New tank picture + questions

[trancecommander]

Hey everyone ... I'm into my 3rd week of fishy cycling and had a couple of questions regarding my tank:

1. During the cycling, should I expect my nitrite/nitrate levels to spike before they come back down? Or should they never go up?

2. My tank balance is slightly off. The tank was first tilted by about half an inch to the right. I corrected that by stuffing some cardboard stips below the stand. Only today, I noticed that it was still off by about 1 centimeter. Is this something I need to be concerned about or it shouldn't give me any problems?

I would appreciate any feedback/comments. Thanks in advance!!

 

[OrionGirl]

The levels will spike. How much depends on how much you're feeding, and how many water changes you do. Of course--what's a spike? For some, it's a huge jump, while other tanks--lightly stocked, lightly fed, with frequent water changes--will seldom get very high, because of prevention (not a bad thing--much better for the fish, and not a hindrance to the bacteria).

How big is the tank? For tank's bigger than about 20 gallons, I prefer that they be level. While it probably won't cause a problem, you don't want to test the theory, you know?

 

[trancecommander]

Regarding your first response, I feed my fish only once a day. I currently have 3 mollies and one swordtail. I make sure that I only feed as much as they can eat in about 3 or 4 mins.

The second question ... my tank is a 36 gal. It didn't too long to fix it the first time ... so I think I'll do it again just to be on the safe side.

Also, given that I'll have to change half of the water (since I only have a 20 gal drum that I can store half the tank water in ... how much will this whole process set me back by in my cycling? Will I be back to square one? (i hope not)

Thanks!

 

[OrionGirl]

Nope, it won't lengthen the cycle at all, as long as you don't let the media (filter) dry out for an extended period of time. The bacteria grow constantly--once they've reached the limit of the food source, they quit expanding in colony size, but still reproduce at the same rate. What this means is that as long as conditions are right, they're doing their thing, even if the ammonia and nitrite levels are very low.

 

[trancecommander]

Alright !! I'm all done !! Fixed the level ... replaced the fish without any problem ... and they're swimming around like nothing happened ... I guess it was better to be safe than sorry!

I'm glad this whole thing doesn't affect the cycling process ... I wouldn't have been able to take starting over from scratch !

How long does the tank typically take to cycle using the fishy method (I only read about the fishless thingy 10 days after I'd started with the fish ... so I couldn't opt for that unfortunatel)

Thanks again !