# 33G setup 1 week ago and still no ammonia...



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

It's been 1 week that this tank has been running with only a 3" koi in it. Before I added the fish i had filter media from an established tank and then 2 days later i added the fish. I test the water everyday and ammo,nitrate and nitrite are all at 0. With one fish in the tank,will i get an ammonia spike or nitrite spike?
I already added 1 tbsp of salt .Whe i recieve the rhom should i add more salt? I'll keep a watch on water params to make sure everything is in check.


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

give it a few more days and you might get a ammonia read. thats a really small bioload so it may take longer for ammonia to buildup. no need to add more salt yet.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

when should i add it?


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

honestly with a bioload that low it should cycle fairly easy and not have to add anymore salt. just wait to change the water until after the cycle is done and your ok. the salt is only needed for the nitrite spike of the cycle. just on a side note i would move the koi when you add the rhom just incase you were planning on leaving it in there.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

AS fan said:


> honestly with a bioload that low it should cycle fairly easy and not have to add anymore salt. just wait to change the water until after the cycle is done and your ok. the salt is only needed for the nitrite spike of the cycle. just on a side note i would move the koi when you add the rhom just incase you were planning on leaving it in there.


If all the readings are always at 0 should i change the water in 2- 3 weeks from now anyway?
I was leaving the koi in there for the rhom. I'm not going to feed him feeders,but 1 koi won't hurt.


----------



## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

If your ammo doesn't go over 1-2ppm I wouldn't change the water at all until the cycle is over.

The salt is only needed for the nitrite spite and the subsequent nitrite poisoning. Nitrite poisoning is basically just a reduction in gill function because of the nitrites. It takes very little salt to fight this. If I remember right its only like 1 tablespoon per 300g. DonH has an article about salt somewhere. It's not a bad read, so you should go look it up. You will be amazed at everything salt can do.

One koi as a feeder won't hurt, but that one koi will more than double the bio load on your uncycled tank. Thats the biggest reason it should be removed.

DonH's salt sticky. <<< There's that article. IMO after your learn how a cycle works, reading this should be your next move.


----------



## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

if you used established media, you may not see any ammonia or nitrite... just a slow build up of nitrates


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

tested the water today and this is what i got:
PH 7.6
Ammo 0
Nitrite 0.5
Nitrate 5.0
What should i do next?
My 4" rhom is coming in on Monday! What should i do besides a water change?


----------



## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

don't do a water change... just leave things be until monday. once you get your fish, test your water again, if you are still showing nitrites, add a bit of salt and then acclimate your fish to the tank, he'll be fine. you are showing nitrates, which is good, but you are still showing a low nitrite reading, so water changes are only gonna slow the rest of the process.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

i already added 1 tbsp of salt last week.


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

just wait till monday and retest the water. the nitrites will pass quickly. your tank looks like it skipped a ammonia spike and went str8 to having a reading of nitrites this is most likely due to a low bioload which is fine. if you want you can even post the water params sunday night and we will comment further. but right now everything is fine just wait it out.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

AS fan said:


> just wait till monday and retest the water. the nitrites will pass quickly. your tank looks like it skipped a ammonia spike and went str8 to having a reading of nitrites this is most likely due to a low bioload which is fine. if you want you can even post the water params sunday night and we will comment further. but right now everything is fine just wait it out.


Ok,thanks ,will post params tomorow night!


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

So i tested the water today and this is what i got:
Ammo 0
Nitrate between 0 and 5,i would say 4. (this seems to be dropping)
Nitrite 1.0 (have gone up since yesterday)


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

wait it out. test again tomorrow about the same time. this is your best bet right now because the nitrites shouldnt stay up for too long and since your nitrates are so low right now you can afford to wait the cycle out. keep testing all of the params and you should see ammonia stay at 0 and nitrates should start to rise more. nitrites may keep going up but if your lucky they will be a little lower tomorrow.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Just received my rhom today and i just checked my water params and i got the same as last one.
Ammo 0
Nitrate between 0 and 5,i would say 4. 
Nitrite 1.
I'm acclimating my rhom right now should be done soon. Should i add salt or should i put the rhom inside when i'm acclimating him?


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

you dont need to add anymore salt yet because you havent changed the water yet. just acclimate the rhom and then feed it tomorrow just a little not too much. i would take out the other fish you had in the tank because your bioload just doubled if you leave them both in which will make your ammonia come up again and your nitrites go even higher.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I removed the other fish, now there's only the 6" rhom. I acclimated him for 2 hrs and when i put him in the tank , he was completely flat on his side. I guess that's due to stress from all the traveling. I turned off the lights and let him be for today, will check up on him in the morning.
Here's what he looked like in the bucket when lying on his side.








and other pics i took while he was in the bucket.


