starting over and couple questions

[julie3340]

Hi everyone!

well after losing 6 fish, I decided to pretty much start over! I have one peppered cory in the tank...he seems perfectly fine. I did a 50% water change 2 days ago and today i vacuumed the gravel and did a 20% water change. I also changed the filters....not the wheels correct? Those need to stay for the "good" bacteria.

My levels are pretty good except ammonia. I am sure they will come down tonight...gonna test again.

I don't want to get frustrated so any advice will help. Its been 3 weeks since we set up the tank and I will not add another fish till its perfect!!! =)

Thanks for any help =)

[angel_love]

Eeek don't change anything in the filter til the cycle is done. Instead put some tank water in a bucket and swish the filter media around in there to get the gunk off and put it back. I don't change my filters often, I just rinse them in tank water. When you change the filter you are removing good bacteria which you need to get your levels down during a cycle.

[julie3340]

and i should have NOT listened to the pet store, they told me that part is fine...just not the wheel!!! ugggh

[DrNic]

What type of fish did you lose and do you know why they died? How big is the tank? If your ammonia is up then you might be going through some kind of mini-cycle.

In a situation like this where you're 'starting over' but not completely stripping the tank the best thing to do is to get some kind of fish in the tank so you don't lose the cycle. Otherwise by the time things get to 'normal' and you add fish in later you'll get another ammonia spike and have to go through another cycle.

If it were me I would add a school of zebra danios to the tank. They are very hearty, generate a lot of waste and make great starter fish, they are also cheap. Once the tank is stable, probably 4 weeks or so, then you can start adding in other fish slowly.

[julie3340]

I lost 4 tiger barbs, and 2 angel fish... i have a 60 gallon tank.

So the Danios will be ok with the ammonia levels up?

I did change both filters...not the wheels (not sure of the correct term for them -) ...but hopefully i can get the cycle going again!

[julie3340]

i am sure they died because of the water quality....at the end, one had dropsy and the other had ich....=(

[imma24]

You're not going to have enough ammonia from 1 fish in a 60gal - any way you can bring back that lone fish and do a fishless cycle with ammonia...or as Dr.Nic suggested, get some hardy fish to add to what you have and just make sure you don't even clean the filter in used tank water while the tank is cycling.

Hopefully you have an adequate test kit to test for ammonia & nitrites and you need to make sure that if you keep fish in there you should keep the ammonia down to .25. If you choose to get rid of your last fish, you can read about fishless cycling in the beginners section.

[DrNic]

Yes danios can usually handle ammonia. They are one of the more common, and best choices for starter fish when cycling a tank. I always use them when starting a new tank.

[julie3340]

Ok, going get the Danios tomorrow, and keep the catfish in there....he really seems fine...been in there for 3 weeks. So DO NOT change the filters correct....even though i already did i wont change them again? How about vacuuming the gravel? Do i wait till the cycle is done? Wont it be pretty disgusting? and then when i do vacuum it, won't it stir up a lot of.....you know? lol

[julie3340]

How many Danios does everyone suggest?

[angel_love]

In a 60 gallon I would do 5-6 to start off with. And your gravel won't be that gross if you don't vacuum, just be careful not to over-feed. *whispers* ditch the danios when you are done cycling, they are psychotic.

[imma24]

Beneficial bacteria will also build up in your gravel and as angel love noted, it's overfeeding that makes your gravel yucky - rotting excess food & lotsa fishie poop.

Danios will enjoy the room in your tank - they chase each other all the time and are little piglets at feeding time - don't let them fool you into feeding them more than once a day : )