My Own Cycling Problem

[cowboy507]

I am doing a fish-in cycle in my 10 gal. I have some guppies in there
I just bought an API master test kit (i had been using strips which were way off) and i got some strange readings.
Today i got a reading of
1 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
0 Nitrate

With the strips i was getting reasonable readings of all three

I have been cycling this tank for about 3-4 weeks.

Is this normal?

Cowboy

 

[Geoff1991]

Id say you aren't that far into cycling, id trust the liquid test kit not the strips.

Im going to assume that you have just started to get bacteria to deal with ammonia and nitrites should show up soon.

 

[cowboy507]

How high should I expect the Ammonia get up to?

I want to add some more fish after it is cycled, and i know that i should only do two or three at a time. how long after it is cycled can i add some more fish?

 

[Geoff1991]

If youve got fish in, you dont want to add any more fish. Id keep doing water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrite down, until there is enough bacteria to cope with your current fishes waste. Then leave it for a week or two and slowly stock your tank adding a few fish at a time, id say about 2 per week. Maximum.

I bailed out of a fish-in cycle due to the suffering of the fish/fed up of water changes. I start my fishless cycle tomorrow. Im giving away the fish ive got now.

Hope that helps

 

[cowboy507]

good luck, and thank you for your help!

im thinking about going fishless, we will see how this tank does first

 

[Geoff1991]

I really would. No matter how hard you try, your fish will suffer. Mine started showing symptoms of nitrite poisoning and it was really upsetting.


Plus with fishless, when your cycles done you can add more fish at once...

 

[waterdrop]

If you stay with the fish-in cycle, you need to be keeping both toxins below 0.25ppm. If they aren't you can do another 50-70% water change after an hour has passed.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Amunet]

If you stay with the fish-in cycle, you need to be keeping both toxins below 0.25ppm. If they aren't you can do another 50-70% water change after an hour has passed.

~~waterdrop~~

*points* What they said.
If you're gonna stick with fish-in cycling, gotta make sure ammonia and eventually nitrites stay below 0.25. Even then it's still risky, but worth it to keep the fish as healthy as possible during the cycling process.

 

[waterdrop]

If you stay with the fish-in cycle, you need to be keeping both toxins below 0.25ppm. If they aren't you can do another 50-70% water change after an hour has passed.

~~waterdrop~~

*points* What they said.
If you're gonna stick with fish-in cycling, gotta make sure ammonia and eventually nitrites stay below 0.25. Even then it's still risky, but worth it to keep the fish as healthy as possible during the cycling process.

Hey, you're up too late for a cat.

 

[arobinson1984]

How high should I expect the Ammonia get up to?

I want to add some more fish after it is cycled, and i know that i should only do two or three at a time. how long after it is cycled can i add some more fish?

You dont want to be letting the ammonia build up, you need to be doing daily water changes to keep the ammonia levels down below 0.25ppm and preferably 0. Any amount of ammonia is poisonous to fish and can cause permanent damage to their health.

Andy

 

[Bobtastic]

Same as the above! Keep the Ammonia and Nitrites as low as you can. You really don't need to worry about Nitrates in a Fish-in cycle as you should be doing so many water changes that they should even build up.

I've been through a fish-in cycle (only because I was new and trusted my LFS and fell into the trap). I stuck at it as I actually enjoyed keeping an eye on the water stats and doing the water changes that are required. But it's obviously not for everyone.

If you have the time and inclination you can do a fish-in cycle without causing any long lasting damage to your fishies, but you have to put in a fair amount of energy.

 

[cowboy507]

Okay, i did a 50% water change today and i still got an ammonia reading of about 1 ppm so i did a 25% change. I just checked the readings and it hasnt changed! Should I do another large one? Keep on doing large changes everyday?

 

[Geoff1991]

Have you tested your tap water?

 

[cowboy507]

Have you tested your tap water?

yes there is no ammonia, that was the first thing i did!

 

[Geoff1991]

Do more water changes then... Dont be scared to do more than a 50% change. Your main priority is your fishes health...