My Aquariums First cycle

[Ed3SJ]

Alright, i just recently purchased a 85 gallon aquarium that was used. Came with 2 Eclipse 3 filters, bio wheels, and new filters. Anyways, i probably got about 65-70 gallons in the tank maybe a little less seeing as i have rocks on one side that reaches to the very top for a small turtle. Anyways, i bought a test kit and did some reading on a tanks first cycle and i need your guys advice...

im on day 5 now and My readings are...

Ph 7.6 (as high as the test would read)
Ammonia - 4.0
Nitrite and Nitrate is 0

well looking threw the internet i never have had any of the same information, so i am asking you guys what should i do? i got some fish in there and they are acting normal.

Last night i did about a 25% water change and my ammonia levels didnt change!!! I would figure it would go down at least some... please tell me what my next step would be... just wait? get a ammonia neutralizer or a Ph Down.. i dont know.. thanks for the help!

[Zerileous]

okay:
A. what fish are in there now?
B. are you using test strips or a liquid test kit? The test strips are not acurate.

4.0 seems pretty high even for a cycle, but it oculd be okay depending on your fish.

Do not fudge with your pH. You will just wind up in a watter war where you will have ph fluctuations (which are even worse than high pH).

Ammonia neutralizer will just prolong the cycle.

It sounds like you know how a cycle works, but your Ammonia should drop while your nitrIte rises, then nitrIte will fall and nitrAte will rise.

patience is your friend

[Ed3SJ]

A. I got a 12" long Plecostomus, an 8 in Snook, 2 4in LargeMouth Bass, 2 Crawfish, a turtle and some small Platies.

B. Definitly using the liquid test, never strips

What do you think?

[Dave66]

Out of curiosity, what are you using to neutrilize the chlorine from your tap? Reason I ask is that many water companies are binding ammonia to clorine to keep the chlorine from easily outgassing. If you just use a product to eliminate clorine, the liberated ammonia could be your problem. To be sure, put some tap water in a container, use your neutrilzer, test the water, and if you see ammonia, there's your problem. There are several products that eliminate both.

Dave

[Chrona]

The ammonia released from chloramine may account for some of the readings, but the majority is still due to the waste from the large fish, since water companies typically only use 1 ppm chloramine. Your best bet at this stage is to see if you LFS can provide you with some ripe filter media (just have them squeeze a sponge filter into a plastic bag) to seed your new filters to give your bacteria a head-start. You would also have to do some large water changes (50+%) to get the ammonia down for the time being. Your second choice is to get some zeolite ammonia removing granules to bind the ammonia until bacteria population catches up. The third and best option is to get a bag of Biospira and be done with the whole deal.

No pH modifying products at this time either. Or heck, no need for them in the vast majority of cases.