Hayleys New Cycle Log Pt 2

[HayzH]

Tank 1

----------------Ammonia---------------Nitrite------------------Nitrate----------------PH-------

Day 54S)-------/----------------------1.50---------------------/--------------------8.1------
DOSED 2.8ml
Day 55M)-------/----------------------1.0----------------------/--------------------8.0------ Nitrite low again

Ok...due to many saying enough is enough....i have bit the bullet and added some fish to Tank 1.

A Sunshine Platy (Bubbles) Male. Biggist.
A Half Moon Platy (Rex) Male. Smallest.
A Blue Platy (Lewis) Male. shy one.

Guess im in a fish-in cycle now to finish off my cycle.

reduced temp to 25deg with a 50% waterchange (sandvac) Added slowly over the hour.

http/i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc327/HayzH/STIVES17thOct-21stOctandfish018.jpg

Since this tank has been up and running its been clear of Ammonia and Nitrites have been 0, so added 2 more platies (Bob and Tiger) and 4 more Cory's.
Things were still stable...so a few days later i added Jackson, my Beautiful royal Blue Betta.
My Filter decided to give up the ghost (possibly gunk filled problem), so i returned to P@H, and Den gave me £12 off a new one.
I've cleaned up the other one and will keep i as a spare.
Since the filter has gone berserk, the tank has shown some Ammonia of 0.25...so i did a sand clean and 50% W/C yesterday (1/11/11)

2/11/11
9am Ammonia was 0.25 again....
4.30pm 30% W/C, swished media cartridges in tank water ... de-gunked!
All fish active, good colours and still fighting to see whos boss!
3/11/11
9am Ammonia back to 0 and Nitrite 0 Nitrates are 20 PH is 7.6 .. not feeding them today..they are piggies!
test this morning...... AMM..........NI.........NA.....PH

http/i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc327/HayzH/tanks005.jpg
4/11/11
9am Ammonia showed slight green tinge last night..but could not be 100% sure.
Tests this morning show Ammonia 0 and Nitrite 0 Nitrate of 10 and PH 7.6.
all fish happy fed tiny pinch of flake crushed up small. and 1 wafer broken up for the Cory's.
Still slightly concerned about Jackson's tail with a hole..i bought Metafix but someone said not to use it with Betta?? Can't find Bettafix.

5/11/11
9am Ammonia is 0 Nitrite is 0 Ph is 7.6...champion!
6/11/11
no am tests done. Jacksons hole went an oval shape in grey..

7/11/11
9am Ammonia is 0 Nitrite is 0 Nitrates are 10 PH 7.6
3.45pm noticed a smell..found it was tank. I fed 1 cube of brine shrimp this morning..thinks this caused a problem. Tested water..Amm was 0.50ppm
Did a 80% W/C..tests post W/C at 4.45pm were Ammonia 0.25ppm
Did another 30% W/C (used last of dechlor) Ammonia tested 0ppm phew!
10pm...tested 0 for Ammonia and Nitrite.

8/11/11
9am expected Dead fish this am. Ammonia was 0 Nitrites were 0 Nitrates were 10 PH was 7.6 and pleased to report all fish present and definately alive.
Water looks much clearer and fish more active.
5.25pm check. Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 5 PH 7.2

9/11/11
9am Didnt feed yesterday after the Ammonia spike. Think the Brine shrimp was the culprit.
Amm = 0 Nitrite = 0 Nitrates = 5 Ph = 7.2
10.10pm Amm = 0 Nitrite = 0 But noticed Bubbles has a cotton growth on his lip...google tells me it Columaris. Tiger is also showing some of the saddle back symptoms...asked in Emergencies...no reply.
So i added 5ml of Melafix diluted with tank water 1-4 ratio.

10/11/11
Amm = 0 Nitrite = 0 Nitrates = 5 Ph = 7.2
Bubbles mouth fungus looks slightly better today and Tiger is swimming around quite happy now. Still has some discolouring to his side..but i hope he's ok.
Will do a clean up and W/c tonight before dosing Melafix.
Done a large 90% W/C. Seperated Jackson for a bit..but he looked like he was getting really stressed out, and Gasping for breath with a wide open mouth and gills flaring. scary to watch, so i put him back in the tank with the others. and redosed the Melafix.
Only THEN to read i shouldnt be using Melafix (even though it says on the bottle for treatment of mouth fungus). and i dosed 5ml..and it should be 2ml??? Very confused right now.

