No Nitrites or Nitrates Yet?

B

bigmixx

AC Members
Mar 25, 2005
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My tank has been up and running for 10 days and I'm yet to see any Nitrites or Nitrates. I used Bio-Spira and added my fish on the first day. For the first 6 days, there was no change in water parameters. On the 7th day I got an ammonia reading of 1.0ppm. I did a 25% water change and it dropped to .50ppm. It went back up to 1.0ppm, I did another 25% change last night and dropped back down to .50. My Ph has remained a constant 7.0. Has my tank cycled yet? The fish seem to be doing fine but this cycling thing is driving me nuts!

75 gal
Temp: 78
Fish: 1 JD, 1 GT, 2 Cons, 1 Oscar, 1 Common Pleco (Being replaced with a Clown)
 
Using Bio-Spira prevents the normal appearance of nitrites and nitrates. Keep monitoring, though, as nitrites can show up suddently, requiring another dose of Bio-spira. The tank will be cycled once no more ammonia is detectable and nitrites remain at 0.
 
Okay. So as long as the Ammonia stays around .50-1.0ppm I should be okay?

Do I need to hold off on the water changes for now?
 
I would keep up with the water changes--they reduce the stress on the fish and that's a good thing. The bacteria colonies will establish, it can just take a few days more or less.
 
During water changes, should I gravel vac? Also, I cut back on the feedings to once a day for the last week due the ammonia showing up. The fish have gotten a lot more aggressive toward each other since I cut back. Can I go back to feeding them twice a day?
 
Yep, especially with large, messy fish--cleaning the substrate is crucial. You should be fine with twice daily small feedings--but I wouldn't increase the amount given, just spread it out.
 
Cool. Thanks a bunch for the help. I just want to make sure I'm doing it right. One last question and I'll stop bugging ya. Because of the increased aggression, a couple of my little guys have torn fins. Can I treat this with some Melafix or will this harm the cycle?
 
JMO, but there's no reason. Melafix doesn't do much, IME. I would just focus on keeping the water quality up--healthy fish heal pretty quickly on their own if the water is good.
 
OrionGirl said:
JMO, but there's no reason. Melafix doesn't do much, IME. I would just focus on keeping the water quality up--healthy fish heal pretty quickly on their own if the water is good.
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Alright. Thanks again.
 
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