more noob cylclig

[pigpen]

so an update to what has been going on in my tanks.i have moved the tigerbarbs and columbians to the 10 gallon and everything is so far so good with that.i tested for amonia and there is less than 0.5 ppm.last time i checked i have left my test kit at my girlfriends so i dont have any current measurements just going off os tests done about 3 days ago.ph is also good in the 10 so i assume it will begin to start cycling sometime soon.the 45 gallon has started to come. i went and bought a gravel siphon and a few buckets to make water changes nice and easy and have been doing 25% waterchanges to keep the amonia down.it was around 4 last time i measured.considerably better than the 6 it was when i bought the test kits.i intend to buy some nitrate nitrite test kits when the store opend up again it is in the process of moving to a bigger store and has closed for about a week.after todays waterchange the water went cloudy.not overly cloudy just a misty.i have also been using api stress zyme and ammolock.along with nutrafin clyle.i have only used the cycle one time and am not too sure if i should continue. so i guess what im asking here is am i going down the right road or am i setting up for bigger problems?.ill get the test kits as soon as possible to get you guys and gals exact up to date info on everything.again any info is better than none. Thanks.if you need more info i can give it to you too.im not sure what info you need exactly.i have also added aeration and put raised the temperature to 79

 

[1077]

I will share what I would do in your situation. I would get test kit from girlfriends house,it ain't doin you any good there. I would purchase a water conditioner that clearly says that it detoxifies,, AMMONIA,CHLORINE, and CHLORAMINES. the conditioner used by many for this is PRIME. I would test the water in tanks with fish Daily for ammonia. I would change 20 to 30 percent daily if needed to keep ammonia levels at zero ,no higher than .25. according to your test kit. At each water change, I would add the PRIME water conditioner to the new water BEFORE it goes in the aquarium. I would not use any other products other than the PRIME water conditioner. I would try and make new water close to same temperature as water in the aquarium. I would feed the fish ONCE every day and only a tiny amount to help keep ammonia levels manageable. Excess food on the bottom = AMMONIA which kills fish. I would also go back and read MissFishy's article on cycling a aquarium to help me understand better what the tank MUST go through during the maturing or (cycling).
Did you leave the test kit at girlfriends house because she too has an aquarium? If so how long has it been up and running?

 

[Matt Nace]

I also agree with what 1077 said above. I would not add aything except the Water condtioner such as Prime.

 

[jo3olous]

What is your added aeration? Bubblestones do not count. The only useful aeration sources are your hang on back filter, and power heads. Both create surface agitation. Bubble stones just sprinkle bubbles into the water*twirlysmi

Sounds like your using a lot of chemicals, which is really unecessary sometimes. In your case, I would only be adding dechlorinator to the water for your water changes (add dechlor before putting water in tank). The other chemicals are supposed to provide ammonia for the tank, or "Cycle" it, but IMO it's all BS. If your tank had 0 fish, then you would need some kind of artificial bacteria to get the tank going. Since you are doing a fish-in cycle, the fish provide all you need thus the chemicals are just complicating your situation.

Nice selection of fish btw, sounds like your doing a lot of right things but i seriously disagree with bala sharks in a 45G. They need something more like 125G, so expect to be giving those away when they grow to be a foot, or rehoming them. ID Sharks are also not from the home aquaria, they just get way too big. I don't know if you know about them or if you just saw it in the store and liked them, but they should not even be bought in stores. Your ID shark can grow 2-4 feet, and can literally bust your tank walls. Your pleco will also need a 75G+ tank at adult size.
Here's a link for your ID shark: Iridescent Shark Catfish, Pangasius Catfish

gl hope this helps

 

[pigpen]

woke up this morning and the tank was so cloudy and murkey you couldnt see into it.immediatly started waterchange and am going over to get test kits as soon as that is complete.ive never had a tank get this out of hand before.i might have to take the fish back to the lfs until i can get this nuke under control

 

[jo3olous]

woke up this morning and the tank was so cloudy and murkey you couldnt see into it.immediatly started waterchange and am going over to get test kits as soon as that is complete.ive never had a tank get this out of hand before.i might have to take the fish back to the lfs until i can get this nuke under control

bacterial bloom? i would recommend taking the id shark back. the pleco is a slow grower, it will take quite a few years to reach adult size anyway. The balas grow relatively fast, but they only grow to be about 1foot long.

btw, everything but the pleco, and possibly the bala sharks depending on how fast they grow are fish food for your ID shark.

 

[MissFishy]

If the "murky" water was a milky color, that's actually a good thing. It's called a bacteria bloom and means your tank is cycling. It clears up by itself within a few days.

 

[pigpen]

yes the water is a milky murkey color.i did another water change today attempting to bring the amonia levels down.thay are off the charts and will not come down.i did over 75% water change with zero decrease in amonia.so im not sure where to go now.do i keep it running and hope for it to run its course or do i need to completly drain it and maybe try a fishless cycle?im running out of ideas this amonia is outta control and the fish store guys dont know a damn thing

 

[DesignsOnYou]

Don't drain it yet. If you did a 75% water change and your ammonia didn't decrease, it seems to me like it's one of two problems 1. Your test is wrong. This could be either just a crappy test kit, you not following the directions, or an old or expired test. 2. There's ammonia in your tap water. You should test your tap water and see what levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate you're starting out with. There's almost 4 ppm of ammonia in my tap water, so I let all my water sit out overnight with Prime in it before I do a water change. This gives the Prime time to do whatever it does to "neutralize" the ammonia. Have you tested your tap water?

 

[bmoraski]

Don't drain it yet. If you did a 75% water change and your ammonia didn't decrease, it seems to me like it's one of two problems 1. Your test is wrong. This could be either just a crappy test kit, you not following the directions, or an old or expired test. 2. There's ammonia in your tap water. You should test your tap water and see what levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate you're starting out with. There's almost 4 ppm of ammonia in my tap water, so I let all my water sit out overnight with Prime in it before I do a water change. This gives the Prime time to do whatever it does to "neutralize" the ammonia. Have you tested your tap water?

Ditto ! lol
after 75% water change there should be a difference in amonia level
and what test kit are you using ?

 

[MissFishy]

If the ammonia test is through the roof, your test may just be reading as high as it will go. It will really stink, but I suggest doing continuous 75% water changes. Maybe 5 total (after checking to make sure your tap water has 0.0 ammonia, this will also make sure your test kit is correct). Fish can't survive at those levels of ammonia, so you'll need to decide what to do ASAP.

 

[1077]

I might be tempted to purchase PRIME water conditioner as opposed to stresszyme. It is much more effective . If ammonia levels are "through the roof" then fish would perish in a matter of hours. If fish are not gasping at surface , I would want second opinion on water test results. Some strip style tests can,,(do) give inaccurate results.

 

[pigpen]

okay heres whats goin on now.went out and bought a nutrafin mini master test kit and my readings are as follows...ph 6.7 ammonia 1.2 mg/L 0.00 when chart is used with ph results...Nitrite 0.3 mg/L Nitrate 5 mg/L water temp is 81 F.i think she is starting to cycle

 

[pigpen]

tested tapwater and results are zero for everything.ph is 7.5