Fish in cycling

1147 Views 11 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Hallyx, Dec 29, 2013

FishyFishy89

Discussion Starter · Dec 27, 2013

I attempted to search it. But nothing was coming up via the mobile app.
Its been forever since I've done a fish in cycle. Atleast 2 years. Last cycle I did was fishless with pure ammonia. And normally I Wouldnt have done another fish in cycle. But this particular fish had appeared to me in my dreams and I couldn't leave him.

Anyways. For the past 4 days I've been doing daily to twice daily water changes to keep his tank warm because his heater decided to stop working. Well he has his new heater now. And I've put the filter on his tank to assist in cycling his tank since it isn't heavily planted.

Today Pascal has been mopy and the water's been a little cloudy. So I took a sample a did a 50%. The test came back with .25ppm. But he's still mopy. Would the 50% be enough or do you suggest more? I did add Prime into the tank and into the new water.

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rickey

· #2 · Dec 28, 2013

Do you have a tank that is already cycled?
If so your golden, you can seed the new tank with filter medium and/or substrate from the cycled aquarium. Then it just a matter of monitoring and controlling ammonia and nitrite levels with water chances and chemically till they drop to a safe level l(0 ppm)

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FishyFishy89

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 28, 2013

I did put a 2" square from my established 75 gallon into his filter. He's tank still tested for the same amount of ammonia this morning. I wonder if twice daily water changes would do better for him?

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jaysee

· #4 · Dec 28, 2013

Then you are way ahead of the game. I would just do one water change and dose with prime. For 1 fish in a 5 gallon, should only be a matter of days before things are square. I would not feed until then.

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FishyFishy89

Discussion Starter · #5 · Dec 28, 2013

You think 1 large water change daily would be enough? He's just so dang mopy. I guess he may continue to be mopy for a few days regardless of what I do.

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jaysee

· #6 · Dec 28, 2013

Dosing with prime detoxifies the water for 24 hours at a time.

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FishyFishy89

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 28, 2013

jaysee said:
Dosing with prime detoxifies the water for 24 hours at a time.

I have been using it with all my water changes. If any tank happens to test positive for ammonia, I dose the water that's left in the tank and the new water.

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Flint

· #8 · Dec 28, 2013

My established tanks all run .25 ammonia for a few weeks to a few months after they have cycled. It just takes time. As far as him being mopy, he's probably upset and stressed by the frequent water changes and new environment.

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FishyFishy89

Discussion Starter · #9 · Dec 28, 2013

Flint said:
My established tanks all run .25 ammonia for a few weeks to a few months after they have cycled. It just takes time. As far as him being mopy, he's probably upset and stressed by the frequent water changes and new environment.

Neither of my established tanks ever show a trace of ammonia. I believe the only time you should ever see ammonia is if you added new fish(perhaps too many at once) or you had to replace old/worn media.

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Hallyx

· #10 · Dec 29, 2013

I think Flint's right. Ammonia at 0.25ppm is usually not enough to upset anyone, especially if you're using Prime.

All my tanks showed a slight ammonia reading after the nitrite zeroed out and the nitrate increased. That went away as the cycle matured and the tank became "establisged."

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FishyFishy89

Discussion Starter · #11 · Dec 29, 2013

But like I said, an establish tank shouldn't be reading ammonia. That's what you're saying correct?

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Hallyx

· #12 · Dec 29, 2013

Correct. That is what I'm saying. Sometimes it doesn't read out 0.0pppm right away, like it says in the textbook. The "residual ammonia"(for lack of a better term) sometimes seems to take a few additional days or even weeks to turn yellow=0.0ppm.

And then sometimes it goes yellow=0.0ppm right away.

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