Author Topic: Fishless cycling problem (Read 47972 times) 425 replies

barneyadi · « **Reply #360 on:** April 02, 2017, 10:36:59 AM »

All fish made it through the night. And all hungry this morning although the phantoms are missing out a little as the Rasboras are everywhere. Even wetted food to sink it but the Rasboras are beating the Phantoms to it. Could just be they are still settling in, but will keep an eye on things.

Water test this morning, results were:-
Ammonia 0.04ppm
Nitrite 0.05ppm
Nitrate 2.4ppm

So seems the Nitrite bacteria have woken up as these were the results I was getting before adding the new fish.

Littlefish · « **Reply #361 on:** April 02, 2017, 10:51:41 AM »

Glad to hear that all are doing well this morning.

barneyadi · « **Reply #362 on:** April 03, 2017, 03:06:27 PM »

Not lost a fish yet, so hopefully my bad luck is over. One rasbora concerns me but he does go mad when it's dinner time. Quite funny watching all the fish trying to get the food.

barneyadi · « **Reply #363 on:** April 03, 2017, 06:01:38 PM »

Quick questions guys and girls. I have 3 black phantoms, i believe 2 are male and 1 female. The females is hiding and j am wondering if this could be due to the two males?

fcmf · « **Reply #364 on:** April 03, 2017, 06:36:14 PM »

Very likely. Any type of tetra ought to be kept in a shoal of 6+, so ultimately it is best if you can increase their numbers to at least that - and, if possible, try to get more females (so all females if you were planning to get another 3). However, you have been increasing your stocking at quite a rate recently, and don't want to have an adverse effect on the ammonia and nitrite levels, so you may need to hold off a little to see how the situation "pans out" before getting any more. How many fish, and of which species, are currently in the main tank and how many in the quarantine tank, and when were each added to the main tank? We can then advise when it would be appropriate to get additional phantom tetras.

barneyadi · « **Reply #365 on:** April 03, 2017, 08:22:55 PM »

In total there are 6 Harlequin Rasboras and 3 Black Phantoms. 3 of the Rasboras have been in tank a while, whilst the other 3 and phantoms were added on Friday. Both ammonia and nitrite are back to zero. If you remember at one point I had 12 fish.
No fish in QT tank at moment.

fcmf · « **Reply #366 on:** April 03, 2017, 10:44:37 PM »

Ah, that's a (big) relief - I'd misunderstood an earlier message and thought you had added six harlequins at the end of the week and then also added another three plus the three phantoms within the next day or two when the ammonia and nitrite hadn't settled, which had me quite concerned. I can sleep soundly tonight then.

.

As long as the ammonia and nitrite stay at zero, then the addition of more phantoms fairly soon should be ok.

barneyadi · « **Reply #367 on:** April 04, 2017, 02:22:31 PM »

Levels still zero for Nitrite and Ammonia. Maybe add the phantoms later in week, as I am away on 14th, so will give time for them to settle in. Then will have 6 each of Rasboras and Phantoms.

barneyadi · « **Reply #368 on:** April 05, 2017, 06:15:48 PM »

Might have lost one of my phantoms as can't find him anywhere in tank. Maybe he is very good at hiding but knowing my luck that won't be the case.

Littlefish · « **Reply #369 on:** April 05, 2017, 08:05:38 PM »

Keep your eyes on the tank and count the fish whenever you can.
I often have trouble counting my fish, and some are more skilled at hiding than others.
Feeding time can be a good time to try to count, but if they are all darting around after the food it can sometimes keep track of who has already been counted.
Don't lose hope.

barneyadi · « **Reply #370 on:** April 05, 2017, 08:09:31 PM »

It has been missing all day, hence my concern. Even checked in some hiding places but nowhere to be seen, which is a little strange.

barneyadi · « **Reply #371 on:** April 06, 2017, 07:06:45 PM »

Hi Sue, or anyone who can help.

At what level should I start using aquarium salt to help with Nitrite? My reading is 0.2ppm at moment but have added fish today so want to be prepared. And if I use salt, am I right in thinking I don't need to do a water change.

