Water Parameters Advice For Cycling Tank

[MissNLT]

Hi everyone, I am new here but this seemed like a knowledgeable forum. I have set up a 60litre tank with a s15 slim filter which came with it.

The tank has been up and running for two weeks now. My pet shop advised me to buy a few fish to put in it to start the cycle, so I did. The fish all seem happy enough, I do regular water changes and for the last week I have been testing the water. Results are as follows:
ammonia-0.50
Nitrates-50
Nitrites-5
cl2-0
kh-6d
ph-6.8
gh-8-10d

Results never change drastically- I know I have another couple of months before the cycle is over. But I am wondering are these constant results normal. How regularly should i be testing the water and how regular should I carry out water changes.

Also the flow of the water ran very well, but recently it is just a trickle. I severly doubt that this is normal, as there is a flow adjuster on the tank but its at full power.

Any help would be much appreciated

 

[tanktop]

There are loads of threads on here about cycling (i have not done it in a long time). Re your filter flow next time you change the water rinse your filter sponge out in the tank water. I personaly do this every time I do a water change (which is weekly) also if you have filter floss, my guess is it will need to be binned by now. Floss gets clogged up and needs to be binned every now and then.

 

[Essjay]

I presume you are using strip testers as you include Cl2, GH and KH? Although they are not very accurate, yours does show a dangerously high level of nitrite.

What the shop failed to tell you is that you need to keep both ammonia and nitrite at zero at all times. You are doing what we call a fish-in cycle. You need to be doing a water change as often and as big as necessary to stop either ammonia or nitrite ever getting above 0.25. Ammonia burns the fish's gills and stops them being able to breathe properly. Nitrite binds to the fish's blood and stops it absorbing oxygen. Both of them do long term damage to the fish so even if they don't die straight away they'll be more prone to getting sick and will probably not live to their potential life expectancy.

Do a water change as soon as possible. Take out as much water as you can, leaving just enough to allow the fish to swim in. Replace it with water that has dechlorinator added and is the same temperature as the water you take out. Once the tank is refilled, test the water again. If nitrite is not zero, do another big water change.
Once you have got both ammonia and nitrite down to zero, test the tank every day and do a water change if you see a reading for either of them. If you find the levels go up beyond 0.25, you need to test twice a day, and possibly do several water changes a day.
Eventually, both ammonia and nitrite will stay at zero without you having to do a water change. That is when the filter will be cycled. Once you reach this stage, you can start doing weekly maintenance water changes of around 25%.
You say your results are constant. What is the highest the nitrite test goes to? Test colours always show the highest colour on the chart even when they are much higher. If your nitrite levels are remaining constant it suggests they have gone well off the top of the scale and your tester is showing the highest colour it's capable of.

You'll get more accurate results if you get a liquid reagent test kit rather than strips.



As for your filter, swish the media inside it gently in the water you take out of the tank during a water change. You need to find out why the filter is slowing down. Are you feeding too much, and the media is getting clogged with uneaten food, for example.

 

[the_lock_man]

What Essjay says above is exactly what I would say too. Have a read of the link in my signature area, as this gives a bit of background detail, so that you can understand why you do what you have to do.

 

[MissNLT]

Tank top and the_lock_man thanks for your advice. Essjay, yes I have been using the strips. The nitrite reading goes up to 10 which is a really deep magenta pink, it always reads in at 5 which is a paler pink. I just thought it was strange that even though I have been carrying out regular water changes the values never change. I will buy different testers. I use the liquid test for testing the ammonia, it is always reading at 0.50 as well.

Thank you for your advice I will do this today. I am always scared in case I stress the fish out when carrying out big water changes, but I will give it a go.

As for the filter, I have taken the sponges out and rinsed them in the fish water before, there is a tube in the water which sucks the water up into the external filter then it flows back into the tank. The tube does look quite dirty so most likely there is food in there or something so I will give it a clean.

I know this might sound silly, but is it safe for me to keep the filter off for around 20 mins so I can get it cleaned? Or will it affect the fish?

Thank you!!

 

[Essjay]

Yes, you can keep the filter off for that long with no problem. It only becomes a problem if it's off for a couple of days, or if the filter media gets dry.
How much do you feed the fish? The food tub will tell you to feed more than the fish need, after all they want you to buy more. Only give them as much as they can eat in a couple of minutes. Don't worry if they look hungry, they always do!

Water changes can be stressful for fish, but not as stressful as living in water that has ammonia and/or nitrite in it.

 

[MissNLT]

I feed them once a day.. A sprinkle of flakes and an algae wafer which I break in two. Okay, well I am going to give this all a go now! One other thing..the sponges that came with the tank, which I have in the filter are two bio carb slim filter cartrigdes and one bio clear cartridge. Should they be placed in the filter in any particular order. I have followed the instructions and placed them all in with side A facing towards the tank, but two of them have a black lining and the other is a blue/gray colour. At present I have the blue gray one nearest the pump and the two black bio carb ones side by side. Do I need to be using all three?

 

[MissNLT]

Hi everyone..Results are the same as usual even though I have been doing daily water changes even twice a day. Now it seems that my fish are getting sick..The guppy has fuzz around his mouth..Im worried now, as I dont know what to do!