cycling problems

[lorax311420]

i have been cycling my tank for about a week now and my amonia levels have skyrocketed to 4.0 while my nitrites are at .25. I have been adding stress zyme being sure to follow the directions and I have also been adding ammo-lock, so Im not even sure if the amonia is really toxic but me betta seems to be doing fine.
1 more question, Im not sure if this is related but my water is really cloudy and even with regular water changes it isnt clearing up.

 

[nc_nutcase]

The cloudiness is probably an algae bloom which is supposed to happen. From what I understand about cycling is that adding anything like Ammo Lock you are slowing down your cycle. This isn't a bad thing, but it makes a difference. This would make your whole cycling process slower and easier on your fish. So I wouldn’t sweat where your at in the process.

 

[lorax311420]

so then basically what you are saying is that i am doing things right... thank god, i thought I was gonna have to start all over again

 

[lorax311420]

how long for the cloudiness to go away and is there anything i can do to help it along

 

[nc_nutcase]

If it is the algea bloom, then it needs to just do it's thing. You can do typical 25% water changes every day or two, but it will do it's thing and then dissappear.

 

[rykitten]

Do you have any fish in the tank?

You don't really need to add any of that extra stuff. Ammonia is all that's required. As for the algae bloom, can't help ya there. Remember, once you reach 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites, you'll be doing a water change. That should get rid of the cloudiness.

 

[Y2J]

I got ammonia down to 0. My tank was very cloudy though. I did a water change and added a second filter and its clear now but my ammonia has gone up to 4.0 or possibly 8 . Day 10 of the tank today(friday) and im getting my first ever fishes. I hope they will be okay. I m getting Zebra danios because i ve read on here they are good starter fish.

I'm getting 5 of them. I know the answer to this but asking anyway would 10 fishes be to much to start with cos i want others aswell

 

[pendragon]

I'm confused, are Y2J and lorax311420 the same person?

Y2J, we need more background information. Your post makes no sense. If you have ammonia in your aquarium but no fish in there I must assume you are cycling fishlessly - why in the Sam Hill are you adding fish before it's finished? Not having fish in there is the whole point of a fishless cycle. If you're adding fish before it's cycled, why are you reading ammonia? No offense, but you really sound like you're not understanding the cycling process at all. You should really do more homework before you get to the adding fish stage, or else you're risking the fish.

And white cloudiness in the tank is generally bacterial bloom, not algae.

I know the answer to this but asking anyway

Again, no offense, but if you know what we're going to tell you but you aren't going to listen, why did you ask to begin with?

Before we could answer your question, we'd need to know other things, like the size of the tank. But if you know we'd think adding ten upfront would be a bad idea, then it probably is a bad idea. You will never go wrong taking it slow. The beginning fishkeeper's mantra: Impatience is the enemy.

pendragon!

 

[Y2J]

That last bit was a joke i was hyper when i wrote that.

Tank is 20 gallons. I have 2 filters running at the moment. I was doing a cycle with fish food because i couldnt get hold of ammonia. My ammona readings were 8.0 but i got them down to 0 - the water u couldnt see anything really..not even outlines of plants and so i did a 10% water change and added the second filter. the water is perfect now but the ammonia readings are back up. If i had ammonia i would continue the fishless cycle but using food is annoying me and it would be better to do it like everyone i know of with fish did..a fish cycle.

Getting 5 Zebra danios today I would like to get 10 fish but its to much i expect.

 

[lorax311420]

Y2J is not the same person as me although are questions are similar. I have had my betta in the tank since the beginning and he is going through the cycling process with me. I figured he would be OK since betta's are a very hardy fish able to withstand a lot. Besides the 10 gallon would be a lot better then his old 1.5 gallon, un-heated bowl.

I would like some clarification though about the bacterial boom that everyone says is causing the cloudiness. By bacterial boom do you mean the good bacteria that will eat up the amonia and nitrites? I have now stopped adding the ammo-lock and will just continue to use the stress zyme, and the stress coat to dechlorinate the water.

Also does anyone know about planted tanks. I have two live plants in my tank now. Not sure what kind, but I was wondering is there anything in particular I should do for them. Any type of plant food I should put in the tank, or will they basically just do their own thing in there?

Thanks for all the help.

 

[Y2J]

I got my fish. They look happy. I ve used alot of nutrafin cycle to lower the ammona levels. I use nutrafin plant gro to feed my 8 plants

The fish store i went to was great. I had never been there before. Its a fish store in northfleet. I saw nemo and his dad Had so many fish and nice tanks and when i get my second larger tank its where i ll be getting it from. They had these foot long fishes, they looked impressive!

The best fish i saw though was the Stingray. Think it was that, there were 2 similar looking fish in tanks next to each other. 1 for sure was the stringray if not both. Very flat circle looking fish with its face in the middle and its feet on the bottom and was jumping up and down, left and right at the front of tank looking at me. was amusing

 

[sinistral]

Y2J, I hate to say this in this way, but it's best if you create your own topic to discuss your experiences or questions. Off-topic posting can clutter, and worse, confuse responses to a thread, IMO.

Bacterial bloom is generally considered to be the "good" bacteria that you wish to establish in your tank.

Plants are just like fish in that they require different care depending on their species. Some plants require nothing more than some light and the presence of fish to thrive. Other plants require high amounts of light, proper dosing of nutrients, the right substrate, in order to survive, let alone prosper.

It would be helpful to identify what the plants are or post pictures in the planted tanks section to get them identified. HTH~

 

[Y2J]

well i said what plant product i use to help lorax311420 and then wrote abit extra not worthy to create a thread over. Dont see why thats so wrong but okay i wont share experiences anymore.

 

[lorax311420]

Well, I hope to be taking some pics of my tank soon ( when the cloudiness goes away.) It seems to be clearing up and I am assuming it is because the tank is definitely cycling. I just did a water test and the Amonia is still spiked at 4 ppm but now i see that the nitrites have climbed to .50 ppm. Shouldnt the ammonia be dissappearing now? Im just really worried that sharky wont make it. He is already 1 and a half years and is one of my best friends

 

[sinistral]

The presence of nitrites means that your first bacterial colonies are growing in and beginning to convert ammonia. You're correct that ammonia will begin to decrease, but the speed at which that occurs can vary.

I'd do water changes to keep the ammonia down to <1.0. Even if it slows the cycle down, even the hardiest fish won't do well for long with high levels of ammonia.

Y2J: No offense meant...my comments were meant to be in the interest of clarity and helping the original poster (lorax in this case). I'm sure many people could benefit from hearing about your experiences in an interesting new thread.