cycling my tank

[grannylvsfish]

Ok, the pet store did not have a test kit, we are still waiting for them to get one in, ( I live in a small town) my tank has been up 2 weeks, and with one fish in it. I did a water change, ( just for good measure, and the tank seemed to do great. I did another water change yeterday, and today the tank seems a bit cloudy ( not to much) I know I need a kit, but I can do with some info now. if the tank liiks a bit unclear is this mean the levels are to high? do I do antoehr water change?

my tank is 29 gallon. ..

 

[wataugachicken]

put some tank water into a clear glass and hold it against some plain white paper. is it whitish or does it have a green tinge? white cloudiness is a sign of bacterial bloom, common in cycling tanks, keep up with water changes, no worries.
green cloudiness is an algae bloom, not so good. more water changes, feed a little less, keep lights off, maybe only 7-8 hours a day. an algae bloom can go crazy in a cycling tank and turn it into pea soup.

 

[grannylvsfish]

put some tank water into a clear glass and hold it against some plain white paper. is it whitish or does it have a green tinge? white cloudiness is a sign of bacterial bloom, common in cycling tanks, keep up with water changes, no worries.
green cloudiness is an algae bloom, not so good. more water changes, feed a little less, keep lights off, maybe only 7-8 hours a day. an algae bloom can go crazy in a cycling tank and turn it into pea soup.

I took water out into my white bucket, it was ever so green, looks like algea bloom. we did another water change, how often do we do water changes? we have only 1 firemouth in the tank right now ( baby) and its a 29 gallon, do recomend we not add more fish for another few weeks?

 

[wataugachicken]

let the tank finish the cycle before adding more fish.

you should be testing your water daily and doing enough water changes to keep ammonia and nitrites down below .25. since you don't have test kits right now, i would say around 50% daily. if your fish starts acting strange/sickly or gets any redness in the gill area, double your water changes. if the tank get ambient light (from a nearby window or room lights) it would be okay to keep the tank lights off in order to 'starve' the algae.