How is my progress in the new tank cycle?

[rsanz]

My 10 gallon tank is in its third week. I just tested after a 10% water change. The parameters are:

Ammonia: 0.25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm

Is this normal? I have been doing 10% daily water changes to try to keep the ammonia levels down. This is also the first time I've tested the water since starting the cycle (I know, I know...this is my first tank, so give me a break ). The tank is cycling with a single Dwarf Gourami.

Is this normal? Should I be doing anything differently? Should I be concerned about the 0.25 ppm of Ammonia?

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[mostlycichlids]

I dont think there is enough ammonia to keep the cycle going you are still in the first stage you should stop doing daily water changes and use a ammonia detox instead for now only do water changes if ammonia starts to get outa control.

 

[rsanz]

So you think I should just let the water sit for a couple weeks with no changes? I was given advice on this forum saying to change the water frequently during cycling. Was that advice wrong?

 

[Hound]

Since you have a fish in the tank you do want to do water changes to keep the ammonia fairly low. In reality though it could be a couple of months before you get a sufficient bacterial build up. I can't remember exactly how high ammonia can go before it becomes critical to a fish, but keeping it around .25ppm sounds about right to me. I believe if you left the tank for a week without any water changes you would probably cause lifetime injury to the fish if not death.

 

[DeRo316]

I would feed the fish a little more to increase ammonia and do water changes every other or third day.

 

[glasstapper]

Hello, I was actually wondering the same exact thing you were. I was also doing 10% water changes everyday to keep the ammonia in check.

I reduced my water changes to every other day. I keep my ammonia level no higher than .5 because the test kit said with my pH, my fish won't stress until the ammonia reaches 1.0. Going this way, I was told it will take about 6 weeks for the cycle to complete.

 

[yourchoice]

I would wait until you see .5 then do a 25% water change.As long as the Dwarf is not hanging out at the top of the tank and staying there he is in no danger.