Mini cycle

[leafs]

I recently had to relocate my 29 gal because of renovations and I seem to have started a mini cycle. What I did was I took all the fish out and the filter and put them in another tank for an hour. I took all but about an inch of water from the tank and then moved it. Where I think I screwed up was that when I filled the tank back up I added the dechlorinator after it was full, instead of while I was filling it up. I'm assuming that I lost all the bacteria that was in the plants and gravel. Now some of my fish have ragged fins and they seem lethargic. I tested for ammonia and nitrite and I have a bit of ammonia showing so I did a partial water change. I guess I should be doing daily water changes now until things stabilize? I learned my lesson. In a couple of weeks I'm going to have to put the tank back in it's original location so I'll be more careful. Sorry for the long post.

 

[Vivienne]

That's a pain - is there anywhere you can get bacteria from to help things along ?(filter media/squeezings from another tank etc.) My lfs was good enough to give me a reasonable amount of gravel to add to my new tank. Don't know how much it might help though.

 

[leafs]

I have a 10 gal I could use. Should I just squeeze the sponge in the tank? My 10 gal has been running for a few months now so it should have enough bacteria.

 

[rdd1952]

What are your ammonia and nitrite readings? I doubt that you lost all your bacteria just from having chlorinated water in the tank for only a few minutes. Some of it may have died off but definitely not all of it. How long was the water down in the tank. If the walls of the tank dried out, that could have also killed off some bacteria. Fortunately, most of the bacteria are present in the filter media so you shouldn't have a major problem.

 

[leafs]

What are your ammonia and nitrite readings? I doubt that you lost all your bacteria just from having chlorinated water in the tank for only a few minutes. Some of it may have died off but definitely not all of it. How long was the water down in the tank. If the walls of the tank dried out, that could have also killed off some bacteria. Fortunately, most of the bacteria are present in the filter media so you shouldn't have a major problem.

I can't remember the actual ammonia reading, but it was very low and nitrite was 0. The water was down in the tank for about 10 minutes before I started filling it up again. The walls of the tank were pretty dry also. I'm glad I didn't mess with the filter. I'm going to test the water everyday until things seem to improve. Could the stress of moving from tank to tank cause their fins to deteriorate?

 

[rdd1952]

If your readings are that low, you should be fine. It is just a mini cycle as you said, probably because the tank walls dried out and you lost a little bacteria there. Stress can cause fin rot so that is a possibility. What kind of fish are they?

 

[leafs]

Everything seems to be fine now. I did another water change last night and my fish are eating like they use to. I think that stress had a bit to do with it. I have some Angelfish, Tiger barbs(I know they don't usually mix with Angels) and a couple of Yo yo loaches. They all seem to be settling down now. Thanks for your help rdd1952.

 

[rdd1952]

You're very welcome.

 

[Vivienne]

Glad it didn't turn out as bad as you thought. Sounds like bacteria are a little more resilient than the impression I had.

 

[leafs]

Yeah, I thought I had it all planned out perfectly. Now I know the proper way to move a tank. When I tested my water tonight I had 0 ammonia, so things are stable now. In a couple of weeks I'll have to do it all over again