| Did I cheat the 'cycle' ??? [message #8034] |
Mon, 03 September 2007 02:22  |
 jgmankos 
Messages: 7
Registered: August 2007 |
Junior Member |
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Hi All...
I'm new to keeping Cichlids...but I did a lot of research before getting my tank.
I got a used 58 gal. tank, which included the gravel, filter / filter media, and the decorations. The guy drained it 2 days before I picked it up and left 2 inchyes of water in it to keep the established bacteria (and he left 2 fish in it, I don't know whether he intended this but one fish did survive, one died).
So I filled it up with Tap water...I wasn't sure if the chlorinated water would kill off the bacteria or not so I figured I'd play it safe and keep a close eye on the water for a week or so. So...here's been my readings since filling the tank:
8/24 Tank Filled
8/25 Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 40ppm
8/27 Ammonia .25ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 40ppm
8/29 Ammonia .25ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 40ppm
8/31 Ammonia .25ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 40ppm
9/2 Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 40ppm
It seems to have been extremely steady..I'm not sure I quite understand why I had ammonia readings on 8/27, 8/29 and 8/31...perhaps I judged the test color incorrectly. Or perhaps the bacteria that convert the ammonia to Nitrite weren't keeping up with the ones that convert Nitrite to Nitrate?
So do you think it's safe to say that the pre-existing bacteria survived and do you think it's safe to start adding more fish?
I've been adding Seachem Lake Malwai buffer to get the ph to about 8.2 and it's been holding steady there for about 3 days.
Also, how many africans can I keep in this tank? I realize I should add 2 or 3 at a time...but I'm curious about the max. I already have a 4" Electric Blue Johanni in there.
Thanks to all...
[Updated on: Mon, 03 September 2007 02:23]
John
My Cichlid Blog -- www.cichlidweb.com
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| Re: Did I cheat the 'cycle' ??? [message #8036] |
Mon, 03 September 2007 19:22  |
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Did you treat the tap water?
Sounds like your still mid cycle. You might not wanna lose an investment in Cichlids. Might get expensive. You may wanna try afew cheap giant danios. Won't be as expensive if you lose them and it'll help cycle yer tank faster.
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| Re: Did I cheat the 'cycle' ??? [message #8048] |
Wed, 05 September 2007 00:44 |
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Yes after...but you are not finished cycling... I didnt have ammonia spikes until after the first week of cycling. WHen it started in continued to spike until the levels reached 3.0ppm at the highest then the nitrite kicked in for a while. Throughout this whole time my nitrates reached 80 PPM even one point I lost a few fish, but I bought a bunch of cheap ones to cycle the water so i really did not care. Then once I finished the cycle after 4 weeks my levels stabalized to: Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 10, water cleared up to crystal clear no smell, then I started buying african cichlids to avoid loss.
What kind of filter do you have for your 58 gallon tank? and to answer your question YES filtration plays a huge role in cycling and maintaining health of the tank and controling levels..
p.s Ammonia is less toxic when the water is hard and the PH is high so this will help your fish tolerate levels while tank cycles. Remember cichlids are STRONG fish!!
Be patient all will be fine
Rob
Cichlid Finatic
Patience is key for a successful Aquathusiast
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| Re: Did I cheat the 'cycle' ??? [message #8050] |
Wed, 05 September 2007 07:43 |
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Sounds like yer about there. Don't add to many fish at once. Ease em in a bit at a time or you'll crash yer aquarium.
Read lots on here about that kinda stuff using the search option and get yourself more comfortable with the way other folks have done it.
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| Re: Did I cheat the 'cycle' ??? [message #8052] |
Thu, 06 September 2007 00:26 |
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Agreed!! lots of usefull stuff on this site, and yes you killed all bacteria you started from scratch. SORRY
Rob
Cichlid Finatic
Patience is key for a successful Aquathusiast
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| Re: Did I cheat the 'cycle' ??? [message #8187] |
Wed, 26 September 2007 13:16 |
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How old is ur test kit? what size is ur tank? and how many fish u keeping?
This all affects it. I went 2 months once without even getting a blimp on the ammon or nitrite scale..and mostly all the tanks bacteria is held in these places: the Filter media, bio wheeles, Gravol (substrate) and the old tank water. that is where the greatest population of healthy bacteria is kept if u transfer all of witch I just listed over to a new tank u litterally do not have to CYCLE it!!!
Make sure you are using the test tube kits..
and continue ur readings
Rob
Cichlid Finatic
Patience is key for a successful Aquathusiast
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| Re: Did I cheat the 'cycle' ??? [message #8196] |
Thu, 27 September 2007 23:23 |
jgmankos
Messages: 7
Registered: August 2007 |
Junior Member |
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The test kit was purchased a brand new when I got the tank. It's a dr. wellfish set with the tubes where you put x amount of drops in depending on teh test you're doing...the guy at the lfs told me it was the best test kit I could get.
Everythign was from a running tank...except about 50 or so gallons of the water...the gravel, filter media, decorations....etc all came from a running tank where the guy drained it and left me 2" of water above the gravel. At the time I posted this originally I had 4 fish in the tank (1 adult 5" johanni and 3 1" fry)
This is why I was asking...because the readings were remaining rock steady I wasn't sure if cycling was necessary. After a month I pretty much figured I wasn't going to see a cycle so she's all stocked up now...I have 12 fish in there which is probably where it will remain. Water still testing out at the same params so I think we're good to go.
[Updated on: Thu, 27 September 2007 23:24]
John
My Cichlid Blog -- www.cichlidweb.com
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| Re: Did I cheat the 'cycle' ??? [message #8197] |
Fri, 28 September 2007 01:36 |
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oh see now I didnt know that u had some water still left in the tank..thats why its cycled!!
Cool
p.s Every worker will tell u a product is the best just a gimic to make u buy it lol
not to say its not a good test kit so long as it makes the readings and ur fish are not showing signs of stress you good to go.
Cheers
Rob
Cichlid Finatic
Patience is key for a successful Aquathusiast
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