11/11/11
Amm = 0 Nitrite = 0 Nitrate = 5 Ph = 7.2
All still alive. Jackson really doesnt look well though. He is swimming around, but has trouble fighting the current sometimes and has yet another hole in his fin...his top fin this time. They are circles? maybe he's getting nipped or he's a tail biter. It def wsn't there last night. Not seen any flaring YET today. He did also eat some bloodworm this morning too.

12/11/11
Amm = 0 Nitrite = 0 Nitrate = 2.5 ?? Ph = 7.6 Temp 24 deg
bit worried about the Nitrate reading...but continues to have double 0's.
fed flake. then i did a 60% W/C redosed 2ml of Melafix.

13/11/11
RIP to all who fought for our country. Thinking of my grampy today too. Who died on the rememberance parade..7 yrs ago xx

Amm = 0 Nitrite = 0 Nitrate = 5 ph = 7.4
Fed a tiny amount of flake to busy the platy's whole i gave the cory's 2 wafer ( broken up small ) although the Platy's ate so fast they started on the wafers too.
evening tests ( well my eyes do play tricks in pm light ) showed slight green tinge to Ammonia and the Nitrite was a darker blue than normal.
So i did a 50% W/C and vac and redosed with 2ml Melafix

15/11/11
Morning tests were not done...will test later.
2.45PM added 6 Cardinal Tetra. Very pretty fish! 60% W/c done and replaced new carbon filter pad.

16/11/11
well that didnt last long. Tiger started looking ill, checked water..0.25 Ammonia. AGGHHHH
Ended up doing a 90% W/C, to help him. seemed to perk up afterwards.
THIS morning tests back to normal Amm = 0 Ni = 0 Na = 5 ph 7.2
7.15pm tested water again as 3/5 platies have scales missing? and Tiger looks lethargic again. 0-0.25 Amm not sure if eyes saw different
Dosed 2 ml of PIMAFIX as had to go out.
10.15pm 50% W/C
10.30pm Amm = 0 Ni = 0 Dosed 1 ml of PIMAFIX to replaced what i look out for W/C.

17/11/11 RIP Grampy 7 Years without you xx

no am tests done
2.45pm Amm = 0 Ni = 0 Na = 5 Ph = 7.6 added 2ml of Pimafix. Rex now has white fungus on his head Tiger looks better.

18/11/11

no am tests done
7.45pm Amm = 0 Ni = 0 ...no w/c needed. added 5ml of Pimafix..Rex still has fungus.

19/11/11

9.45am Amm = 0 Ni = 0 Na = 5

Added 10ml stresscoat+ (for stress)
3pm 90% W/C Added 4ml Protozin for Whitespot. Bob has it.

20/11/11

9am Amm = 0 Ni = 0 Na = 1 PH = 7.4 Nitrate test smells strongly of Peroxide
10am dosed 4.5ml Protozin

21/11/11

9am Amm = 0 Ni = 0 Na = 2.5 PH = 7.2 smell of rotton eggs (nitrate test)
12pm 80% W/C
2.45pm dosed 4.5ml Protozin

22/11/11

9am Amm = 0 Ni = 0 Na = 2.5 ph = 6.6??? Ph drop
10am 60% W/C added 4ml Protozin. Bob recovered, lewis, Tiger, had ich too. Spots gone. Rex's fungus seems a little better today.






Tank 2


----------------Ammonia----------------Nitrite-------------------Nitrate-----------------PH------

Day 48S)-------/----------------------5+-------------------------/---------------------7.8-------
DOSED 3.6ml
Day 49M)-------/----------------------5+-------------------------/---------------------7.8-------
DOSED 3.6ml
Day 50T)-------0---------------------5.0-------------------------/-----------------------7.4-------
DOSED 3.6ml
Day 51W)-------0---------------------5.0------------------------110----------------------7.7-------
DOSED 3.6ml
Day 52T)-------0-----------------------5+------------------------110---------------------7.8-------
DOSED 3.6ml
Day 53F)-------0-----------------------5+------------------------110---------------------7.4-------
DOSED 3.0ml tried a lower dose of Ammonia
Day 54S)-------/-----------------------1.0-----------------------/-----------------------/---------
DOSED 3.0ml
Day 55S)-------0-----------------------2.0-----------------------/-----------------------7.2-------
DOSED 3.6ml again
Day 56M)-------0-----------------------5+------------------------110---------------------6.8------- Buffered
DOSED 3.6ml
Day 57T)-------0-----------------------5+------------------------110---------------------7.3-------
DOSED 3.6ml
Day 58W)-------/-----------------------5+------------------------110---------------------7.6-------
DOSED 3.6ml
Day 59T)-------/-----------------------5.0-----------------------/-----------------------7.2------- Buffered

this mornings tests.....NI........PH (high and norm)
http/i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc327/HayzH/tanks006.jpg

reduced dose to try to sort these bacteria out!!

