Oops! 10G Fish-In Cycle

[smknutson]

The mrs and I recently got a 10G tropical tank with the goal of having a good number of small, active fish. Glolight or Neon tetras. I wanted to set it up the right way, and apparently my sig. other decided she wanted fish for our two boys a little TOO soon. Our tank is 4 days old. Ive been reading on here and battling a bacterial bloom with the follow-on ammonia spike. (around 35-40% water changes a day) I also dropped some $ on Nutrafin Cycle bacterial addidtive, before reading on here (oops #2). Now my wife added two Glolight Tetras and an Algae Eater on the 2nd night. (wasnt too happy coming home). There are also three small live plants. Temperature 80F steady.

Ive been testing and today, levels are
pH 7.6
High Range pH 8.3
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 2-2.5ppm

Im a bit worried about the pH level.
The regular water changes have really helped with water clarity, and im settling in for regular testing/water changes.


Would I benefit from a handful of gravel from my fish store? (a good mom + pop operation with clean tanks and healthy fish)

I am hoping the seasoned tank runners could give me some advice on the direction and steps to take with this tank. Thanks!

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Glad you have identified that you are fish in cycling.
Read the beginners section if you havent already.
Dont add any more fish at this stage.
The volume of water changes will depend on the level of ammonia and nitrite you have. So, if you have 1ppm ammonia for example then a 40% water change will still leave 0.6ppm of ammonia which is too high.
Keep a log of your testing and actions.

Dont worry about the ph. If your water is the same as the water from the shop the fish came from then they should be fine.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, agree with BBB. Unfortunately a tank is not really ready for fish until it has a working biofilter, which usually takes between one and two months to grow. Since that did not happen you will now end up being the daily "manual" filter for the water chemistry. It looks like you may be using a liquid-reagent based test kit, which is good. You'll want to test just ammonia and nitrite morning and evening, since either of these can appear very suddenly. What you'll be trying for though is to discern a pattern, based on your log in your notebook, of what percentage and frequency of water changes will keep both these poisons within the narrow range between zero ppm and 0.25ppm before you can be home again to change water. Water changes should be performed with a gravel-cleaning siphon and return water should be treated with a good conditioner and roughly temperature matched.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[smknutson]

Yes, agree with BBB. Unfortunately a tank is not really ready for fish until it has a working biofilter, which usually takes between one and two months to grow. Since that did not happen you will now end up being the daily "manual" filter for the water chemistry. It looks like you may be using a liquid-reagent based test kit, which is good. You'll want to test just ammonia and nitrite morning and evening, since either of these can appear very suddenly. What you'll be trying for though is to discern a pattern, based on your log in your notebook, of what percentage and frequency of water changes will keep both these poisons within the narrow range between zero ppm and 0.25ppm before you can be home again to change water. Water changes should be performed with a gravel-cleaning siphon and return water should be treated with a good conditioner and roughly temperature matched.

~~waterdrop~~

Waterdrop, those are exactly the steps im taking, and im getting used to having to schedule the maintenance into my day. I am using an API liquid kit.

So far the levels have not spiked, nitrites are still negligible and ammonia is holding at about 0.25 - i will be doing about a 40% change daily.

Another question, Ive read about using gravel from a mature tank to assist in this process, would it be advisable to get a handful from my lfs and add that to the tank?

Also to add, the fish seem to be thriving and are eating heartily and swimming normally. I am using a Prime water conditioner to take care of the chlorines, but it also says it detoxifies ammonia. Does detoxifying have an adverse effect on beneficial bacteria growth?


*Also it appears that the pH level is slowly dropping closer to my home tap water pH of about 6.8-7 , it was at 8.3 yesterday and is now about 7.9-8, can this equalization with my water pH harm the little guys? A .3-.4 change in one day seems a bit drastic.

 

[waterdrop]

No, you don't need to worry about the pH changes or the conditioner. The fish will be fine with those sorts of pH change. The bacteria are happy eating either form of the ammonia and you are using the best conditioner possible, so you're fine there.

As far as transferring live bacteria in to speed things up: media from a mature filter transferred into your filter is the best, gravel from a mature tank is much less useful but might be better than nothing, if somehow it would fit in your filter without messing up the operation of the filter (some filter designs do indeed need the empty spaces you observer in them, so be cautious about that.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Glad your fish are doing fine.
Im sure you will be fine.
Wise words from WD about the gravel and filter!

If you really want to try the gravel, then pinch a pair of new cotton tights (if the mrs wears them) and cut a bit off and soak it in decholrinated water for about 30 mins. Then put your gravel in it and suspend it in the tank in the filter stream.