Just Started Cycling My 29 Gallon Tank! Recommendations/tips Pleas

[gdoggy1678]

Hmm i just did that 99% water change and dosed 3ml and 2ml so i dont even get why it is that high to begin with. Should I try another water change?

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Hope you don't mind me butting in here. Leaving the nitrites at the level you have just prolongs the cycle unnecessarily. You should water change to get the nitrite into the measurable range, i.e. less than 5ppm and then, more importantly, continue to dose the ammonia at a low level, say 1ppm or slightly less each time it falls to zero. Again water change any time the nitrite goes above 5ppm.

This allows you to keep the nitrite production in check (reducing cycling time and also minimising any chance of a pH crash) and also prevents the possibility of a mini cycle once you introduce fish.

 

[Sailfin Zach]

Hey guys i just started my new 29 gallon tank. It has a aqua clear 50 filter, a 100W aqueon heater, a hood with a 8000 light.
The first two days the tank ran with nothing added except de-chlorinizer. I tested my Tap water with the API master kit and it comes up just around a Ph of 8. Also today on day 3 i put about 4~5 ppm of pure ammonia from ace hardware to begin my fish less cycling.

Does all seem well so far? any tips or anything i may have missed?

So far the things i have on my list for fish are:
1x Powder blue dwarf gourami
5x Columbian Tetra
and maybe some bamboo/ ghost shrimp

Any one have any recommendations that will go well with these fish?

             ammonia             nitrite        nitrate
Day 1       ~4ppm                0.25ppm       ----
Day 2       ~4ppm                0.25ppm       ----
Day 3       ~4ppm                0.25ppm       ----
Day 4       ~4ppm                0.25ppm       ----
Day 5       ~4ppm                0.50ppm       ----
Day 10     ~4ppm                2.00ppm       ----
Day 12     ~.5-.25ppm           2-5ppm        40-80ppm 
Day 13     0.00ppm                -                 -        + ~3.5 ml of ammonia  
Day 14     0.00ppm            Off chart        80-160            +5ml ammonia
Day 15     0.00ppm            off chart        80-160              +5ml ammonia

The only problem about shrimp is that they only last 1-2 years. But never had a bamboo ghost shrimp but I used to have regular ghost shrimp.

 

[gdoggy1678]

Allright im gonna do another water change. Should i just make it another full water change, to clear try and clear everything?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Might as well.

 

[gdoggy1678]

Allright i just did the water change and all seems goos so far. I just took the tests and For ammonia i get .50ppm, for nitrite i get between .5-1ppm and Nitrate i get 5ppm. Im going to check back in about 12 hours in the morning and add 2ppm of ammonia if it has dropped to zero. Lets hope i can get something going here now!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Good stuff. Just try to keep the nitrite on the chart, if possible. Keep your ammonia dose low, 2ppm is a good target. If the nitrite stays high, decrease it to 1 or 1.5ppm. If it seems to clear, or almost completely clear, then bump it up to 3ppm.

 

[Xraymark]

Moved

 

[gdoggy1678]

Allright 4 days since the last water change and the nitrites are still not showing even any signs of decreasing, to add on to that i have been dosing 1ppm for the past 3 days and 2ppm the first. The nitrates are rising but the nitrites dont seem to go anywhere.... The nitrates are off the chart again. Using the 1/4 trick it is around 2-5ppm then times that by 5 so it is somewhere around 10-25ppm

 

[Prime Ordeal]

If nitrates are rising then the nitrite oxidising bacteria are there but not in sufficient numbers to process the dose they're being fed from the ammonia conversion. The colony will grow, just give it time. Continue to dose ammonia at a low level. Have you been changing water to keep the nitrite at a measurable level? Also are you making sure your tank is well oxygenated and that the pH hasn't dropped significantly?

 

[gdoggy1678]

If nitrates are rising then the nitrite oxidising bacteria are there but not in sufficient numbers to process the dose they're being fed from the ammonia conversion. The colony will grow, just give it time. Continue to dose ammonia at a low level. Have you been changing water to keep the nitrite at a measurable level? Also are you making sure your tank is well oxygenated and that the pH hasn't dropped significantly?

Yes I've done two full water changes. One was because ammonia stopped processing, second one was because nitrite was so high it was turning clear within the 5 minutes. my Ph is fairly high 7.6-7.8 and i have a 8 inch bubble wand powered by a Tetra whisper 40. Also the tempreture is at 82*F

 

[gdoggy1678]

OMG!! The nitrite was at 0ppm today!!! Over this week ill raise it up slowly from from my 1ppm ammonia dosing and see how it goes. Any advise!?

 

[Prime Ordeal]

How do you intend to stock the tank to start with (i.e. how many and what type of fish?). I wouldn't raise the dose as it only encourages the growth of the wrong type of bacteria.

 

[gdoggy1678]

It would be this stocking:
8 Bleeding heart tetra
6 Corydoras
1Powder blue dwarf gourami

 

[Prime Ordeal]

And you're going to add those all at once?