DOSED 1.4ml to take it to 2ppm. Tested water at 11.30pm and it showed 0.50 of ammonia...hmm it either processed it quickly, or the dose wasnt correct.
Day 60F)------0-------------------------0-----------------------100----------------------7.6------- buffered
DOSED 1.4ml
Day 61S)------0------------------------0.25---------------------/------------------------8.2-------
DOSED 1.4ml
Day 62S) no am tests done
DOSED 1.4ml
Day 63M)------0------------------------2.0---------------------100-----------------------7.8-------
DOSED 1.8ml ( by mistake)
checked ppm....3ppm
Day 64T)------0------------------------5.0---------------------100-----------------------7.8-------
DOSED 1.4ml (correct dose)
Day 65W)------0------------------------2.0---------------------100-----------------------7.8-------
DOSED 1.4ml added 1tsp of bicarb.
Day 67T)------0------------------------0.50--------------------90.0----------------------8.0------ best result for a long time.
DOSED 1.4ml
Day 68F)------0------------------------2.0---------------------100+----------------------7.8------ Buffered Nitrite back up
DOSED 1.4ml
Day 69S)------0------------------------2.0---------------------100-----------------------8.0------ No change.
DOSED 1.4ml
Day 70S)------0------------------------1.5---------------------100-----------------------7.6------ Slight decrease ..Come in Tank 2 your time is up
DOSED 1.4ml
Day 71(M) -------------- no tests done---------------------
DOSED 1.4ml
Day 72(T)16hrs--0------------------------0-----------------------100-----------------------over 7.6 (ran out of HIGH PH)
DOSED 1.4ml (10.30pm)
Day 73(W)-------0------------------------0.25--------------------100-----------------------over 7.6 (no high Ph test solution)
DOSED 1.4ml (9pm)
Day 74(T)--------no tests done------------
DOSED 1.4ml
Day 75(F)--------no tests done-----------
DOSED 1.4ml
Day 76(S)-------0------------------------0.50---------------------100----------------------/--------
DOSED 1.4ml
Day 77(S)-------0------------------------2.0----------------------100----------------------7.8------
DOSED 1.4ml
Day 78(M)-------0------------------------2.0----------------------100----------------------7.6+----
DOSED 1.4ml
Day 79(T)-------0------------------------1.0----------------------100----------------------7.6+----







Tank 3

---------------Ammonia-----------------Nitrite-------------------Nitrate------------------PH-------


Day 38S)-------0----------------------0.10-----------------------/----------------------8.3------ Was blue for ages then turned Lilac
DOSED 2.4ml
Day 39M)-------/------------------------0------------------------/-----------------------8.3------ FIRST DOUBLE 0's........
DOSED 2.4ml
Day 40T)-------0-----------------------0.10---------------------15.0-----------------------8.3------
DOSED 2.4ml
Day 41W)-------0-----------------------0.10----------------------5.0---------------------8.2--------
DOSED 2.4ml
Day 42T)-------0-----------------------0.30---------------------50.0---------------------8.3--------
DOSED 2.4ml
Day 43F)-------0-----------------------0.50---------------------110----------------------8.2--------
DOSED 2.4ml
Day 44S)-------/-----------------------0.75----------------------/-----------------------/----------
DOSED 2.4ml
Day 45S)-------0-----------------------0.25----------------------/-----------------------7.8--------
DOSED 2.4ml
Day 46M)-------0-----------------------2.0----------------------110----------------------7.8--------
DOSED 2.4ml
Day 47T)-------0------------------------5+----------------------110----------------------7.8--------
DOSED 2.4ml
Day 48W)-------/-----------------------5.0----------------------110----------------------7.8--------
DOSED 2.4ml
Day 49T)-------/-----------------------2.0----------------------/------------------------7.8--------
Tests this morning......NI.........PH
http/i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc327/HayzH/tanks007.jpg
DOSED 2.4ml
Day 50F)-------0.25--------------------5.0----------------------100+---------------------8.0--------
DOSED 1.2ml
Day 51S)--------0-----------------------0------------------------/-----------------------8.0-------- reduced dose as advised.
Day 52S) No tests done
DOSED 1.2ml
Day 53M)--------0-----------------------0-----------------------100----------------------8.1--------
DOSED 1.2ml checked ppm....3ppm
Day 54T)--------0----------------------0.50---------------------100----------------------8.0-------
DOSED 1.2ml
Day 55W)--------0----------------------0.25---------------------100+---------------------8.0------- definate drop in Nitrite.
DOSED 1.2ml
Day 56T)--------0----------------------0.10---------------------100----------------------8.0------- Come ON!!!
DOSED 1.4ml up'd dose
Day 57F)--------0----------------------1.0----------------------100----------------------7.6------- Buffered. did well with the extra ammonia added.

