nitrite 0 Are these snails/eggs harmful to the cycling process? Simply remove the filter from the cycled aquarium and add it to your new tank. I'm adding it here for anyone else who is just starting and looking for cycle specific tips and information. I'm here to teach you everything there is to know about fishkeeping. If I set the caves up the right way Im hoping to minimize disruptions to the inside of the tank during cleanings. I have my fingers crossed this is the start of the cycle moving forward. Hi there. PH 6.6, (this is the tank that HAS to be cycled its been over 6 months but I still am never getting rising nitrates), 20-gallon Sorority Tank In nature, the volume of water per fish is extremely high, and waste products become diluted to low concentrations. Its going to be a chore, thats why I suggested the buying a pre-cycled filter method first. You can add a few fish when your tank temperature is stable. In the new canister filter I placed media (the foam from my koi pond, and the floss from my 75 gal. After a few days my ammo was .25 0 nitrites and between 5-10 nitrates and stayed that way during the last 2 weeks. When your tanks Nitrite reading is above five ppm, you need to change water change and then test Nitrite again the next day. But I dont know why I cant seem to grasp the concept of the cycle and am having such a hard time.. even with the bi-weekly to monthly water changes, I do with Timmy being in the 10 gallon I NEVER show rising nitrates. Getting the reading back down will allow you to see how quickly it rises and determine if anything is amiss. My one big concern is that I will shock the poor guy when I transfer him to a new environment, since hes been in the other tank for so long. If you do have soft water, I always recommend checking in with the local fish store (not a big box one, like petsmart or petco) as they will use the same tap water as you and likely have a cheap and affordable solution they use on their own tanks. This really helped the process. Sassy isnt doing well I have treated her with many antibiotics bacterial parasitic Kanaflex, etc and shes holding on but she hides all day and comes out once every other day to see me but shes fighting for her life I guess I have to euthanize her using the clove oil which is really sad for me! 2) Will the under gravel filter in the 55 gallon be enough to sustain the Acaras until I can confirm the 125 is cycled? Cycling is one of the most frustrating parts about setting up a new aquarium. I am going to turn up the heat tonight to speed it up. Pest snails are common hitchhikers on plants, the easiest way to stop them is prevention. Ammonia was around 3ppm. I always suggest daily testing when cycling. My friend had to move out of town last minute and I couldnt let her kill the fish so I now have a 20 gallon with 3 neon tetras, 2 Mollys and I think 2 platys. I am a little confused because your posts are all very clear to me and the way I am interpreting what you say is to keep it ABOVE 7 PH to cycle your tank so 8.2 should be good correct? Thank you for your response. I am getting .50 ammo and .25 nitrites so does that mean I need to do 10-15% water change? *I forgot to test Nitrates, 16 July Cycling - Beginners Discussion - Nano-Reef Community Nitrite 1ppm If not, Id double check your testing. I also have a minor issue with Timmys tank all of a sudden showing brown sludge on the walls , decorations and plants. Or is there a way I can save this fish before its too late? Your 10 gallon tank is very likely cycled. Bare with me as this is a long post with a lot to take in. November 24, 2021 Written By Fun Fish Tanks I Love my Fishes The Nitrite Cycle is the natural process of the cycle of Nitrogen from air to plant to animal to bacteria and alas back to air. Thanks for your easy to follow readings . Im scared to do this because part of me is wondering if Im just half way through the cycle now since nitrites are just appearing and ammo is the highest its been at .50. When we added tap water when filling up the new tank is it possible we killed all of the existing bacteria from the old free and gravel and are basically starting from scratch? Im unsure whats the go with Timmys tank. It is unlikely that something in your tank is killing beneficial bacteria. Otherwise its just patience. In a fishless cycle, you need to constantly be adding ammonia, not a one off. The ammonia is generally between .25 and .5, nitrites have always been at zero and we about a week ago used the safe start and our nitrates went from zero to around 5-10 (forgive me Im trying to do this from memory). Since your last reply, Ive had to do daily water changes just to get