Fully Cycled?

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Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 30, 2009
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Oregon
MFK!!!! Whats up my peeps? I have concern with bio cycle. How do you know that your water is fully cycled? I have been faced with a symptom of cloudy water that would not clear up. I never really been one for testing my water... I just assumed that frequent water changes would keep my water in optimal conditions. I was wrong!!! After I tried using a uv sterilizer for 2 weeks with no success... I got worried and decided to look deeper. In my deeper look, I found that I had an ammonia problem in my tank and followed the trail to find the root cause. Apparently I did too frequent water changes and over-cleaned my substrate which is home to the beneficial bacteria needed to keep my bio-cycle going. In return, I had high ammonia levels and lowered ph along with cloudy water and a new Red Devil with a slight ammonia burn. I added ammonia chips to my filter 2 days ago and since then, my ammonia levels are under control again. I also added salt and raised my temp in case the whitish film on my fish was not caused by the ammonia levels. I had concern because it was a new addition to my setup. I dont have space for a quarantine tank. Anyway, the key learnings of this for me was:
1.) not over-clean my sand. I would stir my sand and let all the crap settle then vacuum with the python at EVERY water change (~30-35% twice a week).
2.) Test my parameters at least once a month.
My question is... how do I know when my tank is cycled enough and its ok to perform another WC?
 
When you have a problem you should post info. IE- tank size, filtration, lighting and stock. The more you tell about your set up the more help you will get.

If your tank is not cycled or you are having problems you need to test your water every day until you get it sorted out. Water changes and Prime will keep the levels safe until your tank fully cycles. Cut down on feeding until your tank stabilizes.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224559

The nitrogen cycle:
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_ciclo.php
 
Your problem is not from cleaning your subsrate too much. It's probably form not enough filtration your tank not cycled or from you cleaning out your filter media.
What size is your tank?
Stock list?
Filtration?
And w/c frequency before you notice the ammonia?
How long has your tank been running?
 
Ok... So I have a 75 gallon with 2 filters that are rated to handle up to 60 gallons a piece. In other words, my filtration should be able to handle a 120 gallon setup. I have a 24 watt Green Killing machine UV sterilizer that I have been running for about 2 weeks now, my lighting include 2 48" florescent bulbs (IDK wattage.) One of which came with my 75 gallon set-up and one that I had on my old 55gallon setup. My current stock include 3 silver dollars about 5-6", 1 Red Devil about 6", a common pleco about 6" and a 7.5" marbled pleco. Whenever I rinse my filter media, I use water that was removed from my tank during a water change. This setup have been running for about 4-5 months and I increased my water change regemine because I switched from gravel to black sand and it shows every turd that my fish made. I recently just traded 5 5-6" red belly piranha for the Marbled Sailfin Pleco and Red Devil. I fed my piranha well to keep aggression down and cleaned about 30-35% twice a week ever since I had this tank set up and running. Looking back, I do remember having my water clear then over the course of a few weeks got slightly cloudy after water changes. Then it got to the point where it was extremely cloudy and I used an algae killer which made the water clear up for a week or so but then it went downhill again. I learned that the algae killer may have caused a spike in my ammonia levels and caused a dominoe effect on my bio cycle and water quality. So you guys don't think stirring my sand with every water change is a problem? How often should I be doing this? Right now my water is clear and my ammonia is under control again. I added salt and raised the temp as a precaution to adding new fish. My PH is still at 6.0 though. The tap water ph is 7.6... how long should I wait before doing another WC? Thanks for all your help.
 
This happened to me with my first tank and its because I didn't make sure I had proper water perimeters . Took me about 2 months to get crystal clear water. But I still only used time to clear up my tank back then . But now i moved onto chemicals they are needed in keeping your fish happy.
 
I guess thats my problem... I don't really like the use of chemicals. Nothing more than I need... which unfortunately is more than I like to use. I did a 50% water change today and my ammonia is down to 1ppm. Should I do another 50% tomorrow or would it be too stressful on my fish. The only one in my tank that seems to be affected by the poor parameters is my Red Devil/Midas. Its bothering me to see my fish all listless and not showing the personality that I saw at my LFS. Please help. I need some good advise. Thanks
 
I haven't used any "chemicals" in any of my tanks in about a dozen years... except for dechlorinator...

Water changes are far less stressful on fish than living in polluted water...
 
OK... so I am using API ammo chips in my filter. They dont seem to work at all!!! My ammonia levels seem to drop best when I did a 50% WC. Only thing now is my RD seem to be in worse condition. Would it be too stressful if I just took him out of the tank and put him in a bucket with fresh water using Prime? I dont want this fish to die. Or should I wait until tomorrow and do another 50% WC. My concern is that he will get worse after the WC. He actually seemed to perk up after the WC but then I checked my parameters and was not happy so I started to dose my tank. Today, I added Nitraban which advertise on the bottle that it helps with water parameters and cuts down on maintenance but it warned that I would need extra air bubbles in the tank as it depletes oxygen so I added a power-head I had sitting around. I also used PH up as my ph is 6.0 and added fresh ammonia chips. My Nitrites is still reading 0ppm and I'm not sure about nitrates but I do have a moderately planted tank. I'm wondering if I just did too much at once. Should I have just done the WC and left it at that? I'm really frustrated about this... I even left work early tonight to check on my fish. Please give advice. Thanks.
 
For anyone who cares... My RD/Midas is doing fine now. I took him out of my tank and kept him in a bucket with fresh water over night and did a 50% water change. My ammonia is at .50 ppm now. I added him back to the tank while on my lunch break and he's doing fine. My wife even noticed that he looked a lot happier. I still have not gotten him to eat... I'm a lil worried about that but at least he's swimming around normally without that whitish film over its body with its fins clamped. I put a mirror up to the tank and he immediately attacked. I plan to do another 50% WC in a few hours which I expect the ammonia to drop to about 0.25 ppm. Thanks to all who gave input. It was greatly appreciated. Be on the lookout for pics... maybe in a few days once I get him eating like he should. This fish is a stunner and I expect him to only get better over time with proper conditions and quality food.
 
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