And at what level of Nitrate should I do a water change?

Thanks

Sue · « **Reply #372 on:** April 06, 2017, 07:13:33 PM »

Start using salt as soon as you get a reading for nitrite near 0.25 ppm.

You can just use salt but also do water changes to get rid of nitrite - salt doesn't get rid of it, it just stops nitrite getting into the fish's blood. Since the salt doesn't affect the tester reading, I would try to keep nitrite below 0.5 ppm with water changes and just use salt to help the fish up to that level. The reason for having a small amount of nitrite present is that it will encourage the nitrite eaters to multiply.

When the tank is fully stocked, once a week is good for water changes. You can get away with less often when the tank is under stocked.

barneyadi · « **Reply #373 on:** April 06, 2017, 09:11:29 PM »

Thanks Sue

Just done another check and nitrite has dropped to 0.01 so seems tank has caught up.

Sue · « **Reply #374 on:** April 06, 2017, 09:24:39 PM »

Just realised I didn't actually amswer the nitrates and water changes question.

Once the tank is fully stocked, you should do waer changes once a week regardless of the nitrate level, and the amount to change should be between 30 and 50%. However, if you find the level of nitrate creeps up to more than the tap water level plus 20 just before a water change, you need to do them more often, or a bigger amount.

barneyadi · « **Reply #375 on:** April 09, 2017, 06:01:15 PM »

Just a small update. Everything seems to be running smoothly, the one panther who was missing has still not appeared. So currently have 6 Harlequins and 7 phantoms, 2 male and 5 female. All seem happy and are eating well.

Water parameters steady so hoping they will stay that way for when i am away.

I got some Tetra weekend food sticks for when i am away. It says for a 71l to 110l tank and 19 to 29 fish to use 4 sticks for a 4 to 6 day absence. As i only have 13 fish, do you think 2 sticks should be ok?

adenann · « **Reply #376 on:** April 09, 2017, 06:30:23 PM »

I've used these OK.
I find that the quantity stated by Tetra is about twice what our fish eat.
You should really test if your fish get on with them before you go. Once you're away it's too late.
If you calculated you need two sticks, try using just one now and see how long it lasts for. Then adjust accordingly.

barneyadi · « **Reply #377 on:** April 11, 2017, 05:19:50 PM »

My fish seems to like them but they don't seem to disentigrate, seems to have stopped. Any tips?

fcmf · « **Reply #378 on:** April 11, 2017, 06:57:16 PM »

How long have you had the sticks in the tank for? It might be that they dissolve slowly over time ie might disintegrate in a few hours' time.

I bought a goldfish version of these many years ago, hid it behind some decor, and my goldfish found it and attacked it ferociously until all was consumed within 45mins, so, if one fish learns to do that, it may well dissolve/disintegrate quickly. The food tablets which I use dissolved/disintegrated every now and again over the course of an evening - probably the same as your sticks ought to do although they may be designed to be slower-release - although, once the whale-like tetra (who consumes 50%+ of the food in the tank) discovered that she only has to nudge it with her nose for it to disintegrate, it does so very swiftly.

adenann · « **Reply #379 on:** April 11, 2017, 07:05:20 PM »

No, I don't think they're designed to dissolve. Your fish have to nibble at them when they're hungry. This is why (I think) they last much longer than Tetra advertise. I assume you're running a test now, just stick with it. If they haven't completely gone by the time you're testing for is up, you can either leave the remaining sticks(s) in until completely gone, or take them out and go back to normal feeding.

The dissolving type feeders are a non-starter for me as they're plaster of Paris based and are supposed to slowly dissolve. This is fine, if you don't have hard water, but if you have, they simply don't dissolve so the fish go hungry. If you have soft water, they should dissolve, but in so doing they will disturb the hardness of the tank water. They might also dissolve too quickly and then seriously overfeed the fish. @Sue advised me some time ago not to use this type. It's a bit too hit-and-miss for me so the ones I'd purchased went in the bin.

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Fishless Cycling Problem

Fishless Cycling Problem

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