nitrates down to 20ppm and Im not sure how long I can keep this up. Its very difficult to narrow down what the cause was. This tank has a filter in it, right? These chemicals are produced through our fishes wastes. Those readings look considerably better! And had a good filter, oversized with huge sponge and ceramic biomedia. Ammonia: You can go two routes with purchasing ammonia to cycle your tank. I recently purchased a 38 gallon that will be solely for my beloved newest 3 South American puffers that are currently in my 210. My main question is did the cycling start over because we did the major water change? Its possible he is just a sick fish. It sounds like they have had a rough life. Check ammonia levels. Im an aquarium novice and had never even heard of cycling I just set up my tank with water and substrate today and I was excited to add my axolotls tomorrow but now I feel like I need to cycle first! Yep just 24 hours later, your tank is deemed fish-safe. Next, add your airstone and position it under the media bag. I dosed the tank with API general cure and jungle fungus I did NOT do a water change as recommended after the last dose because I am still cycling. If nitrates should be forever rising then that tells me none of my tanks are cycled because his readings are typically always at 0. However given that three of the four have already gone, I dont like your chances of saving this one. Is there a meeting place for help, like AAA? 2. if we decide to recycle would you suggest the in fish cycle with prime and not add anymore BB even though I just added it last month when switching sassy to her new tank and AGAIN in her tank 3 days ago? Thanks for your advice. To have a fully cycled aquarium, your water should have no traces of ammonia and nitrite. 2. Since I am updating my comment I have to change this part unfortunately when I wrote it as of the 9th Sassy made a major turn around. Use it every time you add tap water to your tank. If you are going to add your fish, make sure you test frequently and keep a bottle of seachem prime on hand just in case. just joking. [3], Be careful, however, using an established tank to speed up your nitrogen cycle has a major downside. On the crushed coral, my personal suggestion would be to add it after this is all done. I also want them to have plenty of playing room.. theres no sign of stress, diseases, or toxicity.. My recommendation for anyone starting out is to use a fishless cycling method (this way your fish wont suffer) but since you already have your fish, you have no choice but to fish-in cycle dont worry, I have a guide for that here That should answer any questions you have. Nitrite: 2ppm Another way that you can avail yourself of is by increasing the temperature of the water. It does cmalim to soften hard water and the KH seems to be higher then my tap water HOWEVER i am using the tetra strips and i lost the cap so there has been no cap on it (im not sure if that makes a difference). *Where can I get the right ammonia source? Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser. My daughter is having issues cycling her tank, but lives 5 hours away. And, dead bacteria isnt going to speed up your cycle. But its mostly going to testing be managing these parameters regularly to keep your fish safe. I know its impossible to pinpoint, but, do you think my method will help speed things up? 5. Just how effective these products are is up for debate, but many aquarists swear that it helped their tank cycle faster. I guess im going to dose champs with prime for the 1ppm of ammo and wait for your input and see if i can find more info about fluval but i think i should dose with prime just in case for the .50 totall ppms between the ammo and nitrites. For sassy, these are closer to the results I would have expected (nitrates YAY!) You can do this by changing the portion of the water daily and keep testing the aquariums water. Im not recycling (on purpose at least LOL) so is it ok to leave? 4. Since only so much can colonize your biomedia, adding more shouldnt help. As well as 1 artificial and one real plant from the existing tanks. Im so sorry that your cycle is proving to be a difficult one. I was wondering if I could use a gallon of his change water to start my new 3 1/2 g tank? The shower head sounds great for you but probably is not the best thing for your fish. I figured it would be best to come over here to comment even though I have another thread going with you about my cycling issues lol. They turn into ammonia and then nitrite and nitrates. 