Well i have moved Jackson to Tank 3. So this tank is now finished too.

I did a 100% W/C and clean up. Changed his backround from Blue to Black and Given him a coconut cave.
He settled in well. and started looking for food. I added 4ml of Myxazin for his holy fin. hope he settles in well.
Post W/C stats...
Amm = 0 Nitrite = 0 Nitrate = 5 Ph 7.6
Eve test
Amm = 0 Nitrite = 0

13/11/11

Amm = 0 Nitrite = 0 Nitrate = 5 Ph = 7.4 temp 24 deg

He looks alot better. Even if he does look lonely..he's swimming around the tank a bit now..and greets me at the glass. I fed him 6x Mini pellets crushed up a bit..and scattered them. I actually saw him eat some Another fin ripped though???
eve test... Amm = 0 Nitrite = 0
redosed 4ml of Mxyazin.

14/11/11
NO am tests done. But Jackson looks very settled.
4pm Added 6x Glowlight Tetra. After a 80% W/C and added new carbon filings. They are tiny...Jackson chased the for a while to show them who's boss. Then gave up. w/c done and replaced carbon filings

15/11/11
Tests ok this morning, but due to Tank 1 being up on Amm, i decided to test tank 3. Showed 0.25 Amm 0 for NitrIte. Done a 40% w/c. Jackson looking dull and i noticed some whote frayed ends on his tail fin..so i removed carbon again and dosed 4ml of Myxazin again...seems to perk him up.

16/11/11 morning tests showed Amm = 0 Nitrites = 0 Nitrates 2.5 and ph 7.6.

dosed 4ml of Myxazin at 6pm due to Jackson looking limp poorly again!

pm testing showed Amm = 0 Nitrites = 0 still Glowlights settling in brilliantly.

17/11/11

Jackson looks a bit ragged again. Added 4ml of Myxazin.
Amm = 0 Ni = 0 Na = 2.5 Ph = 7.6

18/11/11

no am tests done.
Amm = 0 Ni = 0 no w/c needed.

19/11/11

9.45am Amm = 0 Ni = 0 Na = 5
3pm Added 4ml Myxazin

20/11/11

9am Amm = 0 Ni = 0 Na = 5 Ph = 7.7
10am Dosed 4ml Myxazin

21/11/11

9am Amm = 0 Ni = 0 Na = 5 Ph = 7.6
8pm 80% W/C dosed 4ml Myxazin

22/11/11

9am Amm = 0 Ni = 0 Na = 1 ph = 7.2

 

[HayzH]

please can someone have a look at my logs for 2 + 3 and see if you can shed any light on it???

Should i half doses in 2 again???

 

[HayzH]

bump

 

[HayzH]

and is Tank 1 having a mini-cycle?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

In regards to Tank 1, when you replaced the filter, did you transfer all of the media over into the new filter or did you replace everything and toss the old media?


If you tossed everything, you are not in a "mini-cycle", you are starting from scratch. Hopefully you didn't toss it all and you are truly in a mini-cycle. If so, the steps to correct it are simple: 1) water change to drop the ammonia back down to trace levels - don't be afraid of removing too much water. Just leave enough for the fish to be able to swim upright and things will be fine. Refill with temp matched, dechlorinated water and all shall be well. 2) Don't feed the fish for the next 24 hours. They will be just fine, but the less food they get, the less ammonia they will produce. 3) Keep testing daily to monitor. Again, once you have double zeros for a full 7 days, you know that you are good to go again.


Generally, fishless cycles just need patience, patience and more patience. Your first log shows about 7 weeks without completing. That's not that uncommon. Some can take up to 10 or more weeks. There are a LOT of variables that are just never tested for. My advice for now is to just wait it out with those other tanks a little more. Remember that 1ppm ammonia converts to about 2.7pm nitrite, so a 5ppm dose of ammonia could convert to as high as nearly 12.5ppm nitrite and almost 20ppm nitrate. The nitrite colony has to be nearly three times as robust as the ammonia colony to deal with the ammonia.

