# My First cycle.



## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

Okay, I dont think I am having a normal cycle. This is what I have, and the readings I have taken. I will update this thread every time I test my water.

30 gallon tank
Aquaclear 50 filter

August 31st.
Added 10 Zebra Danio's
pH - 7.6
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

September 5th (5 days)
Lost 3 fish....still have 7 Zebra Danio's
pH - 7.6
Ammonia - .125 (between 0 and .25)
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

September 8th (8 days)
Added 6 fish -3 long fin danio's, and 3 priscillas? (clear / yellow fish) Total of 13 fish. 
pH - 7.6
Ammonia - .125
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

September 11th. (11 days)
Lost 1 long fin Danio - 12 fish left
pH - 7.6
Ammonia - .25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

Is it normal for it to take this long?? 2 weeks and still VERY low ammonia. I have gone to feeding them more than they can eat 3 times a day to add to the waste. I have been adding water as it evaporates, but I have not taken any water, rocks, plants, or filter media out at all.

I'm dying to get some fish in there that i actually like.


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

Your tank will be fully cycled when your numbers look something like this:
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - .25 ppm


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

Coldfire said:


> Your tank will be fully cycled when your numbers look something like this:
> Ammonia - 0 ppm
> Nitrite - 0 ppm
> Nitrate - .25 ppm


I know that. I dont think I can possibly be on track with a 4-6 week cycle time like everyone says. It's been almost 2 weeks and I have next to no ammonia. Should I be feeding more, or are the danios and priscillas not good fish to cycle, does that matter at all?


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## timmy (Mar 29, 2004)

WHen i cycled my old tank it took 6 weeks which then i got inpatciant and bought some bio spira!


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Try feeding the fish more, and ask if someone is willing to donate some filter media to you to speed it up, or buy a bag of biospira. Also once the cycle kicks in it doesnt take long to start. Mine would always take around 2 weeks after i was getting no3
Also have you taken your water to a lfs to test?
Just to get a second opinion, and to double check your test kit.
By the way which brand test kit are you using?
No strips, They are too unrelyable and most times are wrong or way off.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

I have started feeding them 3 times a day, and I feed them more than they can eat each time. My LFS does not carry Bio Spira. I"m using Aquarium Px master freshwater kit. I'll run somr of my water by the LFS tonight if I can make it home in time....thanks for the help guys. I will update soon.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

Okay things have changed! I scolded my LFS for not carrying Bio Spira, and they got it in today! $9 for 1oz. So now I have a few questions about BioSpira. I have 12 fish in the tank, do I have to take them out before I add the bio spira? Does it make any difference in how the bio spira works since I started a cycle with fish? Finally, I just put the BioSpira in and in 24 hours its done? So I will show nitrates in 24 hours? Should I do my first cleaning / water change after 24 hours with bio spira but before I add my permanent fish??


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Add it with the fish in there, I would let the filter age a couple more days.
Just add one fish at a time when you are ready for p's. wait a couple weeks before you add the next one, and so on and so on.
That way you wont shock your system so bad.
Might be worth it to buy some zeolites from an lfs. Black diamond has one mixed with carbon. That way you have an insurance if you do get an ammonia spike you can address it.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

I'm actually not setting this tank up for P's. I'm going to get a few Dent's in a 125 in December. For this 30 I am going with dwarf puffers. I know they are sensitive to water conditions, I plan on getting 6-7 of them.


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Well puffers are pretty cool, One of the most personal of the fish.
Same deal though, They are messy eaters, and can create alot of waste.
MONITOR perameters closly.
Congrats on the new tank.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

Raptor said:


> Well puffers are pretty cool, One of the most personal of the fish.
> Same deal though, They are messy eaters, and can create alot of waste.
> MONITOR perameters closly.
> Congrats on the new tank.


Thanks, I'm super excited! I've only ever kept one fish tank before...it was a 10 gallon Wal-Mart kit. The "Fish Expert" told me the 15 fish I picked out would fit in it fine, and all I had to do was fill it with bottled water and throw the fish in, so I did....they died. Now I am older, and wiser.....and looking forward to keeping a nice tank.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

So....another noob question. I have the 12 fish in the tank, and I am currently pulling a .25 ammonia reading after 12 days of the cycle using fish. I am still at 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate.

Is that enough Ammonia for the Bio Spira to grow?


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## LGHT (Nov 9, 2005)

oOMPHOo said:


> Okay things have changed! I scolded my LFS for not carrying Bio Spira, and they got it in today! $9 for 1oz. So now I have a few questions about BioSpira. I have 12 fish in the tank, do I have to take them out before I add the bio spira? Does it make any difference in how the bio spira works since I started a cycle with fish? Finally, I just put the BioSpira in and in 24 hours its done? So I will show nitrates in 24 hours? Should I do my first cleaning / water change after 24 hours with bio spira but before I add my permanent fish??


Glad you finally got a hold of some Bio-Spira!! You probably won't have to wait much longer, but since you have been trying to cycle for a while now I would call marineland and speak to one of their guys.

Bio-Spira only makes the water safe to add fish after 24 hours. So it may still cycle for a day or 2. With your readings, I would say your probably have a day after the bio is added at most, but hey call Marineland and get expert advice I've called them once or twice and they where always glad to help as long as you have good readings your set!


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

Okay, I just retested. I have minor changes:

pH- 7.6
Ammonia - .5 (solid)
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

The LFS only got 3oz packs of Bio Spira in today. I only need 1oz, so i am waiting until thursday to get that. That way I can build up a little more ammonia for the Bio Spira to feast on, and I wont be buying more than I need.

Dwarf puffers by Sunday......hopefully?!?!?

Also no one seems to have an answer for wether or not I will see a Nitrate reading 24hrs after the Bio Spira is added? If it speeds up the cycle i am assuming I should read 0 - 0.25 Ammonia, and 0 nitrite, with some nitrate 24hrs after the Bio Spira is added....right?


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## LGHT (Nov 9, 2005)

You will see a spike than it will go to all zero on all readings and stay stable. You can wait to get the bio, and just toss the fish in a few hours later. Your water isn't that bad so they should be ok.


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## nelsong6969 (Jul 26, 2004)

hmm i would say just get bio spira and get the fish you want but since puffers are sensative i wouldnt do that. but i would make sure the small cycle fish you have now are enough because i used 6 and my readings seemed good then i added my piranha and got nitrite readings for a little while but now it seems good again


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

Thanks for the help guys! This is the plan as of now, and as always it is subject to change. I've got 13 small fish in the tank now, I plan on leaving them in there until friday night. Thursday afternoon I am adding the Bio Spira with the existing fish. I'll let it run with the fish and the Bio Spira until friday night, then I am going to pull out the starter fish and let it run empty until Monday. As long as my water tests okay I will add the puffers monday.

Is 24 hours enough time for the Bio Spira to colonize? Should I leave the fish in as an ammonia source? I planned on taking them out because the puffers are so sensitive, but I'm not sure that it is necessary.


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## nelsong6969 (Jul 26, 2004)

i would leave them in because without an ammonia source the bio spira will start to die


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

nelsong6969 said:


> i would leave them in because without an ammonia source the bio spira will start to die


It wont harm the puffers if the other fish are in the tank right up until the time I bring the puffers home? I guess not! I feel like I am 12 and it's Christmas eve.........


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## nelsong6969 (Jul 26, 2004)

i dont see why it would, i left my danios in when i got my piranha and he just ate all of them till they were gone. but i dont really know much about puffers i just heard since they dont have scales they are sensitive to the water parameters, so i guess if it tests alright when the fish are in there then it should be safe for the puffers


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

UPDATE: 9/14 - 2 weeks into Cycle.

So exactly 2 weeks ago i set up my tank, and began the cycle with fish. I just added 1oz of Bio Spira.

Right before adding the Bio Spira my water was:

pH - 7.6
Ammonia - 1
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

I poured the Bio Spira directly over my filter's media while it was running. I still have the 12 fish in there as an ammonia source. I will update tomorrow, as the package says 24 hours will do the trick, so we will see.


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## LGHT (Nov 9, 2005)

If your puffers are sensitive I would wait a little longer. As long as you have some fish in the tank to attribute to the amonia there is no rush. Although you can add fish 24 hours after the bio, the cycle isn't complete so sensative fish may not do well.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

24 hours after adding BioSpira this is what I have:

pH - 7.6
Ammonia - .5
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate -0

ARGHHHH!


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

Here is a picture of my tank. The large coral in the center has an air hose built into it, and I had the aerator running into that. It looked cool with the bubbles coming from the coral....but, I guess it filled with air and it floated to the top. Once the cycle is done i am going to screw it to plexiglass and bury it...lol.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

Okay I'm 16 days into the cycle, and 42-43 hours after adding Bio Spira.

pH - 7.6
Amonia - .75
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

Why is nothing happening? I had no ammonia rise at all, it never went over 1.0. Then I added the Bio Spira and nothing has changed. I have never since day 1 had and nitrites or nitrates. Any ideas? I feel like i'm running on a treadmill.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

This is the test i took 43 hours after i added the Bio Spira.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

72-75 hours after Adding Bio Spira, and 17 days into the cycle.

Ammonia - 1.0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

No help here guys? I know what my water should be doing, but it doesnt seem to be doing anything. With the constant feedings, and the fish producing waste my Ammonia should be going up, but it is not. With all the ammonia I should have some Nitrites by now (18 days into cycle), but I have 0 Nitrites. The Bio Spira was added 4 days ago and it hasn't changed anything, ammonia did not fall, nitrites and nitrates are still the same as before the Bio Spira. The LFS had it in a refridgerator too. i'm not losing anymore fish, they dont appear to have any kind of ammonia burn, and they are all VERY active. There is no where I can get filter media from, I dont know anyone else with a tank and the LFS said they won't give or sell me any. What do I do?


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## carmenohio (Sep 5, 2006)

Hey, sorry about your issues. I am setting up a 75 gallon here shortly and do appreciate the constant updates. My first question is where did u get that test kit and was it expensive? Keep up the updates im sure it will be very valuable to other new members who are trying to set up a new tank and the lfs doesnt even know what a cycle is. Good luck i hope you can put your fish in soon.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

OhioStatePiranha said:


> Hey, sorry about your issues. I am setting up a 75 gallon here shortly and do appreciate the constant updates. My first question is where did u get that test kit and was it expensive? Keep up the updates im sure it will be very valuable to other new members who are trying to set up a new tank and the lfs doesnt even know what a cycle is. Good luck i hope you can put your fish in soon.


I got the test kit from Petsmart, it is about $30....BUT if you go to petsmart.com and find the online price (around $14) and print out that page your local Petsmart will give it to you for that price.

I am hoping this will help someone, when I set up my tank I knew what SHOULD happen, but it was all still very confusing. Then the Bio Spira is a whole different story, it's talked about like it works miracles, and im not seeing it. At least when my cycle is done you will be able to see exactly how it went, and what the Bio Spira did (if anything).


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

September 20th. - 20 days into cycle.

Ammonia - 1
Nitrite - .5
Nitrate - 5

It's been 6 days since I added Bio Spira. I really dont think it made a difference. At least I have some good bacteria now. I will update as it changes.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

Okay once things started going they really started moving fast. i now have lots of changes in my water. These are the results of my latset tests:

September 22nd - 22 days into cycle

pH - 7.6
Ammonia - 1
Nitrite - 1
Nitrate - 10


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

September 27th (27 Days into Cycle)

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - .25
Nitrate - 10

i am almost done with my cycle....I have the cash for my fish in had, and now that i am so close it's killing me to not go buy them!


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## carmenohio (Sep 5, 2006)

I used the fishless cycle in the saved topics for my tank. I had a nitirite reading in 4 days, It worked really well, just for future reference. I also tried a bottle bacteri booster called cycle and it didnt really do anything so i understand.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

Okay....now I'm stumped!

September 29th. (29 Days into cycle)

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

How is this possible? I have had Nitrates for the last 2 weeks or so, and now they are gone. This is the first test I have taken where I had no Ammonia or Nitrites, but now my nitrates are gone too. any ideas? ami ready for fish? Did my cycle fail? How can this be?


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

Some of the nitrate test kits can be anal. Be 100% sure you are following them to the letter.

What do you have in the AQ50 for biomedia?

If you are going to stock that tank decently, you may go through a minicycle when adding the new fish, due to an increase in the bioload, because a 1PPM ammonia spike is nothing.

Next time go fishless, it is much more controlled, and allows you to build up a much larger bio-capacity quicker.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

Okay well I did my first water change / cleaning. I replaced about 7 gallons, and added a few more plants. I ordered 10 puffers, 5 spotted, and 5 figure 8's, they will be here tomorrow. I am going to retest my water tonight and I will post the readings. I found it weird that I had ni Nitrates, but the LFS said that was fine, and told me that as long as I had an ammonia and nitrite spike and they are both now at 0 then I was fine to add fish. .

