Cycling help

[Catswinnie]

Hi All

I hope someone can help me. After some bad advice from my LFS i am cycling with fish (5 zebra danios in 32g tank, I now know this is a bad idea). it has been cycling for about 3 weeks now almost 4. I have been testing my water with an API master test kit and today just tested and PH 7.2 ammonia 0 but nitrites sky high. Is this normal? and if not what can i do to help lower the levels? would never have started to cycle with fish if i had read the forums first :-(. Any help would be greatly appreciated,

[gadget228]

This thread and a water change is what you need,

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aqua...ad.php?t=36492

[Catswinnie]

what volume of change and how frequent - im sorry to be pestering

[gadget228]

Since your are cycling with fish water changes will depend on your tank parameters, you want to keep the ammonia, nitrite and nitrates levels low. Check your parameters daily and if you see the levels raising above the safe level do a water change. For me, water changes are once a week with 50% of the water being changed out.

[Cermet]

Your situation does not allow for "standard" water changes (WC) until (like gaget228 said), you achieve safe levels. You have an emergency situation for the fish now and they are in danger - you must reduce the nitrites (they are nitrites, not nitrates?) to safe levels (under 0.25 ppm.) Do what ever WC will achieve that level - for example, if you have 1.0 ppm nitrite, than an 80% WC is in order (drop levels to 0.2 ppm.) Of course, by the very next day your levels (nitrite) might now be well over the 0.25 ppm limit, so do the required WC to get them down again. Continue to do required WC to keep these rather toxic waste to safe levels until the cycle completes. You should consider salt (1 tsp/10 gal) and extra oxygen since the fish's gill's are hurting with high nitrites.

If they are nitrates, then relax, only well above 30 ppm is considered an issue. Weekly WC as posted will work fine for those (do when cycled.)

[Catswinnie]

okay gonna do a big water change now, i have got 1 large and one small aire stone in the tank is that enough oxygen or do i need more??

[imma24]

What you have in your tank now seems fine unless you have a really big tank. I have a nice sized airstone in my 46 gal and it adds adequate oxygen. Plus your filter is probably adding to it also.

I've done larger water changes for my tank also (twice a day if needed) if I had an ammonia spike, for example, and needed to bring it down right away. Danios are considered good fish for cycling anyway, but it's important as gadget228 said to keep an eye on your readings and change the water before your levels become too high.

[Lady Hobbs]

I would think it would be important to know what "sky high" nitrites were? I mean, sky high to one could be barely elevated levels and to another it might be 40.

This is where numbers count. As gadget states, water changes depend on what those numbers are.

Cycling 32 gallons with 5 danios was fine. Nothing was wrong with that advice.

[Catswinnie]

Hi Everyone

Just a quick note to say thanks for all your help i did the water changes as advised and tested yesterday and this morning and my levels on both tests were as follows:

PH 7.4
NH3/NH4 : 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 10ppm