I feel overwelmed

[Jafis]

I have to admit there is some really great info here on the board. I'm glad I found it. You all certainly stopped me from making a few bad mistakes. So thanks for all the wonderfull info you all have been posting. Here is where I am at right now with my 50 gallon tank.

It just entered it's 3rd week of cycling. I had 10 Danio's in there but now I am down to 8. The bacteria bloom that started a few days ago is slowly (very slowly) starting to go away and yesterday I just bought a water test kit so tomorrow i'll post the results but they won't be too favorable. The filter I use is a Penguin 350. As I understand it, my water will get bad before it gets better, so i'm in the bad stage.

I'm feeding my fish a little bit of food once per day (instead of twice) to try and limit the waste.

I stir the gravel once a day, why I dunno, but a friend recommended I do that.

Water temp is about 77 degrees.

If any of you have any friendly tips you think I should keep an eye on please let me know, any advice for me would be great, tomorrow i'll let you all know what the status of the water is but be ready to cover your eyes.

 

[fatguppy]

You are obviously not doing a fishless cycle so (like me) you will probably end up with some dead guys I'm afraid. I discovered fishless cycling after I'd bought my first tank and fish - of course on the advice of the lfs! Well you live and learn.

Your water parameters are VITAL to maintain the tank and if they are as bad as you suspect, then the best thing is regular water changes.

In our first attempt we had a nitrIte spike of immense proportions and all we could do was water changes. Some days at the beginning we did two a day. It was a nightmare. I do understand however, that Danios are supposed to be fairly hardy - so good luck with them.

We actually only have one original fish left - that's how bad things got and he is definitely stunted in growth although fine in every other way. And to sit and watch them suffer and die one by one is not something I would EVER repeat.

Stirring the gravel? - I dunno why you do it either although I'd be interested in any theories on this one - I've never heard of it before and to be honest cannot think what good it would do apart from to stir up all the debris and possibly stress the fish with unnecessary interference.

My advice at this stage? Test those water parameters every day, at least once - and if bad results - possibly twice. Any ammonia or nitrIte above zero is bad and should be dealt with by a partial water change. Keep a note of the results (dates/readings etc) as this will allow you to compare and watch the cycling process moving on. If your nitrItes are high don't panic too much as I understand it is common for them to be high and then suddenly (in our case overnight) drop to 0.5 and then the next day zero. Phew! and what a relief that was!

Good luck with it all - once the tank is cycled you suddenly realise that all the hard work was worth it.

Do take advice from this forum as it is excellent and I've never been given bad advice yet!

 

[pica_nuttalli]

don't stir the gravel unless its more than an inch deep. the bacteria that you're trying to grow right now needs access to oxygen to survive. everytime you stir the gravel, you disturb the bacteria growing on the topmost layer and push parts of those colonies underground--where they can't access enough oxygen. you're probably just slowing your cycle at this part.

gravel thats more than an inch deep will oftentimes develop "ammonia pockets" which are anaerobic zones devoid of nitrifying bacteria. as time progresses, these pockets will grow larger and connect to each other. if the gravel concealing a particularly large ammonia pocket is suddenly disturbed, the subsequent release of the poison into the water can throw your tank into a mini-cycle and may kill ammonia-sensitive fish.

ways of reducing ammonia pockets in deep gravel include using live plants, adding burrowing Malaysian Trumpet Snails, and (as you have been told) frequently stirring up your gravel.

 

[Jafis]

Awesome advice thank you, i'll stop messing with the gravel.

Once my tank is cycled i'm definitly adding some live plants as I think they look great but I do have one question. I understand the reason for water changes but should I do that while my tank is still cycling?

I read the sticky thread about beginner's questions but from what I understand....after ammonia builds up in my tank the bacteria will grow in my filter to handle the ammonia. Shouldn't I wait for this to happen before I start changing the water?

Sorry for the newbie questions, I know you all must have answered these a thousand times.

 

[rdd1952]

Actually stirring the gravel will probably create problems rather than solve them. Sand is a little different. Sand can become packed and develop pockets of poisonous gas so you should rake it occasionally. Stirring the gravel on the other hand will cause the waste to fall to the bottom of the gravel meaning you can't vacuum it at water changes, causing added ammonia.

As for water changes, you will have to do those while cycling with fish to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels from getting too high and killing your fish. You really don't want them to get over .5. During a fishless cycle, you are correct that water changes slow the process but with fish they are mandatory usually on a daily basis.

 

[Jafis]

My water readings are

ammonia 2.0ppm
nitrite 0.50ppm
nitrate 40ppm

After I took the readings I did a 20% water change and i'll keep a close eye on it. My bacteria bloom is completly gone, it took 6 full days, and the water is clear again. I'm assuming my water readings are on the way down not spiking so hopefully after another 3 weeks the tank should be fully cycled.

If only I knew about fishless cycling before I started. I feel so bad for those Danio's.

Once again....thanks for the great info everyone, you all have been a huge help.

 

[fatguppy]

Don't worry we did exactly the same. The main thing is to learn and not do it again.

You are still cycling - ammonia and nitrites need to be on zero so daily water changes until the readings drop. I think you may still get a nitrite spike with the ammonia being so high but perhaps someone with more expert knowledge than me can comment?

 

[qwikimpss]

When you 1st set up a tank you can add plants right away! They actually help with cycling a bit by using small ammount of ammonia and nitrites (very small ammounts tho) so if u wanted you could add plants now.

 

[IMCL85]

I would dump feeders instead of danio they r very expansive compare to feeders 1dollars for 15 here in canada . And I use them for fishless cycle when I have new tank.

 

[xamdarb]

I would dump feeders instead of danio they r very expansive compare to feeders 1dollars for 15 here in canada . And I use them for fishless cycle when I have new tank.

not sure but i dont think that would be a fishless cycle

 

[xamdarb]

that is a pretty good idea though

 

[Jafis]

When you 1st set up a tank you can add plants right away! They actually help with cycling a bit by using small ammount of ammonia and nitrites (very small ammounts tho) so if u wanted you could add plants now.

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I was unaware I could start off with live plants. So today I purchased a few and just finished putting them in the tank. Thanks for the info qwikimpss