Cycling

[steve]

Hi my father in law has just got a new fish tank. 26 x 14 x 12 inches he
has lost the first lot of fish through probable cycling and whitespot also
the LFS told him he could put 9 fish in no problem as long as he chose there
hardy fish ??? It is has four bunches of plants in it and 4 tiger barbs
now. We bought the small strip test kits and the nitrite levels were right
at the top of the scale. What should he do? If a water change is needed
how much? and how often The barbs are all congregated in a corner of the
tank saying their last rights also so what is their chance of pulling
through this.

Any help is greatly appreciated

Steve

[Andy Hill]

"steve" > wrote:
>Hi my father in law has just got a new fish tank. 26 x 14 x 12 inches he
>has lost the first lot of fish through probable cycling and whitespot also
>the LFS told him he could put 9 fish in no problem as long as he chose there
>hardy fish ??? It is has four bunches of plants in it and 4 tiger barbs
>now. We bought the small strip test kits and the nitrite levels were right
>at the top of the scale. What should he do? If a water change is needed
>how much? and how often The barbs are all congregated in a corner of the
>tank saying their last rights also so what is their chance of pulling
>through this.
>
OK, roughly a 20 gallon tank. 9 fish for cycling is way much, hardy or no.
Have him hold off more fish until the tank is cycled. Go out and buy an
ammonia / nitrite detoxifier like Seachem Prime and use it according to
directions until the tank is cycled (ammonia zero, nitrite zero). Go light on
the feedings. 20% water changes daily (don't forget to neutralize the chlorine
/ chloramine) until nitrites are towards the middle of the scale, more of less.
Monitor for disease -- the fish are very stressed right now, and so are very
vulnerable.

[Mark]

Cycling a tank take a bit of understanding and knowledge.
I highly advise you visit the web site at the link below.

Overall, the water change frequency during an initial cycle
will vary depending on tank size, fish load and how the
water is in YOUR part of the country.

It sounds like you have a 20 gallon or so tank. 2 or 3 fish
no more than an inch long would have been fine to start the
process.

Don't be surprised if the plants don't last to long. Hold off
on the plants, DO NOT add anymore fish and keep the aquarium
as simple as you can for now.

Once the initial cycling takes place, you can add more fish
and plants a few at a time until you get the look you want.

BTW, what type of filtering system do you have and what temp
do you keep the water at?

Mark

http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

[steve]

Biolife wet dry filter and temp is around 77 F. Many Thanks for everyone's
advice We done a 30 % water change and nitrite levels halved.
By doing water changes do you think the process of cycling will take longer.

Thanks once again

Steve

[Dick]

On Sat, 3 Apr 2004 10:36:54 +0100, "steve"
> wrote:

>Biolife wet dry filter and temp is around 77 F. Many Thanks for everyone's
>advice We done a 30 % water change and nitrite levels halved.
>By doing water changes do you think the process of cycling will take longer.
>
>Thanks once again
>
>Steve
>

I have cycled 5 tanks varying from 10 to 75 gallons. I like to offer
alternative experience to my chemist friends. I tried the
measurements and adjustments for a few months and still had problems.
I finally, focused on regular water changes (20% weekly), controlling
the feeding, and controlling the light exposure (13 hours daily). My
more recent tanks cycled in a few weeks time. I use only low light
plants.

If my tap water was bad to start with, I would be more concerned, but
the town uses little chlorine and the Ph runs about 7.6. I add no
chemicals during my weekly changes.

So, I suggest you check your local tap water and if it is useable
consider using no chemicals. A friend of mine was doing all the
cautious stuff for years. She lives in the same small town. Now she
follows my routine and is happy to not fiddle with adjusting the tap
water.

I do not change or wash my filters often, probably more than 4 month
between attention.

