Cycling Question

[aquamike]

Hi everyone,

I have a new cycling tank. It is 135 gallons with 11 glowlight tetras to get the cycling established. I have been testing the water regularly. I had in the beginning of the cycle an ammonia reading of 0.25mg/l and a nitrite reading of just over 0.3mg/l. As a week or two went by the ammonia levels dropped to 0 but the nitrite levels continued to increase. It rose all the way to 3.3mg/l which made me put some amquel plus in the tank. It says that it removes ammonia, nitrites and nitrates without harming nitrifying bacteria.

After adding the amquel plus, a day later i retested and the test kit said that the ammonia and nitrite levels were both at 0. I use the tetratest kit.

Does amquel plus cause a false test reading?

Also, my tank is very cloudy. One week it seems to get better than the next week it worsens. This tank has been cycling going on 1 month. One water change has been done after the first week but then i was told by the lfs to not do the water changes right away until the cycling gets established. Otherwise, i would be prolonging or defeating my purpose.

Thanks for your help and suggestions,
Mike

 

[aquamike]

Hi everyone,

I have a new cycling tank. It is 135 gallons with 11 glowlight tetras to get the cycling established. I have been testing the water regularly. I had in the beginning of the cycle an ammonia reading of 0.25mg/l and a nitrite reading of just over 0.3mg/l. As a week or two went by the ammonia levels dropped to 0 but the nitrite levels continued to increase. It rose all the way to 3.3mg/l which made me put some amquel plus in the tank. It says that it removes ammonia, nitrites and nitrates without harming nitrifying bacteria.

After adding the amquel plus, a day later i retested and the test kit said that the ammonia and nitrite levels were both at 0. I use the tetratest kit.

Does amquel plus cause a false test reading?

Also, my tank is very cloudy. One week it seems to get better than the next week it worsens. This tank has been cycling going on 1 month. One water change has been done after the first week but then i was told by the lfs to not do the water changes right away until the cycling gets established. Otherwise, i would be prolonging or defeating my purpose.

Thanks for your help and suggestions,
Mike

Hi again,

I just did a 25% water change. I read a few similar posts and a lady named Mrs Wiggles suggests to do daily water changes even though cycling is still happening.

Everyones opinion and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully, the questions that i asked in my first post will be answered.

Also, if i understand cycling correctly, when my tank has properly cycled it will read 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite and a certain amount of nitrate. Is this correct?

Thanks for the hopeful help ,
Mike

 

[timmystood]

Hello!

Welcome to the wonderful world of fish-keeping!!
I would imagine that by now your Ammonia and Nitrite levels SHOULD naturally have reached 0ppm, providing the filter has been running constantly etc.
If your LFS do water-tests, then get them too double-check your Ammonia and Nitrite levels. You will get a certain amount of Nitrate in your tank, this is mainly because it is in the tap water supply. The ideal level is anything below 40ppm. However, once your Ammonia and Nitrite levels reach 0, you tank is cycled and by now you can start adding the fish!

Have fun
TIM

 

[xoedusk]

I would agree with Miss Wiggle and do water changes during the cycling process. Do you have a filter going in the tank?

You are correct that once cycled, ammonia and nitrite will both be 0 all of the time. Nitrates will depend on amount of fish, amount you feed them, and water change routine.

Cloudy water can be caused by a lot of different things. Water changes will definitely help in the short term. How much are you feeding (how often, how much). Does uneaten food fall to the ground? Do you know your nitrate reading?

 

[aaronc]

The cloudy water may be a bacterial bloom. Is it a white cloudiness?

Aaron

 

[aquamike]

Aaronc-- yes the cloudiness is whitish. After the 25% water change the tank is still very cloudy.

xoedusk-- I have two running 2215 eheim canister filters. I feed the fish once a day and only enough to where they eat it all in less than 30 seconds. I don't think any food goes uneaten and sinks to the bottom. I currently can only test ph, nitrites and ammonia. I still need to get a nitrate test kit so i can't supply that result.

Timmy Stood-- Thanks for the welcome and advice.



Thanks to all and it is appreciated ,

Mike

 

[aaronc]

In that case you may be experiencing a late bacterial bloom, perhaps caused by the added waste of your new fish.

Keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrite levels and keep up the water changes

Aaron