My last readings were: September 30th - 30 days into cycle.

pH - 7.6
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 2.5ish (between 0 and 5)

I still havet he 12 fish in it for now...hopefully I show a few more nitrates before I add the puffers.


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## carmenohio (Sep 5, 2006)

Just glad it worked out for you man,i think that was frustrating me just as much as you. I am trying to get two tanks up and running right now and doing the same stuff.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

October 5th. (35 days from start.)

My fish are supposed to be here today....finally. I haven't checked my water since the last update, but I will check it tonight before I add the puffers. I will update with pictures, and test results tonight.

Stay Tuned.


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## nemo the piranha (Sep 29, 2006)

cycle for about 5 days,piranhas are hardy fish so they wont die becuse the ammonia is a little bit high,just add some bacteria and neons the after five days add the piranha.


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

nemo the piranha said:


> I'm actually not setting this tank up for P's. I'm going to get a few Dent's in a 125 in December. For this 30 I am going with dwarf puffers. I know they are sensitive to water conditions, I plan on getting 6-7 of them.


Secondly, nobody recommends that you only cycle for about 5 days...and Ps are not necessarily going to be healthy in the long-term in spite of a lot of ammonia burn (because who says the ammonia will only get a "little high" during this process?)...which is what you'll probably have if you cycle it so lightly. Adding bacteria--if you get it from a small filter or something, that's not nearly enough and if you get it from a bottle, you might not get the right stuff (only Bio-Spira has been known to work)...

5 days with Neons--Neons are not necessarily all that hardy so they might die during this faux cycle...and there is the possibility of them introducing disease if they haven't been quarantined (and only five days is nowhere near a proper quarantine procedure)...that tank would then have to sit for a while after the removal of the Neons. That's kind of counterproductive, isn't it?

Bottom line--you need to do some research because that "cycling" technique that you offer is pretty likely to kill Ps!!!

Sorry to the OP for the derail, but this had to be corrected.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

Okay, everything did not go as planned. First of all I did another water test.

Ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 2.5

I went to my LFS to pick up the 10 puffers they ordered for me, and they looked horrible. They didn't come to the front of the tank, they werent swimming, just laying on the bottom. They were VERY skinny. I just said no thanks, and left for Petsmart.

Petsmart had beautiful thick silver dollars. So I got 6 of them. They are about 1.5" - 2.5". Then I had to get the danios out of my tank....or so I thought. I tried for 20 minutes with a large net to get them out and I only got one. I baited them with food, turned off the lights, let the net sit so they would get used to it....nothing. I ended up putting the silver dollars in with the danios...i know this probably isnt the best idea since i've only got a 30 gallon tank, but I cant catch them.

The silver dollars freaked out when I put them in the tank. I let the bag float in my tank for about 15 minutes, then released them....they went straight to the bottom. freaking out and breathing very hard. I turned off the lights and they calmed down some. They are in there with no lights still....hopefully they will get used to it.

Now, any advice on how to get out the danios, or should I just leave em?

pics to follow as soon as I can turn on the lights without them scattering.


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

nemo the piranha said:


> The silver dollars freaked out when I put them in the tank. I let the bag float in my tank for about 15 minutes, then released them....they went straight to the bottom. freaking out and breathing very hard. I turned off the lights and they calmed down some. They are in there with no lights still....hopefully they will get used to it.


Thats because you used the ghetto method of accimating them. Sure that gets them used to your tanks temperature, but it does nothing to get them used to your waters parameters.

Browse or search around, theres some good topics on proper fish acclimation. If you cannot find them after looking, let me know and I'l help you out, but the info is out there.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

Well it's a little late now. They have been in the water for well over an hour. I did mix the water in their bag with tank water while they were floating in it. My main concern now is getting rid of the 10 smaller fish........any advice?


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

Updated with pics.....as promised. The Silver Dollars seem to be doing better, they sill dont love the light, but they dont hate it either. They swim around now and seem to be getting along with those pesky danios. I tried again to catch the boogers, and i cant.

wow those showed up in a weird order. oh well.....enjoy.


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## oOMPHOo (Aug 21, 2006)

I've managed to get most of the smaller fish out over the past week. There are still 2 Zebra Danios, 1 Long fin Danio, and 1 Gold Priscilla that I cant catch. I did another water test last night.

pH - 7.6
Ammonia - .25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 2.5


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