[Michi Henning]

"steve" > wrote in message
...
> Hi my father in law has just got a new fish tank. 26 x 14 x 12 inches he
> has lost the first lot of fish through probable cycling and whitespot also
> the LFS told him he could put 9 fish in no problem as long as he chose there
> hardy fish ??? It is has four bunches of plants in it and 4 tiger barbs
> now. We bought the small strip test kits and the nitrite levels were right
> at the top of the scale. What should he do? If a water change is needed
> how much? and how often The barbs are all congregated in a corner of the
> tank saying their last rights also so what is their chance of pulling
> through this.

50% water change immediately. Then check the nitrite levels again. If
still too high, do another 30% water change a few hours later. (Use
a chlorine/chloramine neutralizer, otherwise your fish may die from
chlorine poisoning.)

Then keep monitoring ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate on a daily basis until
ammonia and nitrite are zero, at which point the tank has cycled. Don't
let the nitrate accumulate much beyond about 40ppm.

When you add more fish, add them in batches of a few, maybe a week
or so apart, to give the filter bacteria a chance to catch up with the
increased bio-load.. In general, limit fish additions to about 30% of the
current population at a time.

Cheers,

Michi.
--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com

[Dick]

On Sat, 03 Apr 2004 21:27:30 GMT, "Michi Henning" >
wrote:

>"steve" > wrote in message
...
>> Hi my father in law has just got a new fish tank. 26 x 14 x 12 inches he
>> has lost the first lot of fish through probable cycling and whitespot also
>> the LFS told him he could put 9 fish in no problem as long as he chose there
>> hardy fish ??? It is has four bunches of plants in it and 4 tiger barbs
>> now. We bought the small strip test kits and the nitrite levels were right
>> at the top of the scale. What should he do? If a water change is needed
>> how much? and how often The barbs are all congregated in a corner of the
>> tank saying their last rights also so what is their chance of pulling
>> through this.
>
>50% water change immediately. Then check the nitrite levels again. If
>still too high, do another 30% water change a few hours later. (Use
>a chlorine/chloramine neutralizer, otherwise your fish may die from
>chlorine poisoning.)
>
>Then keep monitoring ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate on a daily basis until
>ammonia and nitrite are zero, at which point the tank has cycled. Don't
>let the nitrate accumulate much beyond about 40ppm.
>
>When you add more fish, add them in batches of a few, maybe a week
>or so apart, to give the filter bacteria a chance to catch up with the
>increased bio-load.. In general, limit fish additions to about 30% of the
>current population at a time.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Michi.

I think Michi's advise better than mine, however I would test the tap
water. Water qualities vary from community to community. Good to
know what you are putting into your tank.

[Andy Hill]

"steve" > wrote:
>Biolife wet dry filter and temp is around 77 F. Many Thanks for everyone's
>advice We done a 30 % water change and nitrite levels halved.
>By doing water changes do you think the process of cycling will take longer.
>
OK, keep an eye on those nitrites -- until the tank is cycled, you'll won't to
control them with water changes (and a detoxifier, preferably).

As long as you don't go nuts with them, water changes won't appreciably slow
down the cycling of the tank. Besides, the whole point is to cycle while
keeping your fish alive, not going for the fastest cycling on record.

[steve]

We now have another problem nitrites still high and one of the barbs has
whitespot. Will medication stop the cycling.

Steve
"Andy Hill" > wrote in message
...
> "steve" > wrote:
> >Biolife wet dry filter and temp is around 77 F. Many Thanks for
everyone's
> >advice We done a 30 % water change and nitrite levels halved.
> >By doing water changes do you think the process of cycling will take
longer.
> >
> OK, keep an eye on those nitrites -- until the tank is cycled, you'll
won't to
> control them with water changes (and a detoxifier, preferably).
>
> As long as you don't go nuts with them, water changes won't appreciably
slow
> down the cycling of the tank. Besides, the whole point is to cycle while
> keeping your fish alive, not going for the fastest cycling on record.

[Andy Hill]

"steve" > wrote:
>We now have another problem nitrites still high and one of the barbs has
>whitespot. Will medication stop the cycling.
>
>Steve
>
Ich / Whitespot meds won't hurt the cycle.