Arggggh!

[mishi8]

Looking for feedback/BTDTs/...is this cycle experience unusual?...am I missing something?

We're into our 7th week of cycling now (10g tank). Last time I posted, we were into the 4th week and the tank parameters were 80F, 8.0pH, 0.25 ammonia, 0.25-0.5 nitrites and 0-5 nitrates. We were/are down to one balloon molly (the largest of the three original). She still has some discoloration on her back (white, looks waxy...thought it was fungus) and a bump/cyst under her bottom lip...she's had these since week 3...she doesn't rub against anything in the tank, and it wasn't affecting her appetite, so I don't think it's bothering her much.

We went away on a trip during week 5 (minimal feeding and no water changes during that time), and molly lived, even with rising nitrites.

She slowed down with eating and swimming during week 6 when the nitrites were at up to 5. I did frequent water changes throughout that week, and made sure to add salt to the water. I also added a new filter (Aqua Clear 20) with the intention of replacing the Top Fin*10...so I'm running both filters right now to build up bateria in the new media.

At this point the tank is into week 7, molly is swimming and eating better, and nitrites are waffling between 0.5 and 2. Over the last two days I've seen the nitrates going up towards 10 (I estimated about 7), but today they're back down to 5. Am I ever going to see and end to the cycle? Why won't the nitrates climb? Ammonia seems to be staying around 0. Is the added salt affecting my readings (I'm using the Freswater Master Test Kit)?

Yesterday's readings: 80F, 8-8.2 pH, 0+ ammonia, 1-2 nitrites, ~7 nitrates. Then I changed the water...used AquaPlus, and added salt...didn't test again that day
Today's readings: 80F, 8-8.2 pH, 0 ammonia, 0.5-1 nitrites, 5 nitrates

We're also switching to Prime for treating the water. Will this help with readings? We have cloramine in the water, and I get a 0.25 ammonia reading directly from the tap.

Anyway, this has been a real test of my patience (my kids leave me with very little!) I hate seeing fish struggle through the cycle and just want it to be over already!

Thanks for any & all help!
Mishi8

*Note: the manager at our Petsmart offered to take the Top Fin 10 back at full value (even though it came as part of an aquarium kit) because I preferred to have a filter with more media options. I'm going to return it in a few weeks after the new filter has built up more bateria.

 

[gsk177]

Since you are so far along in fishy cycling Id say your best course of action is to do 50% water changes daily. Since your tap water has detectable amounts of ammonia, NH3, you will definately want to keep a future eye on NH3 readings in your tank. Using Prime is the recommended product on this forum for treating chlorine and chloramine treated tap water, and it does help to neutralize the effects of ammonia and nitrates to the fishes. The addition of Prime should have no effect on your test results.

If you haven't grown too attached to your lone survivor, I would not really use her as a sign of whats going on in your tank. Chances are the damage done to her during this cycling process is irreversable and she will never be quite the same. If she dies, by no means add anymore fish. If she dies, continue cycling your tank, but by using the fishless cycling method which basically entails adding a measured amount of straight pure ammonia to the tank water and allowing the nitrification process to grow by their ability to eat the ammonia you provide. In laymans terms, you are giving the benificial bacteria something to eat via the ammonia. The amount of ammonia you are feeding them is on par with a VERY large fish load. Once your tank cycles completely, meaning the amount of nitrifying bacterial grows to an amount that can handle the amount of food you are feeding them via the ammonia, then you can add fish. The excess nitrifying bacterial will die off to a level on par with that of your REAL fish load.

In the meantime, just do your daily water changes to reduce the ill effects of the poor water quality on your lone surviving fish. It may also be possible that with only the one fish being present in the tank, the amount of "food" available for the nitrification bacteria may be so low that it takes months for them to grow.
Just be advised, the bacteria will only grow to a level equal to that of their available food your single fish provides. Adding more fish will result in a greater presence of food for the bacteria. This food, while good for the bacteria, is NOT good for the fish....thus the concept of adding a few fish at a time. You want to add a few fish at a time so that the bacteria have a change to grow and be able to eat off the additional food the fish produce.

 

[mishi8]

Thanks for your reponse and help, gsk177!

Of course I'm attached to her...I get attached to every fish I have. I actually think she has been a good indicator of what's going on the in the tank. I think she's survived as long as she has because she's a bit bigger, and has always been the most active of the three fish we had. Fish #2 seemed healthy until I started Melafix treatments (I think that perhaps removing the carbon from our filter removed bacteria, and set the cycle back some more) and then she quickly died from nitrites (red gills, eventually developing ulcers in the gills) despite frequent water changes.

I read about the fishless cycle just after my husband started the tank -- It's my kids' tank (a gift from well-meaning relatives), but I've become sole the caregiver (the kids are too young to do it) -- I haven't wanted to add any more fish to the cycle because of damaging them. I only have 10g to work with and if I put in 3-4 fish, that will be all I can have, so I would end up with a full load of permanently damaged fish. I wasn't interested in cycling with white clouds or danios, because I wasn't interested in keeping them long term, and no one at the LFS mentioned, at the time, that I could return them after the cycle. If molly does survive, then we will be adding fish VERY slowly after the cycle is complete. If she doesn't survive, then I will continue fishless.

If molly survives, I'll likely add one fish at a time and carefully watch my readings. Otherwise, is what I am experiencing out of the ordinary? Is what I have been doing okay? Am I stressing out too much about this?

Mishi8

 

[gsk177]

Your tank is just going through a natural progession. It varies from tank to tank, but the medication you added probably helped set you back even more.