cycle???
- Thread starter meagheavz
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i just googled fish tank cycle.....my fish place arent going to take the fish back they know that they been in a tank with really high ammo...my ammowas at 1ppm then shot up to 4ppm and i think it went higher maybe even to 8ppm. and i think..is my tank ever going to cycle really. starting over be a big pain in the butt
well starting over with a fishless cycle from my understanding is that it won't take as long as with fish. my 55 took around 3 weeks to cycle compleatly through and I hear that a fishless cycle is half that time. even shorter if u get biospira to treat the water during the cycle. bio spira jump starts the bactiria growing in the tank.
yes, your tank will cycle as it is right now. You just need to be patient and let nature do its thing. You need to keep up on water changes whenever you see the nitrites or ammonia over about 1ppm and after awhile things will level out and you'll be seeing 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and only have to do water changes once a week or so.
see this is where im lost some say to water changes and i did and it didnt get better... some people said dont cuz then im taking out the the stuff thats making my take cycle then its starting over again in away..ive done water cahnges if not ever other day to a few days and well my ammo just gets on getting higher so im gonna stop, nad just let the tank do its thing cuz the ater cahges didnt do anything
A fish-in cycle traditionally takes longer than a fishless cycle...because in a fishless cycle you dont have to worry about doing water changes for the health of your fish. If your water changes didn't "do anything" as far as moving the numbers on your test kits then either the numbers are higher than they look, or you just know that your test kit is not as precise as it would lead you to believe. If you do a 50% water change, you will have half as much ammonia, nitrite, nitrate as was in the tank before the change.
If you stop doing water changes, you are essentially sentencing your poor fish to death. A level of 4ppm or higher of ammonia is definitely toxic levels and will burn the fishes gills and eventually kill them. Obviously, this is inhumane and cruel. It may seem like your water changes aren't making a difference, but trust me, they are. Your tank will not finish cycling if you kill off all your fish by stopping water changes. Yes, it will take a lot of water changes to bring down those high ammonia levels, but you really need to do them. As I've said on other threads, do one huge 75-80% water change on your tank, wait an hour, measure the levels again, and depending on the levels do another huge water change until those levels get down to safe levels. (Under 1ppm). Don't give up on your fish, you're all they have to depend on. When your cycle is over, it gets a LOT easier. So hang in there.
I did fish-in cycles with my first tanks. In order to save what's left of your fish, you must be diligent with the water changes.
There were times during the cycle that I was doing water changes EVERYDAY in order to keep the ammonia and/or nitrite at or below 1 ppm. If you skip days, the result will be dead fish.
My cycle took about 6 weeks, but all the work was well worth it in the end. I actually enjoyed watching the color of the test kit tubes changing (weird, I know).
Only fish I lost during the cycle was a cory (because I was very new at this and a lfs sold me the cory knowing I was going to be cycling the tank
). Plus, I should've done my homework and read up on cycling before buying the fish . Had I known about this site then, I certainly would have!
Good luck.....you can do it!!!
There were times during the cycle that I was doing water changes EVERYDAY in order to keep the ammonia and/or nitrite at or below 1 ppm. If you skip days, the result will be dead fish.
My cycle took about 6 weeks, but all the work was well worth it in the end. I actually enjoyed watching the color of the test kit tubes changing (weird, I know).
Only fish I lost during the cycle was a cory (because I was very new at this and a lfs sold me the cory knowing I was going to be cycling the tank
). Plus, I should've done my homework and read up on cycling before buying the fish . Had I known about this site then, I certainly would have!Good luck.....you can do it!!!
I would NOT listen to fish store employee advice, that's one of the first things you should learn. Personally, I think that advice is BS. If you stop doing water changes, you'll be murdering your fish if you haven't already. Yeah, it's going to take a LOT of water changes to get your tank to where it should be, but you know what, you got your poor fish into this mess and YOU alone are capable of getting them out of it alive. DO those water changes. If you don't, you will also be stopping your cycle because all of your fish will die.
Yeah, it's going to suck and be a lot of work, but the advice to "just stop doing them because it's not changing anything" is completely crazy. It will ruin your cycle and kill your fish if you do NOT get on those water changes NOW.
Yeah, it's going to suck and be a lot of work, but the advice to "just stop doing them because it's not changing anything" is completely crazy. It will ruin your cycle and kill your fish if you do NOT get on those water changes NOW.
well, when i did all the water changes that you guys said to do, thats when all my fish died 7 of them..since ive stopped they havent.. my fish store is pretty good they've been open 30 years.. a old married couple..but my friend who has 7 tanks, said to just stop,there is no way i should change 50% of the water and it goes up to 8ppm....if the fish die they die thats why you buy cheap ones..im just gouing to let the tank do its thing, i mess with it changing water everyday putting stuff and it its gotten worse not better, so im going to let it sit and let it do its thing to fix its self...
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Well, you gotta do what you want whether we agree or not.
Just thought I would mention, in case you try to do this again, that I think your ammonia got out of control because you were not doing daily water changes. You mentioned you were doing them every other day or every few days. That wasn't enough to keep the ammonia under control. Sure the cycle takes longer with keeping the level below 1, but that's what saves the fish.
I don't remember what your size tank is, but it's also possible that if you had less fish in there, it would've been easier to keep that ammonia under control.
See if your friend, that has 7 tanks, can give you some of his filter media to help your tank.
Just thought I would mention, in case you try to do this again, that I think your ammonia got out of control because you were not doing daily water changes. You mentioned you were doing them every other day or every few days. That wasn't enough to keep the ammonia under control. Sure the cycle takes longer with keeping the level below 1, but that's what saves the fish.
I don't remember what your size tank is, but it's also possible that if you had less fish in there, it would've been easier to keep that ammonia under control.
See if your friend, that has 7 tanks, can give you some of his filter media to help your tank.
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