New tank syndrome
- Thread starter Anthony Fata
- Start date
It should be fine without it, I’ve never used either product and I’ve never had a clouded tank like yours. I think, don’t quote me on it, I think some people have reported using one or both of those products can stall your cycle as well.
You’ll know when your tanknis cycled bc you will have 0 ammonia reading, 0 nitrites, and some nitrates...have you been testing notrites and nitrates?
No I just have an ammonia test at the moment. To be honest I'm not quite sure what that it exactly.. Its been even explained to me but not in detail. I would imagine if the ammonia lowers so will the other, right? I've kinda always summed those up with ammonia and just know its not good for the aquarium lol.
I've been in the hobby for years but I've never had this problem either. Then I was confused when the pet store told me to stop all water changes, they really don't seem to be helping so far either. So I'm not sure what to do at this point. Should I let the water settle for the next couple of days or just continue with water changes and only use prime? I would expect a %70 water change to be sufficient for a few days but I'm no expert. I'm just ready for this to be over and for my fish to be safe. Surley in a week or so I can expect things to stabilize, wouldn't you think?
Last edited:
When I first got into serious fish keeping, the nitrogen cycle baffled me. I was reading too many overly complicated explanations but it's actually quite simple if you don't over analyse it.
Fish waste and decaying matter produce ammonia. Beneficial bacteria (which you're trying to establish with your cycle) consume the ammonia and produce nitrites. Other beneficial bacteria consume the nitrites and convert it to nitrates.
Ammonia = toxic
Nitrites = toxic
Nitrates = not toxic if kept in check
Yes, that's over simplified but easier to understand than a 47 page essay on the subject. lol
Nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia are all part of the cycling process....first ammonia is created by the fish, ammonia is then changed into nitrites by the ammonium “eating” bacteria, then the nitrites are changed into the nitrates by the nitrite “eating” bacteria. Nitrates are the final stage of cycling, the only want to get rid of nitrates are our weekly water changes. When the ammonia and nitrites are 0 that means there’s enough of those bacteria in your tank to manage the bio load of your tank.
You honestly won’t know when the cycle is complete without the other two tests.
With your ammonia not being 0, I can def tell your tank isn’t cycled, however, you don’t even know if nitrites are present in your cycle yet as you can’t test for it.
At this stage I would not let your water changes slack as ammonia is def deadly to your fish. Also your ammonia readings might be wrong bc of the stability and ammonia lock you were using.
My general rules are
Have ammonia or nitrite? Do a water change.
Think you need to do a water change? Do a water change.
Not sure if you need to do a water change? Do a water change.
Don't think you need to do a water change? Do a water change.
Just did a water change? Good, go play video games or something.
Last edited:
