Cycled?

[cchris]

55 gallon tank
Im a little over two weeks in.
on day three ammonia was at .25 (1/4/13)
nitrite and nitrates both at 0.

then i added safe start and 6 danios and 10 neon tetras.. according to safe starts website its safe to stock the tank, which i didnt do but figured accorsing to thier words i wasnt overdoing it.
9 tetras and 2 danios died.
two weeks later the lone tetra and four danios are still going strong.
heres my test readings.


1-6
ph 7.6
ammonia .50
nitrite 0
nitrate 5.0

1-10
ph 7.6
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10.0

1-12
ph 7.6
ammonia .50
nitrite 0
nitrate 5.0

1-16
ph 7.2
ammonia .25
nitrite 0
nitrate 20

1-18
ammonia .25
nitrite 0
nitrate 40

should I add more fish now?

 

[mike455555]

no is the simple answer your not fully cycled yet, were you doing a fishless cycle to start?, also your ammonia's high

 

[the_lock_man]

Interesting to note that no nitrite reading has ever been recorded, but has clearly been present, since we are seeing a steady increase in nitrate. Either the test kit is faulty, or the SafeStart worked.

Chris, I agree with Mike, that you need to get the ammonia stable at 0ppm before adding more fish, as it is probably ammonia poisoning that killed the first lot. Are you using the API kit?

 

[cchris]

yes it is the api master kit. ill test it again today.

 

[the_lock_man]

Remember with the API ammonia kit, it can often be difficult to differentiate between 0ppm and 0.25ppm on the chart. Ideally, you need to view the test under natural light, rather than artificial. If you go for a prolonged period seeing 0.25ppm, and seeing the same after a large water change, then you need to consider whether the 0.25ppm is a misread.

 

[cchris]

ill keep that in mind, i really think it is .25 though.. there is a green tint to it.

what do you mean the kit could be faulty? what do i need to check into? nitrates?

Ill post photos tonight is able to.

 

[cchris]

ok last night i took out the ugly red gravel and replaced it with black.. kept most of the water. Id say it got about a 10% water change.

todays readings are.

ammonia:0 (very very close to 0. maybe just a tinge of green)
nitrite 0
nitrate 20 (in between orange and red actually, so between 20 and 40)

looking better?

should still wait a bit before buying more fish huh?

 

[Scates11]

That sounds better...i guess I would be shocked/jealous if your tank cycled that quick. Did you do a lot of water changes or just let things take their course?

 

[cchris]

this is only the second and it was very little..
the first change was only 10gallons as well

 

[the_lock_man]

ok last night i took out the ugly red gravel and replaced it with black.. kept most of the water. Id say it got about a 10% water change.

todays readings are.

ammonia:0 (very very close to 0. maybe just a tinge of green)
nitrite 0
nitrate 20 (in between orange and red actually, so between 20 and 40)

looking better?

should still wait a bit before buying more fish huh?

Deffo looking better, I would say keep checking for the rest of the week, and if you still see 0ppm ammo and nitrite, whilst an increase in nitrate, then go get fish at the weekend. ANd it does seem as though we have a success story for Safe Start!

 

[cchris]

sounds good, ill do that.. thanks guys!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

ok last night i took out the ugly red gravel and replaced it with black.. kept most of the water. Id say it got about a 10% water change.

todays readings are.

ammonia:0 (very very close to 0. maybe just a tinge of green)
nitrite 0
nitrate 20 (in between orange and red actually, so between 20 and 40)

looking better?

should still wait a bit before buying more fish huh?

Deffo looking better, I would say keep checking for the rest of the week, and if you still see 0ppm ammo and nitrite, whilst an increase in nitrate, then go get fish at the weekend. ANd it does seem as though we have a success story for Safe Start!

 
I guess that depends on your definition of success.  Out of 16 fish, only 5 have lived to see this through.  Personally, I don't call that success, but it does appear that Safe Start greatly accelerated the process.
 
These bacterial products need to have a warning label, regarding how many fish can be added at once to a tank with it.  IF Safe Start does in fact work, as this appears to show (or at least that it can work), this cycle should have been conducted with only 3 or 4 fish at the beginning.
 
I tried Safe Start with a fishless cycle, as as TwoTankAmin will point out, they aren't rated to handle such high dosages of ammonia as is the standard of the fishless cycle.  It didn't do anything for me, or at least, it didn't appear to.  

 

[cchris]

I will definately consider a fishless cycle next time. was bummed that they died.
I followed thier reccomendations.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Sorry, I don't mean to come down on you, and I mean no disrespect.  
 
I know you followed the recommendations on the bottle.  But, that's the unfortunate thing about these products.  Most of them are really in league with the LFS to get you to purchase products.  And to most (I won't say all) LFS, livestock is just a product to them.  If you buy the cycling product, and some fish, and a bunch die and you need to buy more fish, so that's good for them.  
 
The thing about it is that people wouldn't go back to buy a dog from the same pet store, if the dog died a few days/weeks later, but fish are somehow viewed differently.  Many of the fish in the hobby have lifespans that rival dogs.  A friend of mine had a great dane, and had to put it down at 7 years old.  There are a LOT of fish that can live healthy lives beyond 7 years if provided with the right environment.

 

[cchris]

all is well, getting some more fish in it this evening