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I have had a 10 gallon tank for almost 3 weeks. 2 female swordtails were added near the end of the first week. It was originally filled with tap water and has since been "topped off" with spring water. The temperature is usually around 76 degrees Fahrenheit. Through periodic (every 3 days or so) water test, the pH has stayed fairly constant at around 8.0 and the ammonia has been around 1.0 ppm. If there are any nitrites or nitrates present, the levels are so low they will not even register on my test kit. 2 days ago, the water started to get a brownish tint and get hazy. Yesterday, the ammonia spiked to 4.0 ppm but the nitrite and nitrates showed no change. Any ideas?

Thanks,
BPS in MS, USA

Hi,

Im still kind of new but I belive i can take a good stab at this. First off, did you use some kind of dechlorinator on the water? If you did not I may know what is going on. The bacteria which turn NH4 into NO2 then to NO3 should not be expected to magically appear. There should have been a small amount of these in the water the fish came with. If there was still Chlorine in the tank water, the bactiera probably died right away and were unable to establish a hold.

Assuming that you didnt dechoronate you will need to intentioanlly begin your cycling now. With an NH4 at 4ppm you will probably want to do a 50% water change at least, dechloronating afterwords to prevent the NH4 from killing your fish. ALso, it is worth consideration as to weather the spring water is cleaner than the tap (if you water from a local creek, not bottled), depends on where you live, and it may also be so cold this time of year that it would need to warm to room temp before adding it. Once you have reduced much of the ammonia via water change, adding biospira (a product which contains the bacteria your tank needs) and following the directions, particularly it asks you to remove any activated carbon, will help your tank establish itself. While it is beginning to cycle you need to not do any more water changes at that time to remove NH4 as it is the bacteria that need to deal with it in the long run. Also make sure that you do not over feed the fish, to help controol the ammonia while the tank cycles.

If the dechoronation was done you should remember that your tank is very small so ammonia can buildup quickly making this unsuprising. In either case the biospira would probably be helpfull.

I expect someone else will chime in and comment on what ive said, but I think this is generally good advice.

Chaos



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- - - Humorous Bit of Wisdom - - -

Cycling time varies, but the ammonia stage is always the longest. Another week or so or maybe more and you'll see nitrite there all of a sudden, and maybe within a week of that it'll drop and nitrate will show, then you'll be rpetty much there

Just keep your cool, if ammonia gets high do a partial water change, but DO NOT vac the gravel, and do not touch the filter through the whole process. The cloudiness you're seeing right now is most likely a bacterial bloom, it happens with new tanks. You may also start to notice a brown film forming on the glass or decorations, that's also normal, it's just brown algae, diatoms, that comes around where there's excess silica in the water (gravel/ most play sands are made from silica, this happens at aquarium start up, perfectly normal)

Keep watching those levels, you're almost there!

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Back in the saddle!

Just a little additional info on my situation...

Yes, the original water was de-chlorinated as has been all tap water added since. The small amounts of spring water that have been used to "top off" the tank have been bottled water, not "true" spring water (I suspect that most bottled water companies don't really use "spring water" as they claim but just plain old tap water and then de-chlorinate!). I have been doing weekly water changes at around 20% of total tank volume. "Cycle", a bio-activator, has been added at the recommended rate of 1ml per gallon of water.

I feel that I am getting close to a full cycle but would feel better if the water would clear and the ammonia would stop spiking dangerously high.

Just keep at it, you're doing a fine job. Once nitrite becomes detectable things will move very quickly.

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Back in the saddle!

dont worrie some tanks can take upto 8 weeks to cycle fully and that is regardless of their size every thing you are doing sounds great. i've seen some people just add some un treated tap water and throw the fish straight in and hope for the best!! its nice to see someone takeing so much time and care, however i dont feel that bottled water is ideal. I have always been told to take water from "THE SAME SOURCE" and using bottled water is just going to either cause PH inbalance if you start to use tap water again or in the long run (if u continue to use bottled water) cost you a lot of money.

just use your normal "TREATED" tap water and keep doing your tests and you will be fine

I hope this helps

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

The water seems to be clearing a bit this evening. I'll do a water test later tonight to see if things are moving in the direction I've been hoping for. Thanks for everyone's input.

Hmmmmmm...Ammonia still registering at around 4.0 ppm tonight even after a 20% water change earlier in the day. Still no sign of nitrites. How high and for how long should I let the ammonia go before it starts to seriously harm the fish? Should I perform a major water change tomorrow so soon after doing one today? Could there be something present that is neutralizing the Cycle bacteria?

Make sure that you treated the water for clouramine (spelling??) a mixture of clorine and ammonia commonly found in tap water.

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

The water conditioner I use is labeled to neutralize chlorine as well as chloramine. I had never even heard of chloramine until I got an aquarium! Kind of makes you wonder what other chemicals are floating in your tap water, doesn't it?

Could there be something present that is neutralizing the Cycle bacteria?

As long as you're not touching the filter or the gravel bed, then no.

Cycling just takes time, that's all. I know it's hard to be patient, but my tank took nearly 2 months to fully cycle. Not saying yours will take that long, but sometimes that's just the way it is. The only thing you can do is not interfere with the natural process. Do another partial water change, but only remove water, and only do 20% max.

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Back in the saddle!

I've heard that increasing airation can help bacteria grow.

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

The ammonia reading could be a false reading, I seem to recall that you used a product called ammo-lock? If so it could be giving you a higher reading than you should have. The test picks up on all ammonia present not just what is toxic to the fish. Keep doing small water changes, don't gravel vac, leave the filter alone and add the 'cycle' as recommended. Once nitrites start showing up it will still take awhile before nitrates show up. It takes on average 21 days before the bacteria that produces nitrate will show up in a tank that has been cycling with 'cycle'. The process speeds up a bit when the tank is 'seeded' from a tank that has matured and already has all the bacteria present.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

Yes, the Ammo Lock labeling says that although it "neutralizes" the ammonia in such a way as it is not detrimental to fish, it can still be detected chemically. It looks like the brown cloudiness I spoke of in earlier postings is most likely brown algae. I have cut back to feeding the swordtails only once a day (I was feeding them twice a day) to reduce excess waste. As a result, the fish seem hungrier during the day and appear to be "grazing" on the algae from the walls and the leaf surfaces.

It's a good thing if the fish are grazing, it is better to underfeed than to overfeed. They will be fine with one or two small feedings rather than one big one.
Don't forget to vary their diet too, a mix of different foods, flake, frozen and live will be better for them than lots of one kind of food as well. Each food has different nutrients in it besides the protein and stuff that is listed. The fish eat varied diets in the wild. Live food can usually bring a mated couple to a breeding frenzy if the conditions are right. You won't need to worry about that until the tank is finished cycling though.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus