First Fish tank ( 15 Gal)

Micallef991

alright, ill probally make the drive tommorrow morning.

thanx again for ALL of everyones help, i guess i really cant trust all the people at the pet store lol.

how much longer should this cycle take if its already at the point where it smells like butt hole and looks pretty cloudy.

also should i be leaving my filter / oxygen pump on during this time ?

Elahrairah

A lot of stores are in it for the money...or they simply hire people who don't know.

Yes, keep your filter and O2 going. It should take two or three weeks to complete the cycle.

Don't know why I didn't think of it earlier, but something you can do is ask you aunt if you can take one of the filters out of her tank to put in yours for a while...if she has a big tank with a lot of filtration, she will be OK. Don't take more than 30% or so of her filter media. You should be able to keep your fish if you do this. At least it is better than nothing.

Or, ask the pet store you shopped at if they have any live filter media. The main problem with this solution is a possible cross contamination of parasites, etc they may have in thier water. If your aunt is professionally cleaned, ask her if she ever had any fish die of diesase. If she says no, the people doing the cleaning are probably doing a good job and you would be safer.

But you got to keep it wet and do it quickly (if the bacteria runs out of oxygen, they will die). Put the filter media in a ziplock bag with some tank water and get it home quickly...just put the filter in the tank in a place where water is moving the most. iniside the filter itself is best, but you don't want to take out your new filter, you want that one to grow in....if it is a flossy type media, put it in a nylon stocking or something, so it doesn't get all messy and you can take it out in a few weeks....you aren't worried about it cleaning the tank so much as getting water to flow through it to get the bacteria on it to feed off your ammonia.

Micallef991

now when you say filter media lol, are you saying just grab a usuable filter and put it in the water where a lot of motion is ?

Elahrairah

yes, the sponge or even some of the gravel or filter floss (put it in a nylon stocking like a bag, so you can take it out and give back when you are done)

Flashygrrl

Uhh, aren't we still concerned about the size of this fish and it's bio-load? Exactly which kind of parrot fish is it, there are different kinds and none of them look like they can live comfortably in a 15 gallon. They might be able to live for a while, but the lifespan will be greatly shortened. Feeding the cycle with nitrates isn't going to help this situation any.

Micallef991

Should i be making any water changes at all during this "cycle" or would that disturb it and lengthen it ?

Flashygrrl

Depends...did you get rid of the remaining fish? If so, then no.