Back To The Hobby... Cycling Question

[Mercury2234]

hi all,

i am new here... i just got back to the hobby after graduating college; i recently purchased a 30 gallon tank and i am in the midst of cycling the tank. I went to Pets Mart nearby my house and this young lady was tremendously helpful with everything; she was extremely knowledgeable and even recommended this forum .

Anyhoo, I decided to do a fish-in cycle of the tank...ive bought a 10 zebra danios to keep it there;

Today after a week, i did my first water test; i got .25 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate, but my ph was off the roof...about 8.0; i recently put a ph down powder.

This morning however, i went to ANOTHER Pets mart which is a bit farther to my house, and this person told me NOT CHANGE any water as it will take out the beneficial bacteria. This has gotten me confused, as i thought i HAVE to change the water throughout the cycle.

Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

 

[bitteraspects]

you definitely need to do WC to keep the ammonia levels down, as this will kill your fish.
what kind of filter do you have on the tank?

 

[Tolak]

You have to do water changes in a tank when doing a traditional cycle with fish. Ignore the second shop, the woman at the first shop is giving you the proper info.

 

[Mercury2234]

you definitely need to do WC to keep the ammonia levels down, as this will kill your fish.
what kind of filter do you have on the tank?

I have a 280 emperor filter...it was given to me; it was used before to house discus...i just put in the new filters as the old ones were pretty worn out...and they were unused for a few months. I figured any beneficial bacterias would have been dead by then.

 

[bitteraspects]

indeed. the BB was no good, so a new filter was definitely in order.
if you plan to keep the danios, you will need to keep a test kit handy to test and change your water as neccesary (could be twice daily) to keep the ammonia down.

 

[drobbyb]

Yeah, I used to work at a Pet$mart. I quit because of some "policies" that just didn' sit right with me.

Are you sure you want to do a fish-in cycle? Changing all that water is alot of work plus it's bad for your fish. A proper fishless cycle is faster and less work.

 

[Mercury2234]

Yeah, I used to work at a Pet$mart. I quit because of some "policies" that just didn' sit right with me.

Are you sure you want to do a fish-in cycle? Changing all that water is alot of work plus it's bad for your fish. A proper fishless cycle is faster and less work.

You know what? I am kind of regretting from doing so...but I have already purchased them! They were $.99 cents/each (Zebra Danios)...Will Pet's Mart take em back? I might get a plant or an equipment...

With my filter, I dont need an airstone do I?

Just making sure it is enough to keep the water moving...I will be doing daily water changes from now on, and monitor my ammonia/nitrites level...bought the kits and everything.

 

[bitteraspects]

no, the filter alone will be enough