4 week update..cycling with fish in..more questions

[rodzilla]

well been cycling4 weeks now with 3 mollies and the one died about 2 weeks ago..well she wasn't technically dead but she was swimming vertically for a few days then she was just floating on top by the filter so I removed her before she got the other guys sick...but the other 2 seem strong...hope I did the right thing with that fish??I try to test water everyday but I miss sometimes and I get the water changed every other day...

I use to get borderline .5 reading of ammiona after 2 days but the last couple tests have been like 1 a much darker shade of green??

why is this??

I started vaccuming the old food and looks like fuzzy balls that float around after a water change.. I assume this is moldy food???

should I be vaccuming the old food off the rocks??

how many more weeks should this cycle process normally take??

thanks for any replies

[Stlouisfish]

well been cycling4 weeks now with 3 mollies and the one died about 2 weeks ago..well she wasn't technically dead but she was swimming vertically for a few days then she was just floating on top by the filter so I removed her before she got the other guys sick...but the other 2 seem strong...hope I did the right thing with that fish??I try to test water everyday but I miss sometimes and I get the water changed every other day...

I use to get borderline .5 reading of ammiona after 2 days but the last couple tests have been like 1 a much darker shade of green?? You really need to change your water big time to lower that ammonia level so it is no higher than .25 - that alone could be killing your fish - I recommend 2 changes a day until you get a more healthy reading

why is this?? Because your tank is in the middle of cycling

I started vaccuming the old food and looks like fuzzy balls that float around after a water change.. I assume this is moldy food??? If you have that much old food in your tank you are overfeeding - you should only feed once a day at most and just enough for the fish to consume in 3 min - rotting food will add to your ammonia also

should I be vaccuming the old food off the rocks?? Vacuum all old food no matter where you see it or it will rot

how many more weeks should this cycle process normally take?? Cycling with fish takes longer than doing it without fish because you can't keep the ammonia level very high. There is also no "timetable" for how long it will take - it is done when your water parameters show it is cycled - 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites and 20ppm or less nitrats

thanks for any replies

Please see my responses in red

[Cliff]

+1 to the above response

When cycling with fish, you really need to complete water changes to keep your ammonia and/or nitrite levels at or below 0.25ppm

The is a link below in my sig that explains how to cycle with fish

[Slaphppy7]

^^ all great answers to your questions