Cylcng problems

OSCARMANIAC

OSCARMANIAC

Small Fish
#1
Feb 4, 2012
10
0
0
NC
#1
FISH TANK.jpg


Good eve all.

Im new to the site and very excited about having a new resource. I have not had a fish tank in years and really miss my hobby. I now have the time and money. My plan is to start another Oscar tank 75 gallon + but knew I was going to need practice and start small. So right now, I have a 30 gallon fish tank with a Marineland penguin 350 with two bio filters, 300watt heater, large air stone, 1- 2inch placo, 2- 1/2 inch tiger barbs and 4- 1inch black skirts. I feed my placo a small veggi cap every other day and feed the others a pinch of tetra flake food once a day. I have been trying to cycle the tank for about three weeks now and have yet to see a nitrite spike. ph is 6.5, overall hardness is low, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates, ammonia was as high as 5ppm but is now between 1 and 2 ppm. I introduced special blend microbe lift and also some water/media from a friends HEALTHY established tank. I did however, make the big mistake of forgetting to turn the filter back on after doing the water change (wont be drinking during the next water change). Afraid that i may have killed whatever beneficial bacteria I may have started. Tank is pretty clear, fish dont appear to be stressed, pretty active, there are little tiny white dots/almost like what it looks like when you sneeze in a gleam of sunlight or dust in the air. I dont remember my other tanks ever taking this long. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I think that maybe, Im just being to impatient but who knows. All advice and any comments are appreciated, thanks!

Best Regards,

Doug
 

Kiara1125

Kiara1125

Superstar Fish
#2
Jan 12, 2011
1,142
0
0
Florida
#2
Hello, Doug. Are the white spots on your fish? It might be Ich. Also, do you have a Common Pleco? They can get very large. Basically, do about a 30% water change everyday to help cycle the tank faster, and just rinse your friend's filter media in your tank. It won't hurt their filter, but it will help your tank. Just be careful with your Tiger Barbs and Black Skirt Tetras. Since there are only two Barbs, they might go after your Tetras. You can also add live plants to your aquarium, not only to make it look appealing, but the plants will help in a 'silent cycle.' Plants love to suck up Nitrates and are a great addition to any tank. Good luck and welcome to the forum!!
 

OSCARMANIAC

OSCARMANIAC

Small Fish
#3
Feb 4, 2012
10
0
0
NC
#3
Thanks for the reply. No, there are no spots on any of the fish. I know ich all to well since one of the fish tanks that I had years ago, had a horrible outbreak. It just looks like dust particles floating around in the tank. Is this normal? Maybe a small bacteria bloom?
 

OSCARMANIAC

OSCARMANIAC

Small Fish
#4
Feb 4, 2012
10
0
0
NC
#4
Also, the placo will eventually go into my 75 gallon that I will be purchasing soon, he will be a tank mate with One Tiger Oscar. Oh, never done live plants, but will most deffinetly try that with this tank. May not do that with the oscar tank since my last oscar tank, "the Grouch" my oscar constantly pulled up the fake plants. dont want to do that with the real plants.
 

Kiara1125

Kiara1125

Superstar Fish
#5
Jan 12, 2011
1,142
0
0
Florida
#5
Hehe, your last Oscar had spunk. I have live plants in all of my tanks and my fish love it, my goldfish can be a problem, but they prefer peas rather than my plants. It's a good thing that you have everything figured out. It might be a bacterial bloom, but I don't really know. It sucks when you find pet hair, or your own, in the tanks sometimes. Ugh. :D If it's white it might be bacteria. I've never seen white dust particles. The only time I ever had Ich was in my Goldfish tank over the summer. It got 84 degrees in the tank daily. My Goldfish hated it, but they pulled through. With a little bit of Aquarium Salt, the Ich only survived for about 2 weeks. Now it's winter and even though I don't have a heater in the tank, it stays a constant 72. ...wow. I really ramble on don't I?? Sorry. :p
 

OSCARMANIAC

OSCARMANIAC

Small Fish
#6
Feb 4, 2012
10
0
0
NC
#6
No prob, all good stuff. I think that it is a bacterial bloom, lol at least I hope so.... I wanna make sure that I got this stuff down before I get the big one. Guess I was just looking for the reassurance. Cant wait to get some neons for the 30, they really brighten up a tank.
 

lauraf

lauraf

Superstar Fish
#8
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
#8
Cycling can take weeks. Be patient. Do daily water changes while you are showing any ammonia, and you might want to check your tap water to see if it shows an ammonia reading too - some tap water contains chloramine, which gives a 'false' ammonia reading.
Welcome to the forum!
Cheers,
Laura
 

OSCARMANIAC

OSCARMANIAC

Small Fish
#9
Feb 4, 2012
10
0
0
NC
#9
Yea I did test the tap water and there is about 1 ppm of ammonia. But I condition the water prior to placing in the tank and I test the water prior to placing it in there. It's still looming around 1ppm to 2ppm of ammonia in the tank. Guess it's just taking a while. Still no nitrites though
 

OSCARMANIAC

OSCARMANIAC

Small Fish
#11
Feb 4, 2012
10
0
0
NC
#11
That's the funny thing, I was thinking of the same possibility. No nitrites and really low nitrates! Never saw a spike in nitrites. Fish appear to be healthy, water crystal clear, no foul smells. Ph is a little low, bout 6.0-6.5 and water is very soft. What are your thoughts and would u tinker with anything or test / try anything else? Thanks!
 

lauraf

lauraf

Superstar Fish
#12
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
#12
If you used gunk from an established tank, you could have instant-cycled, which is kind of the point of doing that, so, well, mission accomplished! Test your water frequently for a while longer just to make sure you don't get any spikes though.
 

O

OrangeCones

Elite Fish
#13
Feb 27, 2009
4,395
0
36
#13
OSCARMANIAC said:
That's the funny thing, I was thinking of the same possibility. No nitrites and really low nitrates! Never saw a spike in nitrites. Fish appear to be healthy, water crystal clear, no foul smells. Ph is a little low, bout 6.0-6.5 and water is very soft. What are your thoughts and would u tinker with anything or test / try anything else? Thanks!
Click to expand...
This link may ease your mind a bit. Ammonia Toxicity

If you know your ammonia reading (Total Ammonia), and the pH and water temperature, this will show how much of the ammonia is free ammonia (toxic type) and how much is bound ammonia (ammonium - much less toxic).

I agree with lauraf that you may have already completed the nitrogen cycle. You should see your ammonia drop to nothing soon, and the nitrates starting to climb if so, so that will be confirmation.
 

OSCARMANIAC

OSCARMANIAC

Small Fish
#14
Feb 4, 2012
10
0
0
NC
#14
Hey thank you all for all of your insight. It was all very helpful. Im so glad that I signed up for this. My tank is most def cycled. It looks fantastic!!! The weekend following this, I will be getting the big tank and couldn't be more excited. Will post pics and will be adding a few neons and maybe a cory for my 30 gallon. Hey, can ya'll tell me how your able to show your tank size and fish at the end of every post. Thanks.
 

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