Semi-cycled Tank

[fourthtimelucky]

I bought a secondhand tank which was running & stocked when I went to pick it up. I kept the filter that came with it in a bucket of dechlorinated water with a heater and the (very mucky) substrate overnight with a couple of good pinches of food, before setting the tank up.

I put in about a third of the substrate without rinsing to try and maximise th e amount of bacteria. I also added some filter media from my other tank.

Did a water test yesterday (about 24 hours after filling tank) and my stats were:

Am: 0
Ni : 1.5
Na :100 +

For the nitrates to be that high, I assume that at least some of the bacteria had survived.
The substrate was very mucky and I thought this might be why the nitrites were so high. I vac’d it thoroughly (about a 70% water change in the process) I chucked in another pinch of food as I couldn’t find the ammonia and didn’t want the bacteria to starve. I also added a dose of NitrateMinus.

24 hours on my stats are:

Am : 0
Ni : < 0.1
Na : 12.5

Does this indicate that the nitrite spike was because of the amount of gunk in the substrate / overfeeding the bucket that the filters were in?

I plan on adding a pinch of food a day and testing daily now until I am sure that the tank has cycled. I have found my ammonia but am not sure how much to add (it’s 9% solution in a 30g tank if anyone here does) and don’t want to screw things up by overdosing.

Does that sound okay to you guys?

Also, should I turn the heat up? And to how much?

Thanks!

 

[fourthtimelucky]

Anyone? just the temperature to turn it up to would be a big help!

 

[omega59]

i'm not sure exactly sorry can't help. you will get a response soon i bet.

 

[fourthtimelucky]

Please help if you can, I'm worried that my bacteria may die off if I don't feed them enough.

Will one big pinch of food a day do the trick (I figure that's how much I'll be feeding the fish, only I'll be feeding three times a day not once.)

Or should I be putting in ammonia? If so how much?

And should I turn the heat up? Would that help?

 

[fourthtimelucky]

bump

 

[littlest]

If you want to use ammonia the best way is to add it gradually to a 5 gallon bucket of water, testing along the way, until you reach about 5ppm.(remember how much you put in to get that far) then do the maths (for a 30 gallon, simply multiply by 6).

You can work it out mathmatically, but I always felt this way is more accurate as (I think) ammonia can lose its potency so it doesn't stay 9% if you've had the bottle for a while (if that makes sense).

As for the temp, turning it up will help speed things up. Normally people suggest you crank it up to the highest level (normally around 35C-37C). Just remember to turn it down again before adding your fish.