Hello Everyone!

[fishlips28]

Hi!
I'm new in the fish world! gcnadam is my boyfriend. He helped me set up my tank. I started cycling my tank three weeks ago (fishless), and I'm still not showing any nitrites, so we put three platies in the tank. Anyone have any ideas why nothing is happening?

I'm wondering if maybe the reason is because I am using my Aunt's old tank...I haven't used anything to clean it besides water.

-Katelyn-

[jeffs99dime]

hi there adam's gf!!! welcome to a.c. what is your ammonia reading?

[Drumachine09]

Welcome to the A.C.

[Denorios]

you wouldn't probably want to clean the tank with anything besides water anyway. Cleaning solutions usually have components that aren't conducive to healthy fish. Welcome to the forum!

[jeffs99dime]

you can use bleach. you just have to dilute it 20-1. then rinse, rinse, rinse

[fishlips28]

My ammonia is between 0.5 and 1.0. I already have it cleaned, I was just letting you know that I didn't use anything harmful on the inside of the tank.

[AquaQueen]

Hi, Welcome to AC:11:

[Abbeys_Mom]

Welcome to the forum :)

[Nautilus29]

Hello kate!

[blue fin]

if your ammonia is that high the tank still hasn't cycled.. be sure to do a water change right away if there are fish in that tank....

[Nautilus29]

ya we know its not cycled. We where doing a fishless cycle for about 3 weeks and nothing happened at all. not a sign of nitrites. I could use the extra room at my house so I gave her my 3 platies to see if they would help, plus we added a bubble wand to get more oxygen in the water. also we did a water change before we put the plaites in the tank. I dont think she has checked it since then, but im sure the ammonias back up there.

[blue fin]

The O2 should help, good luck with cycling...

[DemonShark]

Welcome to AC I am a mod and will be pleased to help you with any tank or fish problems. I write articles on plants and also write on fish. I do aquascaping and other fish related arts. I also research on marine fish and brackish fish although I currently do not keep any I do keep freshwater so ask any questions about these water conditions. So please do ask any questions you need help on and feel free to email me or pm me. I also have a website at z10.invisionfree.com/WWFA so you can visit me there too if you like!

[kimmers318]

It has been a long time since I have done a fishless cycle, but I believe you want to take your ammonia levels up to 5.0 with whatever ammonia source you are using. Once you start seeing nitrites you should cut back on the amount of ammonia you are using by 1/2. It takes a long time for the ammonia eating bacteria to form, and using small amounts of ammonia will probably just take you longer. I could be a little wrong on some of these ideas, as I said, it has been a long time since I have had to deal with it. I have good luck with seeding new tanks from my other tanks.

[Slinky_Bass]

Hi Katelyn, gf of Adam, welcome to AC, where as Hobbs likes to put it: the fun never stops. Cool to have another fishkeeping couple on AC :)

[Severus]

Welcome to AC

[Sin]

welcome to AC!

[Incredulous_Ed]

Welocome to ac adam's gf

[fishlips28]

Yes..My ammonia is that high...the fish seem to be okay...I did a water change but it still doesn't change....is there anything that I can buy to make it go down? I checked it again...but ran out of some of my drops so it will probably be inaccurate -katelyn

[fishlips28]

Ok, i've tested my water...I didn't even put the last two drops in...and it's already more like 1.0..maybe a little more! So yea..the fish move like nothings wrong, they seem to look ok, but my ammonia is getting worse! What do I do??? Also, I was wondering...I have a bubblewand now, thanks to Adam...are they really that good for your tank?, are you supposed to keep it on 24/7?, and is there such a thing as too many bubbles, power wise? Ok, I'm clueless, please help if you have time! Thank You! -Katelyn

[Nautilus29]

yes you keep the bubble wand in for 24/7, and yours doesnt produce that much bubbles so you dont have to worry about anything. It will help out with your benificial bacteria, oxyegen is good for them. The platies seemed to be hardy fish, they made it through my cycle fine. If your ammonia is high just do a water change.

[Nautilus29]

Oh and it takes time to cycle a tank so dont worry so much.

[fishlips28]

Thanks Adam, but what percent of water am I suppose to change? 10, 25, 50...??? Anyone else have any other comments or opinions???

[blue fin]

as long as you are using a dechlorinator in your water if the water is hight in ammonia and you need to make a change try at least 30%, I routinely do 30-40% water changes, as long as the water you put back in is dechlorinated and the ph is similar to what you have in the tank you should be good.
best of luck!!

[Incredulous_Ed]

If you can do 50% weekly, your fish will really thrive!

[DemonShark]

Welcome to AC I am a mod and will be pleased to help you with any tank or fish problems. I write articles on plants and also write on fish. I do aquascaping and other fish related arts. I also research on marine fish and brackish fish although I currently do not keep any I do keep freshwater so ask any questions about these water conditions. So please do ask any questions you need help on and feel free to email me or pm me. I also have a website at z10.invisionfree.com/WWFA so you can visit me there too if you like!

[fishlips28]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone that has been helping me...I'll keep changing my water. We'll see what happens. I'll try to keep you posted. If anyone else has some great ideas, I'll definately take them! Thanks Again! -Katelyn-