# Cycle done! But not ready for fish yet-



## Jeane09 (Nov 19, 2013)

*Cycle done! Not ready for fish- do I need to feed the bacteria?*

I'm trying to fix the pH (_never_ again will I buy used aquarium equipment without careful questioning!) and want to add more live plants before I put fish in. So do I need to keep feeding the bacteria with ammonia in the meantime? and should I do the big water change now to lower nitrates, or do that right before I get the fish?


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

You can toss in the plants right now, they will love the high nitrates to "snack on". Do a big water change a couple of days before you get the fish. And make sure you start small with the fish. Not all of them at once. I havent followed your driftwood post, what fish where you thinking of getting?


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## Jeane09 (Nov 19, 2013)

I'm going to start with some zebra or pearl danios, then want to add black widow or penguin tetras, otto cats or chinese algae eaters, maybe a few killifish and a dwarf gourami. Haven't quite made up my mind yet!

Something in the tank keeps making the pH go up to 8.2, although out of tap it's 7.4 I thought getting a driftwood piece would lower it...


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Well, it must be your gravel or rocks, or something like that, unless you are using powerful UV or ozone.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Try to find out whatever moves it up, you don't want to have something in there that moves it up, and then something in there that moves it down. Seems kind of risky to me. And should be a beautiful tank once you get it started, I would put the dwarf gourami in last. So that you don't introduce new fish to his habitat. At least with bettas, i have heard, it works better to add other fish before the betta itself aggression wise.


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## Jeane09 (Nov 19, 2013)

Yes, I was planning to put in the danios first, then the tetras and bottom-feeder, and the gourami last of all.

I'm getting frustrated now that I can't figure out what's raising the pH. I've tested the decor, the gravel, the large rocks- none of them raise the pH in my bucket, or lower in the tank when out. Could it be some residue from the prior owner's use, on the tank itself or in the filter? I didn't scrub the filter out _too _hard because I didn't want to kill bacteria... 

I'd hate to have to tear it all down again in search of the problem, when my cycle just completed! would it have to cycle all over again?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

ok...i'll do this again...lol
my number one rule..............................................................

" The more you mess with your tanks ; the more problems you create for yourself.. "

now.....put the test kit away...find a couple of nice little fish to stock the tank..maybe 4 or 5 small ones..tetras , danios etc......
feed them for a few weeks..no testing....just keep up with your 30% weekly water changes....watch the fish , not the water...if the fish are happy , then your tank is just fine..
after a month or 2 test the water ....see what it is...


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2013)

I just want to say that a tank does not cycle in just a couple weeks. It takes 8-12 weeks. From what I read, you started around Thanksgiving. Not sure the exact date that you started but I do know that it has only been a couple weeks since you started. So, a tank takes 8-12 weeks to cycle, not a couple weeks. I doubt that your cycle is done.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

> I'd hate to have to tear it all down again in search of the problem, when my cycle just completed! would it have to cycle all over again?


Fish can adjust to water levels. Just make sure to acclimate the fish slowly, and start with cheap fish in case they kick the bucket.


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## Jeane09 (Nov 19, 2013)

Yes, I started about three weeks ago. Had a handful of gravel plus some plants with stuff clinging to their roots from an established tank, and stuff squeezed out of his old filter media. I've seen both the ammonia and nitrites spike and fall, now I have Ammonia- 0, Nitrites- 0, Nitrates- 80ppm. What else has to happen, if my ammo and nitrites are down to zero? It's been that way for 2 days now.


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2013)

You want to make sure that the ammonia and nitrite stay at 0ppm. Because they can spike when you put fish in the tank. Then you will have sick fish, and they can die if the ammonia and/or nitrite spike.

I hear that danios can withstand spikes. But I am not sure how accurate that is.


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## Jeane09 (Nov 19, 2013)

So that's why you add the fish a little at a time, right? Does the ammonia/nitrite spike _every_ time you add fish? or at some point is it stable enough not to do that? I'm still learning about all this... I was going to put in the danios first and then wait a week or two before adding a few more fish.


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2013)

Adding fish a little at a time will help the ammonia and nitrite not spike. But you want to keep an eye on it. Also keep up with water changes every week or two, depending on your stock load. I am not sure about how often the ammonia and nitrite spikes, but once they can stay at 0ppm, you are good. The ammonia may spike but can be brought down with a water change.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Like loha said, you don't really need to watch the levels, more the fish. If you start with a couple of small fish you are not going to have a big spike in anything at all since you already got bb build up. I bought a testkit once and it was a pretty big waste of money. It told me my nitrites where off the charts but all my fish seemed fine, imma guess I used it wrong. People have been keeping fish successfully before testkits, and I find they are pretty hard to use, with exact times that you need to shake test tubes for and so on. Shake too hard you get a completely different reading


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## Jeane09 (Nov 19, 2013)

Yeah, funny- I've been reading lots of books on keeping fish, most of them published five to ten years ago- what's available at the library- and not many mention the nitrite cycle at _all_. They say to "age" the water, keep temperature stable, a few of the newer ones mention removing chlorine, that's it. I wonder did people really have more fish losses before the kits were around, and just not know why? 

But I find it fun to use mine, and admit have probably been tinkering with it too much. Well, with watching the cycle- testing the water once a day- I hope to tone it down soon and not need to do much of that! I just want to make sure it's balanced properly the first time, before I get the fish.

By the way, once the tank is established, when is the best time to do a weekly ammonia/nitrite test? Right before the weekly water change? In between water changes? Not soon after feeding either, I guess?


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

Angelclown said:


> I just want to say that a tank does not cycle in just a couple weeks. It takes 8-12 weeks. From what I read, you started around Thanksgiving. Not sure the exact date that you started but I do know that it has only been a couple weeks since you started. So, a tank takes 8-12 weeks to cycle, not a couple weeks. I doubt that your cycle is done.


It takes 8-12 weeks for a saltwater cycle, not in freshwater. I cycled mine for a week or two by seeding my tank with gravel filled with beneficial bacteria from my established 3g tank. Started with 5 neon tetras; waited a week then added 4 peppered corycats. Waited another week and added a solitary German Blue Ram.

2 weeks later, I broke down & got a Peacock Gudgeon as my final fish. Oh yeah-- they're all in my 10g tank. Tank has been up & running since Sept 2013.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Weekly testing (if you really want to do that) is done before the water change. Just so you see how crappy your water really is. But it really isn't necessary, the filter got bacteria going right? So start with a few fish and slowly build up the population to a point you like. No testing necessary, unless you see fish getting sick, then it can help determine the cause of illness.


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