio is a bit lethargic and doesnt ant to eat so i am worrying about him now, i will do 10-15% water change every day unless ther is a spike when i shall increase it to a 30% water change till the spike subsides . When the tank has cycled we are only going to add 2-3 fish at a time untill the parameters become normal again. The 2 platys that i have left are eating ok and generally active and dont seem to be bothered by anything. Is shall just keep an eye on them. Thanks again.GRJ