Started A Fish In Cycle In The Last 48 Hrs

[DanTheFishMan11]

i honestly don't know about that one but there are chemicals out there to decrease nitrate although i hate using chemicals in my tank.

 

[Guppytime]

Hi there,

I wouldn't rush out to get a nitrate test kit yet as a fish cycle is usually quite slow. I've just finished one and it took 2 months to fully cycle. I bought an API kit and even though it seems expensive it's cheaper than buying them individually,it will last for ages,I'm still using mine now. One tip for you,when you change water don't go disturbing the gravel too much,just remove the fish waste by vacuuming lightly over the surface. I was too agressive disturbing my gravel and i'm sure this slowed my cycle a lot. I also bought a 1000 litre water change pump for about $15,just drop it in the bucket and put the hose into the tank,then plug it in.It's so easy and saves carrying buckets of water everywhere!

Hang in there,it's a slow process but it will go quicker once the ammonia dissapears!

 

[phoenixgsd]

ok, this is bad advice, do not not do a cold water change it will shock your fish, your water is very hot, turn the heater down to 25 (ish) and let it cool down slowly before you do a water change with dechlorinated temperature matched water, as already said the API master kit is a must when cycling, as both your tanks are small there isnt enough water in there to dilute the ammonia so its harder work for you, so you will need to test test test, but i will say 37ltr is small for your stocking danthefishman11, also there is confusion between nitrite and nitrate, you will need a nitrite test for your cycling, nitrate is what you have at the end of your cycle when the ammonia and nitrite levels are 0ppm, as you tank is small you will have to do very large daily water changes, you dont need to waste money on gimmicks to remove ammonia ect, its debatable weather they work or not,

ive used tetra aquasafe before with no problems in my cycled tank, my first tank was only 20lts and i used tetra safe start with some success, but in no way did it substitute water changes

 

[DanTheFishMan11]

i didnt mean freezing cold i meant slightly cold to bring the temp down a bit!

thats what i do and all my fish are fine

mine is 48 i use uk gallons

 

[phoenixgsd]

i didnt mean freezing cold i meant slightly cold to bring the temp down a bit!

thats what i do and all my fish are fine

that still isnt a good idea, sudden temp changes can and does cause stressed or shocked fish, who in turn often get ill, always change with temp matched water, advising a new member to do a cold water change could kill his fish, especially as he might take your advise literally

 

[pumpkinnose]

Well I looked online for more alternatives and it also suggested to put bottles of ice in the aquarium. I'm going to try a 20 oz soda bottle and see what happens. I will be sitting by my aquarium to keep an eye on it to try and make sure the water don't get to cold. It will be one single bottle as I know the more ice I add the quicker and colder the water will get. I wish we had the money to get a water cooler and I would use that for them. I'd just use a fan on the top but I don't have a small fan for it and really worry about it falling in the aquarium even if I just had a shelf that was just at the top of the aquarium.

 

[phoenixgsd]

Well I looked online for more alternatives and it also suggested to put bottles of ice in the aquarium. I'm going to try a 20 oz soda bottle and see what happens. I will be sitting by my aquarium to keep an eye on it to try and make sure the water don't get to cold. It will be one single bottle as I know the more ice I add the quicker and colder the water will get. I wish we had the money to get a water cooler and I would use that for them. I'd just use a fan on the top but I don't have a small fan for it and really worry about it falling in the aquarium even if I just had a shelf that was just at the top of the aquarium.

why dont you just lower the temp on your heater? the method of bottles are used for situations like heatwaves when the outside temp is high, there is no need to over complicate things

 

[pumpkinnose]

Because the problem is the room temp not the heater. I have a fan by a window that is hitting the aquarium. But that isn't going to help much. Besides I don't have a heater for it right now as it is summer time and the outside temp has been running in the upper 90s-100s. Plus I need to try and close my bedroom curtains and see if that won't help keep the room cooler just a bit.

 

[phoenixgsd]

Because the problem is the room temp not the heater. I have a fan by a window that is hitting the aquarium. But that isn't going to help much. Besides I don't have a heater for it right now as it is summer time and the outside temp has been running in the upper 90s-100s. Plus I need to try and close my bedroom curtains and see if that won't help keep the room cooler just a bit.

ahhh right, you should have said yes the bottle method is tried and tested as its gradual, but please dont do a cold water change

 

[FishFanatic04]

A cold water change can help as long as you stay within 5 or so degrees. People do it anyway to encourage breeding. I am in TX and its been above 100 degrees already for a few weeks. If I cant keep the temp down I use the floating bottle.



{just didn't want you to worry too much about a few degrees difference during a water change, it's a proven method for mimicking rainfall}

 

[pumpkinnose]

Tried the ice bottle trick and it worked better then doing a 50% change...lol Had it down to 86 a little bit ago and added another bottle of water hopefully that will drop it down a little more. Not going to try and get it down to 80 but anything is better then 94

 

[Easy]

This bottle of ice trick is brilliant. I will remember this should I have a power outage.

 

[pumpkinnose]

This bottle of ice trick is brilliant. I will remember this should I have a power outage.

Easy I suggest you make sure you have plenty of ice bottles on hand though or have a way to freeze them quick. I keep having to add to my stash because the aquarium water keeps melting them and then it gets hot again.

On to how my aquarium is doing..lol It's been four days and I've only done one water change but that was to try and cool it off. We have lost one fish but that's due to something besides the water conditions (except the heat). We took the poor guy back to PetCo and exchanged him for another one. They checked my water also and said it was good so that is a good thing to know. Hopefully these trips to PetCo will stop soon...lol But at least the kids are happy with their new pets.

 

[pumpkinnose]

Had to take another trip to PetCo today. Looks like things are starting to progress. Bought my other test kit and will be checking every week now.

Information
Nitrate: 20-40
Nitrite: 5.0
Hardness: 150-300
PH: 7.8-8.4
Alkalinity: 180

I need to find my tube again for the ammonia as it has seemed to disappear or else break down and get another ammonia test. We will be working on more adjustments of the water as time goes on. Also bought a vacuum and did a change to day.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

A nitrite value of 5mg/l is positively lethal, anything above 0.25mg/l is dangerous...

These fish need a ~95% water change with similar temp dechlorinated water ASAP, basically emptying the tank of all but enough water to cover the fish on the tank floor. It might even be worth moving the fish to a 25-50% filled bucket (with their existing water) and then replacing all teh water left in the tank, then acclimitising the fish to the new water as if just brought ome from the fish shop.