Questions from yet another newbie trying to cycle a tank

[joelfernandes]

Hello everyone.

I'm new to the hobby and have been struggling to be in a good place. It's been quite a rollercoaster.

My tank is almost two months old and I'm still not seeing the cycle going. I don't have nitrites nor nitrates in the water, yet, ammonia keeps showing up. I change the water (from 25% to 50% sometimes) from 2 to 3 times a week now. When changing water I do use a conditioner (recently switched to Prime) and only recently started adding Seachem Stability (their "bacteria in a bottle" product). It's been only a week since I started using those products, so hopefully, it'll make a difference.

As I said, I'm new to the hobby and have quite a few questions:

1. As part of every water change (around 2 times a week), I vacuum the substrate. Am I delaying the bacteria growth by doing this?
2. Sometimes I get some algae in the glass and I've been cleaning it. Should I stop this until I get the cycle going?
3. The first couple of weeks I only fed the fish every other day but eventually started doing it every day. I was advised to get to the every other day cadence again to avoid ammonia spikes. Although, my fish kinda look hungry ... I know, I know, that's probably every newbie's saying, but, every time I enter the room they all rush to the front of the aquarium expecting food. Should I keep the feeding every other day? Am I feeding too little?
4. I have a HOB filter (Top Fin) and at this point, I'm avoiding changing the cartridge as I want to give a chance for bacteria to show up. I did recently add a pre-filter sponge and water does look nice. I did get a 12-month supply of these cartridges (when I knew less) but am planning to just replace these with sponges and ceramic media. Because I have these to "spare", how often can/should I replace them with brand new one?
5. I already got quite a lot of these ceramic rings that I intend to put in the filter. Because I don't want to meddle with that just yet until the cycle starts, can I put a bag of these rings just inside the aquarium? Is it worth it?

Thank you all. I'm sure I'll have more questions

 

[Fishboy_Max]

1. Vacuuming the substrate reduces waste such as uneaten food and stuff like that, so I recommend to vac, but perhaps only once a week, then you allow the bacteria to feed on some of it.
2. Alge doesn't necessarily do anything to the tank besides eat nutrients out of the water column that plants could use. It's up to you how you want your tank to look.
3. For a fish in cycle I believe it is recommended to only feed them every 2 or so days, without compensating for the missed days. Most fish can last about a week without food and I know its tempting to feed them because they look hungry.
4. I would recommend placing the bag of ceramic in the tank and waiting 2 or so weeks and then placing it in the filter. What the ceramic does is it allows a place for the bb (beneficial bacteria) to grow.
You shouldn't really replace the ceramic and you shouldn't really need to replace the sponges unless they are deteriorating, so falling apart, as a side note you should always clean the filter media in the old tank water, ie when doing water changes save some of it in a bucket and use that to wash the media. This should only be done every month.
5. Yes, it would be a good idea to place it in the tank for a few weeks.
______________________________________________
Just as a question, what are your ammonia readings?, because there will always be ammonia in the tank, but in healthy levels.


*As a side note I would wait for some peer evaluation of what I have written, since we all can make mistakes or so that they can add on to what I have said.

 

[joelfernandes]

Thank you, @Fishboy_Max! That's very helpful. I'm already avoiding doing a "deep" vacuum of the gravel on every water change; I'll be doing that only once a week, at the most.

I place a bag of these ceramic rings in the tank already and will give it some time before placing it in the HOB filter.

As for ammonia, using the API master kit I'm getting a 0.25ppm. I'm finally getting around .25ppm nitrite which is exciting (for me, at least). As well a tiny bit of nitrate, but not much yet. So I guess there's progress with the cycle but still ways to go.

 

[Slaphppy7]

If you haven't already, have a look at the Fish-In cycling portion of this thread: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycle-your-tank-a-complete-guide-for-beginners.475055/