Do a water change on tank 2, as it seems to be the one struggling with pH due to a build up of nitrates. Take out as much water as you possibly can and refill with dechlorinated water. Raise the pH with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) as this will also buffer the tank against another pH crash. The bacteria you are growing prefer high temps (84F) and basic water (pH 8.4). This is their optimum growing conditions. The closer you can replicate that, the better off you are. (BTW, be sure to do a 100% water change at the end of a fishless cycle to remove all the nitrates, baking soda, etc. as possible. You want your tank water to be as close as possible to your tap water conditions as absolutely possible so that any crisis in the tank can be treated quickly with a large water change before you do anything else. Many times water changes, both routine and treatments, are the best way to keep your fish healthy or restore their health. They need clean water!)

Hopefully a water change and the difference in pH will show some marked improvement over the course of the next week. If this doesn't happen, once tank 1 settles in (during that same week), steal just a pinch or two of media (never more than 1/3 of the material, and I would suggest for such an immature filter as you have no more than 1/10th) from there to seed the filters in the other tanks. It will still take a little while to fully cycle from there, but it will happen. (I would just remain patient with tank 3. Although, if Tank 2 responds to the water change, I might do the same with Tank 3 a few days from now.

 

[HayzH]

wow.....now that's a reply and a half!

Yes i did put all the "older" media in the new filter. Don't worry about that!
i'm doing 30-50% W/C's daily atm. The fish are VERY active and zipping about all over the place, so i gather they are ok. I just panic as the 3 Mollies i had in the beginning died with 0.25 of Ammonia.

This Nitrite part of the cycle was supposed to roughly take twice as long as the Ammonia part...its just yo-yoing
Baring in mind Tanks 2+3 BOTH have mature media in them too!! i find this a ridiculous length of time!

Tank 2 has had 4 W/C's now to bring down the nitrite and nitrates to stop the PH plummeting. And i have been buffering with Bicarb when it goes to 7.0 or below... By the next morning its back down to high 7's again. Until the Nitrite and Nitrate spike again..then down it goes again! again Yo Yo.

Tank 3 hasn't had any w/c's yet. But has been behaving PH wise...this one also has been yo yoing! just when you think you are there...up it goes again!

Guess i keep going then

 

[lucasluke]

By the way - the 0.25ppm may have just been in the light conditions. Hold it up to direct sunlight.

 

[HayzH]

By the way - the 0.25ppm may have just been in the light conditions. Hold it up to direct sunlight.

yeah..the more you look the more greenish it looks...lol
I am just at the end of my Salifert Ammonia test solution and the result was 0.25 on that one...slightly cloudy tube, whereas 0 is a clear tube.
I had a few drops in the API bottle so used that one...it was against the test card in natural daylight (we dont get sun down ere in Devon!! lol) clearly not bright yellow.

grrr..why arent these tests black and white....why have shades!!!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

By the way - the 0.25ppm may have just been in the light conditions. Hold it up to direct sunlight.

yeah..the more you look the more greenish it looks...lol
I am just at the end of my Salifert Ammonia test solution and the result was 0.25 on that one...slightly cloudy tube, whereas 0 is a clear tube.
I had a few drops in the API bottle so used that one...it was against the test card in natural daylight (we dont get sun down ere in Devon!! lol) clearly not bright yellow.

grrr..why arent these tests black and white....why have shades!!!

The shades are a result of a chemical reaction taking place between the reagent (test solution) and the ammonia in the tank water. If there is only trace levels of ammonia, there is no reaction and the color remains yellow. If, however, there is ammonia, the ammonia that is present reacts with the reagent producing a green substance. That is why there are shades. Unfortunately, this is the best we can do for now, at least and still make it an affordable product for the average hobbyist.


I'm glad to hear that you saved the old media! That is a mistake that some folks make. The problem is that folks generally talk about cycling their "tank", when the reality is that you are cycling the filter. The minor difference in description confuses some.


