I did not cycle my 55 gallon tank and threw 12 exodons and 2 pictus cats in it. Ammonia levels were fine for days. They are currently at 3.0 ppm with no signs of nitrite and I have not checked for nitrate because I doubt there is any sign of it. I will be doing a 50 percent water change today to see how the results are. Into the 10th day of the cycle today. Everything looks healthy but I think health problems are on the horizon.
Killer ammonia levels
- Thread starter African Dick
- Start date
BamaPits, See if you can get so Bio-Spira. That will help to cycle your tank. You will need to continue to do daily water changes until you get the ammonia to a safe level for your fish.
I'm a Bama fan as well... Roll Tide. They recruited well this year!
I'm a Bama fan as well... Roll Tide. They recruited well this year!
Keep up those water changes. Pictus are scaleless fish that can be really delicate and definitely don't handle cycling well at all, if any.
I have to push for a fishless cycle in the future. No fish are hurt, no health problems arise, and you wouldn't be needing to keep changing the water.
I have to push for a fishless cycle in the future. No fish are hurt, no health problems arise, and you wouldn't be needing to keep changing the water.
Second the Bio-Spira idea
I agree with the Bio-Spira idea. I had read many threads that you could skip the cycling process by adding bio-spira and then the fish. I tried it with my 29 gallon and put in the following the same day (Tried not to overload):
6 neons
2 Corys
1 Otto
2 Guppies
That was in December and I have had no mortalities. I did test the water every other day for two weeks and my Amoinia, Nitrites and nitrates stayed at zero. I have since then added 5 harlequin rasboras.
I think that the Bio Spira will help you greatly.
I will warn you though, it was not cheap. I think it was around $14 for enough to treat a 36 gallon.
I agree with the Bio-Spira idea. I had read many threads that you could skip the cycling process by adding bio-spira and then the fish. I tried it with my 29 gallon and put in the following the same day (Tried not to overload):
6 neons
2 Corys
1 Otto
2 Guppies
That was in December and I have had no mortalities. I did test the water every other day for two weeks and my Amoinia, Nitrites and nitrates stayed at zero. I have since then added 5 harlequin rasboras.
I think that the Bio Spira will help you greatly.
I will warn you though, it was not cheap. I think it was around $14 for enough to treat a 36 gallon.
Do your water change, but make sure that afterwards the ammonia levels get below 1ppm. If it doesn't do another water change. Some fish like danios and tetras are able to take levels at 2ppm without problems, but scaless fish should have it much lower. And don't worry about water changes hurting the cycle. Any amount of detectable ammonia means there is more tahn the bacteria can deal with. So any extra will mean more bacteria will grow to consume it.
Hey BamaPits, soory to hear about the loss of you pictus. Have you looked into the bio-spira? I have used it on several of my tanks and it really does work. It will cycle your tank for you!
B
B
I ordered some bio-spira today. Lost 2 bucktoothed tetras this weekend though. I have kept the ammonia under 1.0 ppm I do not understand really why they died. Down to 1 pictus cat and 10 tetras.
Often the damage is already done and even once things stablize the fish are already on their way to death. It is sad, but that is a the reason why when doing a fishy cycle large water changes are your friend. Hopefully the others won't be too badly hurt and you will finally get a nice stable tank. This is something many of us learn the hard way unfortunatly. I lost all my original guppies that way.