Cycling? Help

[nicko@rotherham]

hi all been cycling my 190l jewel trigon now for 3 weeks its fully planted all plants are growing well i use api plat tabs and i also have a co2 reactor sera start i use 1 tab every other day . there are 7 guppys and 1 siamese alge eater iv tested the amonia its at zero but the nitrate and nitite are still on the high side the water quality looks good and all fish seem happy im iv stard to do 20 ltr water changes weekly as from this weekend will this reduce nitrate levels and nitrite as over the next few weeks id ike tp get 3 sword tails and a small clown plec or bristle nose many thanx all and ps am new on ere lol

 

[fishyfeet]

If you have fish in a tank that isnt cycled you should be doing daily water changes to keep nitrites to a minimum and lessen damage done to the fish. As nitrites drop the nitrates will rise, doing water changes will keep both levels under control, I wouldnt add anymore fish for a while. di

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, fishyfeet is pointing you in the right direction!

You are in what we in the beginners section like to call a "Fish-In Cycling Situation" and we have a write-up about the actions to take in our Beginners Resource Center (take a look there for the appropriate article.)

You need to be sure you are using a good liquid-reagent based test kit (most of us like and use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit.) Then you need to be sure you are using good technique on your water changes (dosing a good conditioner at about 1.5x dosing and rough temperature matching of the return water.) But most of all its just the work of large enough and frequent enough water changes to ensure then neither ammonia nor nitrite(NO2) goes above the 0.25ppm level before you can be back home to change water again!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[nicko@rotherham]

so should i take out say 20 ltrs a day? till i see a drop in nitrates and nitrites? i have been treating the water with aqua safe to the correct dosage many thanx

 

[fishyfeet]

Well according waterdrops excellent advice you should test the water and if the nitrite (thats really the main concern) is above 0.25ppm then do a water change, and keep following that advice utill the nitrites 0.25ppm or less, then do regular tests to make sure it stays below that limit, once the nitrite reading is 0 keep doing test and water changes until your nitrates are as low as possible. A good rule of thumb is to test your tapwater (thats has nitrates in it) and add 40 to it, so if its 10 then 50 is as high as you should let it go. By doing water changes you should able to reduce the nitrates to 20 or 30 quite easily. If you using R.O. water then of course your nitrites would be 0.

 

[nicko@rotherham]

just checked the tap water and theres no trace of nitrite at all so if i keep up the daily water changes of 30 ltrs the idea is the nitrites should slowly drop ? i hope so lol another thing is in the jewel filters is it really necesary to change the white filter every week the last one the goes in the one near the top think its to catch the big particles ??? seems a bit crazy if am trying to create benifitial bacteria in mi filter dunt it ??

 

[waterdrop]

No, you do not change filter material until the material itself is physically falling apart. For a good sponge this could be decades. Filter floss or other other "fine mechanical" media is a different story, it falls apart a lot sooner.

Nitrate(NO3) levels are not particularly important to watch during cycling. The focus is on ammonia and nitrite(NO2.) No one can tell you the amount of water change. As fishyfeet said, your own tests (using a good liquid based kit) must determine the amount and how often.

The reason so much water must be changed is because ammonia, even in tiny amounts, can cause permanent gill damage and nitrite(NO2), even in tiny amounts, can cause permanent nerve damage. This kind of damage will either shorten the lives of the fish or kill them. Other than the conditioner that removes chlorine/chloramine from the fresh tap water, no other chemicals are going to really help.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[nicko@rotherham]

cheers il keep up wi water changes n check ammonia and no2 daily i also am using a sera co2 reactor 1 tablet every other day for good plant growth this will not interfear with the cycle process will it thanx.

 

[fatheadminnow]

cheers il keep up wi water changes n check ammonia and no2 daily i also am using a sera co2 reactor 1 tablet every other day for good plant growth this will not interfear with the cycle process will it thanx.

Dose the Co2 reactor tablet release Co2 or just release Carbon?

If it release Co2 then it is going to lower the pH, but since the pH change is cause by a change in carbonic acid (not a change in the carbonate level) then your bacteria should not be effected greatly by the decrease in pH.

Now, if the pH is lower due to carbonate levels, then the bacteria will have a direct effect with colonization/production rates, as they will tend to decrease.

I would say you should be fine.

-FHM

 

[nicko@rotherham]

thanx pal i find more answers on ere than doing any ammount of reading on net . waiting for the no2 levels to drop and doing waterchanges every day seems endless roll on o nitrite or nearly lol

 

[waterdrop]

thanx pal i find more answers on ere than doing any ammount of reading on net . waiting for the no2 levels to drop and doing waterchanges every day seems endless roll on o nitrite or nearly lol

Yes, an unplanned Fish-In cycle can be very, very tough work, not just for the primary tank caretaker but sometimes for anyone else in the household too!

~~waterdrop~~