newbie,have a disaster in a 5gallon,but trying to cycle a new 60 gallon..have a few Q

C

cactusgal

AC Members
Dec 1, 2009
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Alberta ,Canada
Hi everyone,:1zhelp:
I'm hoping to get some advise on my venture i've started.3 weeks ago i purchased a 5 gallon tank,they also sold me 3 mollies and 4 guppies,and 2 corys...well you can imagine what happened(i have 1 molly,3 guppies and 1 albino cory left)..I've done alot of reading in the last few weeks and have learned the hard way..the tank wasn't cycled and wayyy too many fish for that size.I also bought a 3 gallon for my betta same day(he is doing awesome) But I find i still have to change the water every 2nd day..the ammonia is still high...how much longer until this one is cycled..or am i doing something wrong?

I also just purchased a 60gallon tank,set it up,treated the water,the fine gravel they sold me i didnt realize until i started to rinse it...looks like a bunch of ground up seashells..is this going to be a problem? I also got bio media from the new pet store i'm dealing with and put into my fluval 305 canister filter,As of now I have the new 60 gallon running with filter ,airator and temp at 76..no fish.
But now I'm reading and when i bought the bio media..he said just keep it wet..well we live 2 hrs from the city,and i told him i wasnt planning to set the tank up for a couple of days(as I had to work a few 12hr night shifts)
so I kept these bio media in the water he gave me in the bag..and left in my sink for 2 days...now I'm reading that this bio media may be DEAD??? and can cause problems if it is?? so my question is ,did it die? should I restart with new water and fresh media? I was hoping to get this going for 1 week or so then add some of my fish from my 5 gallon over to releive that tank..or is that a bad idea as well? i just dont want to make any more mistakes..these poor fish i feel terrible.
Any help would be appreciated.

Laura
 
Its hard to say when your cycle will be comeplete. Cycles can take longer for some people, and it may be shorter for others. The only real way to find out is to test. I would say a roughly a week and a half.

Hm... You...bought biomedia? My lfs doesnt do that.. haha. Whats the worst that could happen to the tank if you put dead biomedia into the tank. The only thing thats in the water is would be more ammonia and nitrites? Just.. buy some more and dont kill it all :) Or you could cycle the tank the old fashion way...

People are probably going to flame me, but i would put the fish into the 60 and let the 5 cycle. Since theres more water volume, the amount of nitrites, ammonia and nitrates would be diluted over 60 gallons rather than 5 gallons. It also gives them more room. As soon as possible, go back to your LFS and get some more biomedia. (by biomedia im assuming they squeeze thier filter media out and put the bacteria in a bag?) to seed your 60.

I should stop editing this... But as for the ground up sea shells... This may raise your hardness? of your water and it could be bad or good depending on what kind of fish you plan to keep..

Out of curiosity, do you feed your 60 gallon?
 
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I forgot to mention,I also have my tank planted (some from the other 5 gallon)
I noticed this morning it is really cloudy...is this normal so soon after setting up?

Yes i've been feeding the tank with flakes
I am going to the city friday i will pick up more good bacteria..sorry I said bio media..I think i used the wrong work there.
They take bio-balls from their cycled tanks and sell them(they are white)supposed to have good bacteria on them.

Thanx for the help
 
Yes it is normal to get cloudy water and outbreaks of foggy stuff when the tank is stablizing. I would split the fish in half. Or maybe leave a fish or 2 in the 5 gallon. Because if you remove everything you might stall the cycle. I say split up the fish, as bad as fish in cycles are you have no choice but to go this route because it's to late. How safe is the fish store? Just because it may help with the cycle but it also might add diseases from the store to your home. So it's kind of a risk. Most of us learn to late about non fish cycling.
 
bradlgt21 said:
How safe is the fish store? Just because it may help with the cycle but it also might add diseases from the store to your home. So it's kind of a risk.
Click to expand...

I agree with this thought. I go through every effort to not even get water from the pet store in my fish tanks. I don't think I would personally ever want their bugs, but it probably won't hurt anything.

I also would split the fish up. Might as well dilute the cycle in the 5 as much as possible.
 
Splitting up the fish in the 5 makes alot of scence..I will do this tonight.
I never even thought of what bugs i might have introduced to my new tank with the petstore bio-balls.
Too late now...I will just have to monitor the few that i put in there and watch closely before i add anymore.
The petstore is very good though..good quality of fish..and they refuse to sell any fish unitl you tank has settled atleast 48hrs and then on 2-3 max until after the cycle...they seem a little more knowledgeable and the fish they sell look alot better....no floating dead ones like to other store had....rrggg..It just makes me mad to think back at my 1st experience with the 1st petstore...they didnt really care...just anything to make a buck i guess!

Thanx so much for the advice so far.

I did have 1 more Q. adding live plants to start ..is that a good idea? or should i take them out?
 
It's actually a great idea. I did it. Plants if you don't know already take in Nitrates. Well they can also take in Nitrite, and Ammonia. Plus the giving off of oxygen can only help your fish right now. I say keep them in it won't hurt a bit.

The fish store sounds like they are far better then the stores around me. Sounds like you should be ok. Just treat both tanks like a QT tank, watch the fish closely and treat if they become sick. If you introduced anything with the bioballs you will see the signs of it on the fish you have in there. You aren't going to add anymore fish until the cycle is finished anyway so you don't have to worry about a outbreak effecting your existing residents because you don't have any yet. A QT tank is useful when you add fish after you already have a hefty stock to keep the current stock safe and save on meds because the less water in the tank the less meds you need.

Another quick suggestion is take a small portion of your bioballs you purchased and put them in your 5 gallon. If there is no room in the filter in there just float them in the tank on the surface. just as long as they are in the water in the tank the bacteria will be in the tank and have a chance to spread to the filter and other areas of the tank. It can help speed up your 5 gallon as well.
 
Welcome to AC! :)

Are you using a liquid test kit?

I tested my water straight outta the tap to see what I was working with in terms of Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and Ph. I thought I remembered reading somewhere that someone tested their water and it ended up having an ammonia reading to it. This probably isn't the case with you but it couldn't hurt to check it out.

Good luck!
 
I did add the bio balls to my other 5 gallon that night,so far no health issues ...beside my high ammonia poisoning from too many fish.
I seperated the fish...put the 3 guppies in the new 60 gallon tank...hope they do ok,and hope that is enough to cycle this tank?

I am planning to get more plant now for sure..I new they were good just didnt know if it would hurt the cycle process.

I have been doing the strip tests.
I had my tap water tested from the petstore..they said it was fine.
I am also planning to pick up a better testing kit instead of these expensive strips.

So any sugesstion for hardy plants...I dont have co2,but have a good amount of water movement and an airator,heaters and lights.
I would like to get some bushy plants and some low growing ..something with some color would be nice too??
 
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