3) Do I have to remove ceramic rings before adding Planaria Zero? Most nitrifying bacteria lives inside your filter. After a number of weeks, the nitrite ranges will start to drop. Many independent fish stores sell pre-cycled sponge filters, which are often cheaper than buying a portable air pump and fish bags. My ammonia has been at 4.0 ppm for two weeks so Im going to try and buy some of the in the bottle stuff tomorrow and hopefully this could help, im also going to ask if they have any established filter media in the shop I can have (worth a try). That brings me to sassy. Nitrites dropping is a good thing, the end result is we want them at zero. There are numerous ways to start your saltwater aquarium's nitrogen cycle, and Matthew is here to walk us through your options. Once the food decays, check the ammonia levels of the water. So, it proves to be beneficial to increase the level of dissolved oxygen in your aquarium as it will elevate the level of growth of bacteria. Taking water from a cycled tank will not make your tank cycle faster. Hello again Ian, You can test this by measuring your tap water for nitrates before you add it to your tank. Use your test kit to determine what is happening. If I was in your situation, I would order a second nitrate test kit, just to confirm (I dont remember if you have double checked your test) but for it to be up for 3 months, unless something is amiss, if you have your filter set up with sponge and biomedia, and you have not missed anything, then I dont see how this tank couldnt be on its way to being cycled. It forms the final product of the whole process that is generated through the series of a breakdown of animal protein and ammonium compounds. Couple days later added 3 hardy fish (blue Tetra glofish). I hope you had a relaxing and wonderful day! Here's the aquarium nitrogen cycle process summarized in 5 steps: Fish poops in the water. The 5ppm nitrate you are measuring now is probably from your tap water. How to Boost Up Your Tank's Nitrogen Cycle (The Ultimate Guide for the SBB-350 Pop up WYSWYG Fathers Day Coral Auctions ! Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen. I had a tank that sprung a leak at the top so I bought a new tank and didnt cycle it before adding my fish. A weekly 40-50% water change will help keep it it 8. So heres the thing. 1) Do you think I should complete a full fishless cycle in the the new tank, and keep the betta in the original 1/2 gallon tank while that happens? For the first 3 weeks we did Fishless cycling with the Ammonia source. In addition Im planning to seed the fx5 with extra media that is in the 5 tank as well as seed it with gravel from the same 55 gallon. The perfect for this would be around 83 to 87, neither high nor low from this range. Fill your tank up with tap water. Since the card maxes out at 160, you dont really know what your nitrates are at (they could be 400 for all we know. Would it still be beneficial to put that gravel into my new tank to help speed up the process? It feels amazing I can smell and feel the difference. I test the water everyday and the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates continue to be zero. Would it be simpler to source one of these from a fish store near her? Unfortunately many suppliers would prefer to make a quick dollar and sell you an instant cycling product instead. I would stop with the beneficial bacterial boosters for now. the directions arent clear on the package of Fluval so I dont know if I should wait a few weeks like with TSS. *Should I use bacteria in a bottle? See more Reply Save Like My apologies, My internet has been down for the last few days and I am only just getting around to answering the backlog of questions dont worry, Im not ignoring you . Going further, if all the beneficial bacteria in each bottle has actually died, it could possibly mess up your water parameters. It sounds like this tank may still be cycling, just super slowly. I was thinking maybe a gallon to 2 gallons since its a 5.. Also do I need to dose the water with prime and let it sit over night? Just be mindful that if they all die at once, and there are a lot of them, they may cause an ammonia spike. When should I begin testing parameters in this situation? Sounds like you have found a great local fish store! I would take a step back and let it run its course see what it does after a few weeks. In all honesty, it doesnt seem like you need my advice at all and are just looking to bounce your thoughts. JavaScript is disabled. Many of these offer water testing services. Im going to include an area of sand substrate, but mostly slate. Over the course of the next week or two, measure the ammonia and nitrite levels in the tank. Correct me if I am wrong but the only time I would use prime is when ammo and/or