Tank Cycling

[mattster]

Hi, I recently purchased a 75 gallon All Glass and i have some questions about cycling. I have currently have 12 platties in there for cycling. I have an marineland emporor 400. a 400wat heater. I have 2 real plants in there, not sure what they are and 3 or 4 fake ones.

1: i tested the water and the ammonia and the nitrite were at 0, is that normal for cycling

2: i have 2 cartridges full of black diamond carbon in the filter, is that suppose to be in their during cycling because i belive it is an ammonia remover.

3: one of the bio-wheels on the filter is not turning fast while the other one hauls but and i have adjusted and still get the same result. and that same bio-wheel looks lopsided (it is not perfect it does not look level in the filter)

can someone please point me in the right direction and help out a newbie, the fish have only been in the tank for about 24 hours

P.S. some one just help and please do not clutter my thread with rants about not doing a fishless cycle.

 

[rdd1952]

During cycling, it is very unusual to have no ammonia or nitrite but if the fish have only been in the tank for 24 hours, it may be too early for ammonia (definitely too early for nitrite). The carbon could indeed be removing ammonia but that won't last long as carbon will be fully saturated in a day to a couple weeks. I would take it out and replace it with some type ceramic media such as Seachem matrix. Carbon is really a chemical filter and although it can also function as a biological filter, there are much better media out there for that.

I've never had a bio-wheel filter so i can't really speak on those. It definitely sounds as if there is a problem with it though.

Just keep a close check on the ammonia and nitrite. Once you start getting a reading, do water changes of 15 to 30 percent to keep the levels under .25ppm.

 

[mattster]

okay and how often should i expect to do water changes, and when should i expect ammonia.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

While cycling with fish you may have to change water up to several times a day to keep ammonia and nitrites at a safe level... less than .25 ppm of each. Hence why "fishless" is a lot less work.

After the tank is cycled, a minimum of 25% per week.

 

[mattster]

okay and how often should i test my water and what are signs of ammonia spikes

and is this how it is ammonia to nitrites to nitrates?

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

I tested about twice a day...and usually had to change water twice a day. The amount will depend on how much Ammonia or Nitrites are in the water...if the level reaches .5 ppm you're looking at a 50% water change. Having done one fishy cycle I'll never do it again...such a PITA.

As for the ammonia - nitrites - nitrates thing...

Fish release Ammonia in their waste...bacteria consume the ammonia converting it to nitrites...other bacteria consume the nitrites turning them into Nitrates. We remove the Nitrates by doing weekly water changes. The reason that cycling takes so long is bacteria can only reproduce so quickly...I think at max the population can double in 24 hours...so if there are only a few bacteria to start with it can take a little while for billions/trillions(?) of bacteria to grow.

 

[mattster]

okay thanks

 

[rdd1952]

During the cycling period, feed sparingly. Once every other day is fine. Less food means less waste and less left over food to decay and create ammonia.

 

[mattster]

i still have a 0 mg/l reading on my ammonia on the first day is that normal, and when can i expect the ammonia to rise

 

[rdd1952]

As mentioned earlier the carbon could possibly be removing the ammonia to begin with but it won't take long before it is saturated and stops absorbing it. You should definitely start to see ammonia in the 2nd or 3rd day and with the large number of fish you have it will begin to rise very quickly. You will really have to stay on top of water changes to keep the ammonia and later nitrite levels low.

And unless you got all male platys, expect to start seeing fry soon. Every female will give birth every 28 days. And that is from the last time they gave birth, not from the time you got them and put them in with other males. They store sperm so they are basically pregnant when you get them.

 

[mattster]

ya i noticed that 10 of the 12 platties are pregent and 10 of the 12 are female

so if i remove the carbon will the ammonia creep up, and when i have ammonia about how long does it take for the ammonia turn into nitirte

 

[rdd1952]

The ammonia will soon start to rise een with the carbon in as it will become saturated. That's the reason most of us don't use carbon. After a couple days to a week, it isn't doing anything anyway as it's fully saturated.

Once the ammonia starts to show, it will only be a couple days before you should start seeing some nitrite. And the ammonia probably won't go up gradually. With that many fish, it will rise pretty quickly. Feed sparingly and do water changes as often as needed to try to keep ammonia and nitrite under .25ppm.

 

[mattster]

okay, but my testing kit has ammonia in values of mg/l, what is the converison to ppm

 

[rdd1952]

mg/l is the same as ppm. Or at least they are so close it's not worth the time to calculate the difference.

 

[mattster]

okay thanks for all of your help