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

yea they do that behavior a lot of times. let us know how the little guy is doing. it looks great!


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I checked up on him this morning and he was swimming around. Gonna try feeding him tonight!


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

remember to feed a small amount. if he doesnt take to the food right away thats fine sometimes they are picky. since your tank is still trying to cycle be especially sure to stay away from the messy foods and oily foods.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I fed him earlier some bloodworm since it's the only food i have for him right now,will pick some up tomorrow. He didn't touch it while i was there.
I also checked the water params, i got:
Ammo 0
Nitrite 0.5
Nitrate 5.0
I have a question regarding test kits. When comparing colors with the charts,do you hold the tube against the color chart or do you hold it in front of it but not touching the chart? By touching the chart,it creates a shadow thus making the color in the tube seem darker ,therefore giving you a wrong reading.


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

I hold mine next to the card with my back to the light. bloodworms are really messy for a fish that big. get soem white fish fillets and shrimp and feed that. cleanup any uneaten food. your tank looks like its almost cycled.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

When should i do the first water change? When Nitrites/Nitrates go to 0? Can i just add water for now to make up for the water that was removed to acclimate my rhom?


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

So i've been feeding my rhom once a day,pick up scraps right after and today i added a 1.5"convict. The Ammo,nitrate and nitrite have gone up (not much)!!!!!
What should i do? Remove the convict?


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

i pmed you a response but to answer your other question. i would wait to do a water change for the ammonia and nitrites to reach 0 and stay at 0 for a couple days. if the nitrates raise pass 40 i would change the water as well when i am cycling a tank. feel free to top off any water that was lost to evaporation or from acclimating the rhom too. water changes dont hurt anything just makes it easier to cycle without changing water.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

so i checked the water params and got 0 ammo and 5.0 for nitrites. The nitrites have gone up a lot.
Should start dropping since i'm not feeding him till the cycle is over.


----------



## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

The salt in the tank should help with the nitrites, but they are getting pretty high. I would probably change out some of the water if it was my tank, especially since 5.0 is the top of the scale, and the nitrites could possibly be even higher than that.

Watch for signs of nitrite poisoning like the fish gasping for breath at the surface, floating in high current areas, acting lethargic, tan to brown colored gills, or rapid breathing.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Plowboy said:


> The salt in the tank should help with the nitrites, but they are getting pretty high. I would probably change out some of the water if it was my tank, especially since 5.0 is the top of the scale, and the nitrites could possibly be even higher than that.
> 
> Watch for signs of nitrite poisoning like the fish gasping for breath at the surface, floating in high current areas, acting lethargic, tan to brown colored gills, or rapid breathing.


I checked up on him earlier and there are no signs of rapid breathing,he swims around normally. It's hard to see the color of his gills cause the water in the tank is tea color caused by the drift wood. If they haven't dropped by tomorrow afternoon i will do a 20% water change.


----------



## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

1rhom said:


> The salt in the tank should help with the nitrites, but they are getting pretty high. I would probably change out some of the water if it was my tank, especially since 5.0 is the top of the scale, and the nitrites could possibly be even higher than that.
> 
> Watch for signs of nitrite poisoning like the fish gasping for breath at the surface, floating in high current areas, acting lethargic, tan to brown colored gills, or rapid breathing.


I checked up on him earlier and there are no signs of rapid breathing,he swims around normally. It's hard to see the color of his gills cause the water in the tank is tea color caused by the drift wood. If they haven't dropped by tomorrow afternoon i will do a 20% water change.
[/quote]

Sounds like you have it covered.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I just checked it this morning and nitrites seem to be dropping.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

wow,just checked my water params and the nitrites are almost 0 ,nitrates 5 and ammo at 0. Huge difference from yesterday.


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

keep a eye on things but that sounds about right. feels good to finally have a cycled tank i bet. just remember that when you make a change that increases the bioload such as leftover food it will cause your tank to have a mini cycle in some cases so periodically check in the future to make sure everything is in check once you verify your tank is cycled.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Just checked water params and all readings show 0 except for nitrates that are at 5. Can i feed regularly now?


----------



## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

Don't feed the hell out out of him, and be careful about uneaten food. Otherwise you can.


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

yea i agree with above. you can start to feed more regularly but dont go overboard. keep a eye on things. its still kind of wierd your nitrates are staying at 5 for this long with a nitrite spike like that.


----------

