How often to feed fish when cycling?

[Helium_Junkie]

6 neon tetras, and I probably asked this before but I cant find the answer in the other threads so I'm asking again

How much to feed 6 Neon Tetras, and how frequently to feed em while they are cycling my tank.

Also, does the fact that I have nitrates in my tank indicate that the bacteria are doing their job? Is there any other way there could be Nitrates in there?

Safe level of Nitrates before I should water change?

 

[tstenback]

So you went with the neons , eh Well lets make sure that we give them a fighting chance then. During the cycle i woulld feed them once a day and only a small pinch of food (about as much as they can completely eat in 3 mins).
NitrAtes can come from anything that has been ina mature tank like plants decorations etc. and also can be in your tap water. So test the water right out of the tap to see if there are nitrates in it. You should be doing a daily water change of 15-20% to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels down. What are these levels now?

 

[Helium_Junkie]

So you went with the neons , eh Well lets make sure that we give them a fighting chance then. During the cycle i woulld feed them once a day and only a small pinch of food (about as much as they can completely eat in 3 mins).
NitrAtes can come from anything that has been ina mature tank like plants decorations etc. and also can be in your tap water. So test the water right out of the tap to see if there are nitrates in it. You should be doing a daily water change of 15-20% to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels down. What are these levels now?

The levels are barely registering, and I guess you missed the posts about not having much choice for cycling fish.
Exceot Nitrates, which was 5.

LFS doesnt have the hardy Danios that were recommended, I already apologised for using Tetras but there wasn't the choice. Sorry.

I have fed them a small pinch (food gone in a couple of minutes), only had them a day so far.

Water changes have been quite frequent, as I removed water when I added decoration, then topped up. I will keep doing them.

Don't be too mad at me, I would have had Danio's but the LFS only had Pearls, which someone said were more fragile. )

 

[tstenback]

Not mad at you just concerned for the neons. Yes, i did miss that post but not the end of the world if you keep up on the water changes they should make it through. You have to go with the cards you are dealt so good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Galaxy]

I am in the same boat. I couldn't get danios so the LFS suggested Mollies as a hardy fish suitable for new tanks.
At what level of Nitrates should a partial water change be carried out?