more newbie fishy cycling

[jameshilljr]

:help:
I have been unfortunately fishy cycling my 55G tank now for 4 days.(i am one of those ignorant people that didn't research this beforehand) I have been checking the ammonia levels before and after i complete a 25% water change. They are consistently high at about 1ppm! What do I need to do to help drop this down? I currently have 3 yellow labs,2 juvie firemouths, and 2 juvie convicts in the aquarium(i bought this existing setup from someone online)and some live plants.

 

[MsPuff]

I had the same problem, but all I could manage to do to remedy it was water change, water change, water change, eventually the ammonia turned to nitrate...then more and more water changes. It's rough, but my fish survived, I had yellow labs myself & it was my first tank. I became the water change queen.

I was also advised to only feed one flake of food per fish per day and do not crush the food.

 

[BoredAgain]

More water changes is all you can do really. Also be sure that you aren't overfeeding.

 

[jm1212]

you can also get some used media to help the cycle along faster.

this does not replace water changes though. during a fishy cycle, ammoina should not be higher than 0.25 at any time.

 

[Star_Rider]

your best bet is to do water changes..try to keep the ammonia down to no higher than .25 ppm

Prime(water conditioner) can be used to help neutralize the ammonia..it will lock the ammonia converting it from NH3 to NH4 ammonium(less toxic) but lots of water changes are in order.

if you have a trusted friend that keeps fish you can collect some bacteria from them and introduce it to your tank.(media or filter squeezins)

 

[jameshilljr]

ok after reading another post about testing the tap water for ammonia with the API test kit, it read 1ppm. SO then I treated with seachem and waited for an hour then tested again, it is still at .5ppm. I did 3 times the normal dose ( the bottle says up to 5 times the dose if levels are really high). SHould I put more of the seachem in or water change again or what? I did a 50% water change about 10:00 this morning.
we did a test with cleaning ammonia with the API test kit , it shows .0ppm
Is there something wrong with our test kit?

 

[jpappy789]

Prime will not get rid of the ammonia, it will only detoxify it. Only a water change will dilute the ammonia down to safer levels for you fish.

 

[jameshilljr]

Only a water change will dilute the ammonia down to safer levels for you fish.

I have been doing 1 or 2 25%-50% water changes for the past 3 days. Unfortunately after testing the tap water with the API kit, the tap water showed 1ppm! So I am wondering what to do next if my tap water is soo bad?

 

[SchizotypalVamp]

Prime/amquel will bind the ammonia in a less toxic form. Dose the volume of your tank fater your water change and add tap water directly.

 

[jpappy789]

I have been doing 1 or 2 25%-50% water changes for the past 3 days. Unfortunately after testing the tap water with the API kit, the tap water showed 1ppm! So I am wondering what to do next if my tap water is soo bad?

once your tank is cycled the tap amount will not be a problem and for now keep using prime and doing as many water changes as possible.