FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Hi. I have 2 balloon mollies, and 5 mixed platy fry rescued from a filthy, overstocked tank. They are all between a 1/2 inch and an inch in length excluding tails. I have them in a 3 gallon Kritter Keeper with a Small World filter and an air stone. I've been changing 1/3 of the water and siphoning the gravel every other day. I'm cycling a 10 gal for them. Parameters are ammonia 0, Nitrite .50, nitrates 20. I'm dosing 1/8 teaspoon of ammonia daily. My question is is it possible to put the fish in the 10 gal now to finish the cycle? I'm afraid I'll lose them in that little box they are currently in. Thanks

put in just the mollies, they are sensitive and will tell you if and when its safe. i use my mollies to tell when im done with a cycle

they are sensitive and will tell you if and when its safe

And how do they tell you that? By not dying? Doesn't sound too nice to me.

Caviar - How long are you cycling for already? Seems like you are almost there by now, given that the NO3 is so high. Has the NO2 ever been higher than 0.5? If so then I would assume you are almost over the hump and it should fall even further. Once it is close to zero then add the first few fishies, maybe all the fry. A week later add one Molly, and another week later the second. This should be safe enough.

BTW, I think when fully grown your 10G will be loaded just by these fish alone, but that is a thread for some other time.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I've into the 3rd week of cycling. The nitrites went as high as .75. They have been at .50 for 2 days now. I think I'll ride it out to completion. It shouldn't be too much longer. Thanks for the replies geminilyretail and LITTLE_FISH. I'm only keeping these guys until they are grown enough to go to my LFS. I just couldn't leave them in the sewer they were in. Thanks again.

Mollies are one of the hardier species and sometimes used to cycle tanks because they don't die when the tank isn't safe.

I would just wait it out or at least wait a few more days until the nitrites drop some more. The tank will probably be cycled in a couple days and at least within a week. I do wonder though with your nitrites only topping out at .75 if the tank has a large enough bacteria population for all the fish. Generally during fishless cycling you get rather high numbers such as 8-10nitrites. I suggest monitoring the tank very carefully when you first add the fish and unless they are very young not feeding them for the first couple days to let the bacteria populations adjust. Even if the bacteria population is too low it will be easier to keep this tank stable than the other one and if necessary will catch up to the bioload within a couple days.

And how do they tell you that? By not dying? Doesn't sound too nice to me

no, if you know how your fish ack, then they can be a very good juge of water peramiters. if a fish that is very active becomes slugish you know that its not safe yet. i dont knowingly kill fish nor condone it

Good morning. I didn't originally put in the recommended dose of ammonia, trying to judge the output of the wee ones. The nitrites are at approximately .4 this morning so they are coming down. I'm letting the tank run it's course before adding the fish. Thanks to all. This is a terrific site! Gotta go vote!

Sounds good Caviar

geminilyretail - I completely agree with your statement that fish "can be a very good juge of water perameters", in particular when "you know how your fish act."

The problem I see in this particular case here is that moving fish from one environment to another most likely will conclude in some difference in how the fish acts. I would without a doubt gage changes in a fish's behavior within the same tank as a change in water conditions, but while moving the fish there may be other things at play.

Also, I believe your initial entry in this thread may have been more helpful if you had given a longer explanation with regards on how the fish tells you that something is not right. Do you know what I mean? No offense though, just trying to help.

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club