Cycling Stores Online
new tank question, please some help on cycling?
ok my tank has been running almost two weeks, only three days after having water in the tank the pet store said it was good to add fish so i did, six fish. chilichds to be exact. They are all still alive and i have been testing but the ammoinia is always says 0.5 and the nitrate is .5 and nitate is 20 and water hard with 0-40 akaliinity, and PH 7.4. I have learned from reading online that you shouldnt add fish until like a month after cycling, so i amconfused did the pet store steer me the wrong way? I dont want my fish to die so please what can i do to make sure the tank cycles without killing my chilchds? I did do one water change as they told me to do as well one week after adding the water
There are several ways to get the cycle established in a new tank.
What you are doing is cycling the tank with fish. That will be OK as long as you keep an eye on things. It’s not the best method, but it works. If the levels have only come up that much after 10 days then the tank must be fairly large compared to the size of your fish, thats a good thing.
The tank will not cycle untill there is a source of ammonia in there, so unless you do a full fishless cycle adding pure ammonia or fish food, then nothing happens untill you add some fish.
Just keep an eye on those ammonia and nitrite levels. If they go higher, do a partial water change to lower the levels. They will go down on their own in time once the cycle is established. You just dont want them to get too high and kill your fish before that happens. Partial water changes (if needed) are the best way to ensure your fish survive. If you do too many water changes it will do no harm to your fish, but the cycle may take a bit longer to establish.
I think the problem is that explaining the nitrogen cycle and fishless cycling to the average beginner fishkeeper (no offence intended) just causes a glazed look to form in their eyes. Telling people to just add a few fish at first, do some water changes and wait a few weeks is much simpler.
Good Luck
Ian
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