A Few Questions Please...

[bigmixx]

I have 75 gal that's been setup for about 6 days. I'm running an Emp 400 for filtration. The first day, I added Bio-Spira along with 4 fish: 1 GT, 1 JD, and 2 Cons, all babies. I've been testing the water everyday and I've been getting good consistent readings each time.: Ph 6.8-7.0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0, Ammonia 0. On day 4, I added a Common Pleco and a baby Oscar. After they had been in there for two days, my water tests are still good, fish are doing fine and would be doing better if I could stop one of my Cons from harrassing my JD. Oh year, water temperate is about 78 degress.

1. How long should I wait before doing a water change? I don't want to upset the cycling process with the Bio-Spira
2. Do I have enough fish to generate the ammonia Bio-Spira needs to be effective
3. How long should it take before the water gets clear? It's a white cloudy water.
4. Tank smells. Is this normal in the early stages or is something wrong.
5. How will I know when the cycle is complete?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Capps]

I have 75 gal that's been setup for about 6 days. I'm running an Emp 400 for filtration. The first day, I added Bio-Spira along with 4 fish: 1 GT, 1 JD, and 2 Cons, all babies. I've been testing the water everyday and I've been getting good consistent readings each time.: Ph 6.8-7.0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0, Ammonia 0. On day 4, I added a Common Pleco and a baby Oscar. After they had been in there for two days, my water tests are still good, fish are doing fine and would be doing better if I could stop one of my Cons from harrassing my JD. Oh year, water temperate is about 78 degress.

1. How long should I wait before doing a water change? I don't want to upset the cycling process with the Bio-Spira
2. Do I have enough fish to generate the ammonia Bio-Spira needs to be effective
3. How long should it take before the water gets clear? It's a white cloudy water.
4. Tank smells. Is this normal in the early stages or is something wrong.
5. How will I know when the cycle is complete?

Thanks for the help.

1. It usually takes up to 7 days (maybe 2weeks) for it to completely cycle. So once Amm. and Nitrite are 0 and Nitrtaes are showing then it is cycle. Only then do you do a water change. Also wait 2 months to vacum the gravel.

2. Yes, those fish produce a lot of waste (general rule is 75% of stocking for bio-spira).

3. The water is cloudy due to New tank syndrome. this is normal once the tank cycles it will go away.

4. The Smell, well if it smells like rotten eggs(hydrogen sulfide gas) this means your filter may have become anaerobic. Clean the filter intake tubes, NOT the filter pads or the bio wheel. Just the tubes and the motor.

5. When you are showing no amm. or nitite and getting a reading on nitrates.

IMO with those fish I would get another 400 to help with the filtration and turnover rate.
I hope this helped

P.S Don't add anymore fish. You are at your limit.

 

[bigmixx]

1. It usually takes up to 7 days (maybe 2weeks) for it to completely cycle. So once Amm. and Nitrite are 0 and Nitrtaes are showing then it is cycle. Only then do you do a water change. Also wait 2 months to vacum the gravel.

2. Yes, those fish produce a lot of waste (general rule is 75% of stocking for bio-spira).

3. The water is cloudy due to New tank syndrome. this is normal once the tank cycles it will go away.

4. The Smell, well if it smells like rotten eggs(hydrogen sulfide gas) this means your filter may have become anaerobic. Clean the filter intake tubes, NOT the filter pads or the bio wheel. Just the tubes and the motor.

5. When you are showing no amm. or nitite and getting a reading on nitrates.

IMO with those fish I would get another 400 to help with the filtration and turnover rate.
I hope this helped

P.S Don't add anymore fish. You are at your limit.

Thanks for the reply. I'm done adding fish. I actually didn't even want to add the Oscar but a friend recommended it to help with the cycle because Oscars produce a lot of waste. They're all small right now. None of them are bigger than an inch and a half. The smell is starting to subside. It's not near as strong as it was 2 days ago. I spoke with a guy at my LFS and he stated that the smell was probably the result of overfeeding. I had been feeding them about 10 medium sized pellets, 3 times a day. I've now reduced it to 8 pellets, twice a day. I also plan to get another Emp 400 in about a month to help with the filtration.

 

[bigmixx]

Okay, I just did a water test and now I have Ammonia. Here are the results:

Ph: 7.0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0
Ammonia 1.0

Should I do a water change or wait? Fish still seem to be doing fine.