# Cycling Question



## juelz (Feb 9, 2006)

Hello Everyone,

I have kind of a tricky situation here and am looking for some guidance...

My mom + dad took our 29 g out of the basement and set it up a couple weeks ago. Knowing very little about fish, the day after it was set up they went and bought about 10 large feeder goldfish. Its been about 2 weeks now and all the fish are dead which I kind of saw coming. (Coat peeling off? not sure what disease that is?)

I decided that I am going to take over this operation and go back to tropical fish care which I haven't done for a while (about 5 years ago when I joined these forums ) but am looking forward to getting back into the hobby.

The tank is full of water as of now, and I am looking at getting some live plants but I want to know how to go about the likely water quality problems before I introduce anything into the tank. I tested the water and it came out ok for PH and hardness, but nitrite and nitrate were both through the roof. (Max reading that the measurement scale on test kit has) Don't know ammonia levels as I need to buy a test kit for ammonia.

Here is my question, where do I go from here?

Sorry for the lengthy story and any help is greatly appreciated.


It is good to be back on these forums


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## meBNme (Oct 9, 2011)

You definitely need a good test kit,like API's freshwater kit.
So start with that. (if your current kit is old or just strips, then get a whole new kit.

You are going to want to test the water daily for ammonia, nitrItes, nitrAtes, and do daily 25% to 50% water changes.

Your tank sounds like it is already going through the bacterial cycle, (or you have a test kit that's gone bad.)

When you see 0 ammonia, 0 nitrItes and nitrates less than 40 you are ready for fish.
Water changes about once every week to two weeks will be needed to control nitrAte levels. (unless you have a heavily planted tank and plant filtration.)


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2011)

i never cycle my tank, add water, add plant, add filter, add fish, keep close eye on it.
do water change every week, 35% per change. 

the problem was the 10 fish, 1-2 will do fine and should cycle the tank fine.


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## giants1249er (Aug 3, 2011)

You need to do a fishless nitrogen cycle or a fish-in nitrogen cycle. Fishless is safer because in a fish-in cycle, the fish may be suffering. Personally I did both, not knowing about cycling. Luckily my platies were hardy enough to survive it. The only problems I had with a fish-in cycle was that I had to do multiple pwc daily to try to keep ammonia levels down at 1st, then nitrite levels too. With a fishless cycle, the only pwc I made were to increase my pH to acceptable levels. And an API test is needed to test pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels...strips are not that accurate. FYI it took me 6 weeks to cycle both of my 10-gallon tanks. Good luck.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

get an api test kit, preferably the one that uses liquid drops instead of the strips.
buy a bottle or two of Seachem Stability, follow the instructions.

don't add fish until the ammon and nitrate lvls are safe. add fish and keep dosing tank until you're out of stability. Make sure to have an adequate filter for your setup. make sure there is good O2 exchange. Don't overstock your tank. If you plan on planting live plants in the tank, make sure to pick up a bottle of API Pimafix for the occasional fungus outbreak.

have fun gl


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

coat peeling off can be really, really bad water. Definitely do a 100% water change before adding any more fish. For future reference, cycling with feeders is not a good idea. Feeder fish are not well cared for and carry diseases which can stay in the tank and kill more expensive fish.


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## juelz (Feb 9, 2006)

Thanks for the info everyone!!

Here is my plan:
1. Daily 25% water changes and water testing until the end of the week
2. Next weekend put in some live plants (continue water testing daily)
3. Maybe in 2 weeks get a couple hardy fish to start it off

Would this be a fair game plan? If not, what else do I need to look at doing?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Do an 80%+ water change the first day, then test daily. No fish now, right? Then don't worry about shocking them. Get your levels down in the scale so you know what you are dealing with. You'd have to do 5 25% water changes to equal one 80% one.


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## juelz (Feb 9, 2006)

Ok, when I finish work I am going to pick up a proper water tester (have the strips now) and I will go home and do 80%. Thanks for the help!


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## juelz (Feb 9, 2006)

Hey,

I thought I would give an update about my situation. So, today I got home and I did the 80% water change. I dechlorinated and put in some aquarium salt. I then let the filter and such run for about 10 minutes to let things settle a bit. After all of this I ran a test and here was my results:

pH: 7.5
Nitrite: 3
Nitrate: 0
Ammonia: 0
gH: 180

Based on these reults, can you guys let me know where I stand in terms of moving forward to getting live plants and eventually fish. Also, what should I do next? Sorry for dumb questions, this is the first practical experience I am getting with cycling tanks and such.

Thanks!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Looks like you are right in the middle of the cycle. Ammonia is going to nitrite, but nitrite isn't yet going to nitrate. If you have a bacterial supplement, dose it.


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## juelz (Feb 9, 2006)

Yeah, I put in some bacterial supplement today. Should I do daily water changes now? Or just once a week 25% water change?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Watch the levels. You want them to go up some, but not into the 'deadly' range.


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## juelz (Feb 9, 2006)

Update!!!

Well I tested again today....oddly enough nitrite has gone down to 0 and nitrate has gone to about 20. Does that mean that the cycle is over? Keep in mind these results are off of the strips so they are probably estimates. (I know the strips suck... I am trying to use them all up before I get a proper kit so I don't feel like I wasted my money lol)

My ammonia tester is a liquid one though and that reads as 0 so we know that one is accurate.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

It does sound like the cycle is done, likely the supplement did the trick. If you want to be sure, add some ammonia or food and test the next morning. 

When you think its good, I would do one more big water change and get some fish the next day. Don't fully stock, but get one kind of fish on your list. Like 6 danios or 4 cories, one group off your list.


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## juelz (Feb 9, 2006)

Ok man, thanks for all the help with this, its really been greatly appreciated. Now for the fun part, picking out the fish!!!


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