nitrites equal 1ppm or higher so if i test and get above 0-.25 ammo, o nitrites and 0-5 nitrates I would NOT use prime OR do a water change the only time I do a water change is when nitrates get above 40ppm if I am showing 0-5 nitrates and for some reason either of the other two get to 1 or above then use prime but no water change. the 7 in the tank now seem to be great and getting along, they were bullying the gourami even though he was the biggest fish i was surprised to see my little orange on with the mickey mouse on his tale and a few other nipping at him all day long bullying him. Just want find out do I need to keep lighting on all the time. Regular water changes and prime dosing should being immediately (ammonia + nitrite = .5) If you do a big water change, the goal is to get pH back to the 6.5 7.5 range, which you should be able to. But Tetra Safe Start is cheaper and more commonly available, which is why I recommend it. ( i wonder what I did to lower the nitrites this is good to know for future reference. If you google pictures of fin rot, you should be able to determine if that is the cause. I am at a loss why the cycle is such a challenge for you. Nitrates are the least harmful compounds and some of the fish species can withstand high amounts of nitrate but that doesnt mean you should let it accumulate. Ive grown attach to these 2 Goldies, and I dont plan on adding anymore, since they do produce a lot of waste.. At this stage, you want to get the nitrate back down to readable levels. I 100% agree with you. PH: 7.6ppm Fish-in cycle you are waiting for the fish to produce the ammonia and keeping a stable amount is difficult. Using established tank media always speeds up the cycling process, so it will definitely make the whole process faster, a large group of bacteria multiply much quicker than one or two that are introduced in a fresh cycle. Once your food sabotage has gone on for 7 to 8 days it's time to see where the nitrite levels are. Example, Friday it was 20ppm, Saturday it rose to 40ppm (before the 50% water change). You see, there are different types of nitrifying bacteria. Am I missing something? All I can think of is 15-20% water change her paranters seems good, except that the nitrates have gone down. It means its very likely that something inside the cycling tank that is responsible for the pH dropping. Ammonia: 0.5ppm I used my dechlorinator and dosed each gallon with aquarium salt I have my little girl back in the cup from the store so I can acclimate her with the new water. Great news, my tank has finally finished cycling after 3 months! How do I know if my tank is fully cycled if Im doing daily water changes to get my nitrate down? If its the sponge that came with your filter, it will likely fall apart quickly, aquarium sponges that you cut yourself are often cheaper and better quality. Also, while it might make sense IMO to blend a piece of fish or shrimp and throw it in the water for ammonia. Well, thats still true. But dont stress, I am confident we will get there in the end. These days chloramine is used in water supplies instead of chlorine, which means it is harder to remove from water. You are quire right, the 10/20 ppm of nitrates is possibly existing nitrate from the water you transferred. Thank you so much, this is very helpful. I set it up on Wednesday and got the fish on Saturday. Just so you can tackle any issues that arise one at a time while being confident of the cause. Thats awesome! I think you should expect this level of service from your own supplier. The KH test kit will also let you know the difference in carbonate hardness between the two tanks. Even though it reads 80, it could be anything from 80 160. Thats all there really is to it. Nitrite is produced as a result of partial oxidization of ammonia. Add in your bacterial cultures or simply wait for natural colonies to appear (natural colonies can take up to 10 days to establish). its not like bombarding the tank though. Nitrate: 0 Lastly, beneficial bacteria also coat the surface of plants. Last night she couldnt move- she was floating on her side and now shes swimming great. Ammo: 0 It is important to add a couple of fish while doing this, so that the bacteria has a food source. A white cloudy bloom is typically normal in the cycling process. Now, there is a lot of debate about this, but DR Tim discovered that not all strains of beneficial bacteria are the same. This way you have an exact understanding of how much ammonia is produced and the rate at which it is rising and falling. I have tried various methods and by far the fastest was to use cycled media from one of my old tanks in the new tank. 2. nitrate 0