Cycle concerns *UPDATE*

[mlee0332]

Hey,

I have had an aquarium (10g) for 2 yrs now. I have 10 fish in it and 2 (live birthing) fish are pregnant. I purchased a new 10g tank with a divider and breeder nets for when they are born.

Right after I purchased this tank is when I found out about the cycle. I researched for fishless cycling and found how to do it.

I added enough ammonia (clear) to the water to make a reading come out at 5.0 ppm. 20 days later (today) the reading is only at 4.0 ppm with 1.0 ppm nitrtIte reading, and 0 ppm nitrAte. I am also using stress zyme (cultured bacteria) to speed the process, and nothing is really happening. What should I do? this is really worrying me now, b/c the two moms give birth after 5 weeks, and I bought them preg, and there's no tellin' when they'll go in to labor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My aquarium has performed a miracle...

I tested the water 2 days ago and had no nitrates, 1.oppm nitrtites.

I tested today and there were 10-20ppm nitrates and well between 3.0-3.5 ppm nitrites...

You weren't kidding when you said it would be all of a sudden!!!

The thing I changed was LIGHTING. I run it all night now and have for 2-3 days and that made the diff I firmly believe!!!

 

[mlee0332]

Hello, anyone there that can help?

 

[rdd1952]

It sounds like you did everything right. Do you have plenty of aeration? What do you have the heater set on? Add an airstone (I would suggest a Rena air pump. I have 4 and they are totally silent) and raise the temp to the mid to upper 80s. What is your pH reading? Ammonia takes on a non-toxic form whe the pH gets lower that about 6.0. That could possibly cause the good bacteria to not form.

 

[mlee0332]

well, the temp is on 80, i have aeration, the ph is neutral

 

[rdd1952]

I would turn the temp up to about 87 or 88. The heat helps speed the bacteria development. For some reason though, smaller tanks seem to take longer than big tanks to cycle. Also, if the filter can be adjusted, make sure it is operating at maximum flow. If that doens't speed things up, you may have to do a big water change and start over. One other option if the fry come along too soon: Adding a lot of live plants will help remove the ammonia and nitrite.I'm not certain how it works but you can add fish to a heavily planted tank almost immediately.

 

[mlee0332]

Well tell me this:

what types of plants are good for a beggining aquarist?

I would like to add some but not really sure about how to go about it...

Do you have any tips or tricks on doing this successfully?

 

[rdd1952]

There are a lot of easy to grow plants. Anacharis, hygrophilia and wisteria are a few easy, fast growing plants that come to mind. Plantgeek.net and aquariumplants.com are good sites to check out. I have bought from aquariumplants.com twice. They have very good prices and the plants were in perfect shape when they arrived.

I had heard that the best way to start was to over plant with fast growing stem plants. It worked well in my 75 gallon. I am having to prune a couple times a week. I could almost go into the plant business myself. My anacharis in particular is growing 6 to 8 inches a week.

 

[mlee0332]

here's another thing I failed to mention:
The light stays off all of the time. Would that make a diff?

 

[yvez9]

you could also clone your tank with some filter media from your older tank.

 

[mlee0332]

Like what?

I have a 5-15 whisper advanced in the new tank and a 10-20 regent deluxe in the older tank.

(they both have aerobic girds) but what part do I need to place in the new tank?

 

[rdd1952]

here's another thing I failed to mention:
The light stays off all of the time. Would that make a diff?

It would definitely make a difference with plants but I don't think it will affect the cycling process although I burned my lights 24 hours a day until my75 gallon tank cycled.

 

[mlee0332]

Like what?

I have a 5-15 whisper advanced in the new tank and a 10-20 regent deluxe in the older tank.

(they both have aerobic girds) but what part do I need to place in the new tank?

 

[Slyspy]

20 days is nothing for establishing a tank, even fishless. My 30l took about 4 weeks. It is good that you are seeing nitrItes, it means the cycling has started. The nitrIte-to-nitrAte phase is the longest part of the process. Stick with it and keep dosing with ammonia. When it comes then change will be sudden.

Add filter media (sponge etc) from your established tanks to the media in your new filter or failing that add some gravel from the mature tanks to provide a bacteria "seed". There is no point wasting money on Stress Zyme when you have a reliable, realistic source of bacteria right to hand and free!

 

[rdd1952]

There is no point wasting money on Stress Zyme when you have a reliable, realistic source of bacteria right to hand and free!

Also, contrary to popular belief, Stress Zyme is not "good bacteria" such as what Bio Spira is supposed to be. According to Aquarium Prarmaceuticals website, Stress Zyme "Improves the development of the biological filter and helps clean a dirty aquarium. Contains over 300 million live bacteria per teaspoonful. Breaks down organic compounds that cause dangerous conditions such as ammonia and nitrite poisoning and low oxygen levels. Continuous use assures an active biological filter, cleaner aquarium, healthier fish and good water quality. No refrigeration necessary. Use when setting up and maintaining an aquarium. For use in fresh and saltwater." I guess in a sense, that does speed the cycling process. I bought some by accident (thought I picked up Stress Coat until I got it home and got ready to add dechlorinator). I ended up using it on my 2.5 gallon tank during a fishless cycle and it seemed to actually slow the process down.