I have heard many times that you need to stay consistent on changing your water during the cycle period. I have a 55 gallon tank with 5 Tetras in it and its been running for almost 2 weeks. I have changed 50% on the 3rd day because I didnt have enough room between the wall and the back of my tank for my Biowheel, So I had to move it. I changed about 20% the last 3 water changes. The last change was due to an ammonia spike in the tank. I hear that around the 9th day that the Ammonia levels will start to climb and water changes are imperitive. After the last water change I smell just a faint amount of ammonia. after 2 days its kinda strong again. Will this smell just eventually go away after several water changes? or am I not taking enough water out. I dont want to change too much of the water because It almost seems like I would be defeating the purpose of cycling the tank. I have read the "sticky", but I just want to make sure that I am not taking out too much water and just wonder when the ammonia levels are going to go down. I really dont trust the guy at the pet store. He seems kinda lost on it. Thanks!
Ammonia Spikes
- Thread starter bassman
- Start date
Since you read the cycle sticky you know that doing water changes will not stop your cycle as long as there is some ammonia there. Tetras are not the fish to do a fishy cycle with and you need to keep the ammonia level down. Do a water change daily. If you need to be comforted, do a water change, wait a few minutes, and then test for ammonia. I am sure you will still have enough to keep things going!
Agreed, change all the water you can, remember that your fish are producing ammonia all of the time, and you can't really starve the bacteria by doing water changes. with tetra's I'd keep the levels very low all the time. As said they aren't the best fish for the job, but you already have them so make the best of the situation.
dave
dave
Hi, here is a small bit of advice, When I was starting out my 55g I was really confused as well as to the levels that my tank was at. I bought a master testing kit and it tested for all important levels such as ph, gh, nitrites, ammonia, nitrates. I found it was so much easier to test at home instead of trasporting water to my LFS. Once your tank is cycles as well I have found it very valuable for keeping an eye on my tank if there is anything suspicious happening in there. Hope this might help you a bit 
Good luck!!!
Good luck!!!Well I went and bought a ammonia test kit and as far as I can tell it reads 0. Very yellow on the test. I had someone tell me that the wood I put in there could be causing my tank to smell kinda funky. I bought it from a pet store. A couple pieces of big driftwood. So I guess everything is good. I am still kinda leary. Maby I should take my water up to the pet store and see what they can tell me.