I hate to be the bearer of unhappy tidings, but I think that you are best served continuing to wait it out. From the sound of it, your water seems to have very little buffering capacity for itself. It would venture a guess that your water is very soft. Soft water will have a greater fluctuation in pH than hard water. This also can attest for the problem your mollies had with the ammonia levels of 0.25ppm. Mollies require HARD water. It is often misstated that they need salt in the water. That is a fallacy, but they do require a fairly high level of minerals. Mollies also prefer pH above 7.0, so if the pH was low, the kH was low and the ammonia was anywhere above 0, then they were dealing with THREE major issues to their health. By comparison, those same conditions probably wouldn't have had much if any immediate affect on a different fish, like harlequin rasboras.

I would add more baking soda than you have been adding. Generally, you can't really overdue it. It won't raise the pH above about 8.4, so there's no reason to worry about that. But, more baking soda will keep the pH higher. The fluctuating pH is going to cause trouble to the bacteria you are cultivating. The bacteria prefer the pH higher, but more importantly, they prefer stable pH (just like fish). They can adapt to pH at different levels, but they can't handle pH that is bouncing all over the place.

 

[HayzH]

yes our water down here in Devon is mighty soft...ive been adding a teaspoon..maybe i'll add 2 then.

Our water has a PH of 7.5, so i know it wasnt a ph problem..it was because i was told to run the filter for 5 days and take in a sample of water...which they said was fine for fish....well yes it would be...that tank had the new filter.

I just find it odd as the 2 remaining tanks have "mature" media in and still cant process the Nitrites by this amount of time.
When the tank thats up and running had new media?

everyone i have spoken to off of this forum have never heard of cycling a tank. They all say they added the water and fish and away they go...most dont even change the water AND 1 doesn't even dechlorinate....yet their fish are up and swimming around.

One of my other friends has a small hexagonal tank, with no filter, cm of gravel and a bubble tube for her 5 white cloud minnows and 3 big goldfish (fantails?)
she only changes the water when its cloudy and you cant see the fish.
So you can see what sort of advice these ppl are giving me..and how stoopid i sound when i say i have to wait 10 weeks for my filter to cycle!!!

they all think im bonkers! and TBH staring at empty tanks .. i am going bonkers!!! *steps off her soapbox*

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

ok i'm better now!!

 

[CezzaXV]

I use bicarb. If I add too much, the test goes a deep red colour that doesn't seem to be on the chart. I've never seen the purple shade for 8.2-8.4.

 

[HayzH]

hows your monster tank doing Cezza?

 

[CezzaXV]

I'm getting fish next week! Went to the LFS yesterday and they only had six of the leopard cories left (at first I thought thy only had five and was gonna cry lol, but there was another hidden from view). I asked nicely and they let me pay for them then and I'm going back to pick them up next week and buy my neons too.

Tank should be 95% ready by then, if not 100. It's clearing in less than 24 hours but more than 12 right now but getting quicker every day. Im sure it'll be fine.

I'm so happy I'm the legal owner of some fish, even if I don't have them in my tank right now!

 

[HayzH]

I'm getting fish next week! Went to the LFS yesterday and they only had six of the leopard cories left (at first I thought thy only had five and was gonna cry lol, but there was another hidden from view). I asked nicely and they let me pay for them then and I'm going back to pick them up next week and buy my neons too.

Tank should be 95% ready by then, if not 100. It's clearing in less than 24 hours but more than 12 right now but getting quicker every day. Im sure it'll be fine.

I'm so happy I'm the legal owner of some fish, even if I don't have them in my tank right now!

i saw in your log...yayy...think mine clear in 24 hours..but i gave up eve tests along time ago

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yes, some fish can survive for periods without proper care. They are much hardier than many people think. They can adapt to a variety of different environments, especially depending on the specie. BUT, short term success does not mean that they are properly caring for their pet. Would it be ok to buy a cat and just have it crap in a pile of sand in a corner of your house and never clean it out? An improper filter (or no filter) is kind of like doing that to your fish. Of course, most people would consider that cruel and even those that don't wouldn't do it because it isn't hygienic for them either.


These same people are also those who think that "fish just grow to the size of their tank" and that most fish are disposable. If one dies, you just replace it. No big deal, after all "they are just fish." Most fish that are kept in the hobby live for years, not weeks or months. But some folks think that if the fish lives for 6 months that they have somehow done well.


Just stay patient. Understandably, you are getting frustrated. But, know that in the end you are doing what is best for the fish and yourself. You will have far less problems long term if you keep a healthy environment for the fish the entire time. Folks with softer water generally take longer. Don't give up. You have fish in one tank. Keep your focus on that one and before you know it the others will come along. Use this extra time to continue researching what type of fish will do well in your water conditions and which fish you would prefer to keep.