I need help making a decision

[RuthlessAggression]

Alright, I've had my tank set up for a month and a half. I think its still going through the nitrogen cycle but im not sure. I have fish in there and the water is always cloudy and the ammonia is sky high, I use the API test kit at work and it read the ammonia at 8.0! and the ph was 7.8. Now, i've tried water changes, aquaclear zero carb, ammonia remover, i even put on another filtration unit; a marineland because of the bio-wheel. I've added API stress zyme and Nutrafin's Cycle for the beneifical bacteria and nothing has changed. My nitrates and nitirite are at 0. Now, my water source is from my basement sink, cuz of tired of the ammonia and the cloudiness, I decided to test the water from my kitchen sink. After the tests, the ammonia was .25, nitrate was 5.0, nitrite was .25 and the ph was 7.6-7.8 (I couldnt tell). So my question is, should I use the water from my kitchen or stay with the water from my basement?? Thanks

You're not supposed to do water changes when you're cycling a tank for the first time, all you need to do is fill the tank with water add the appropritate amount of water condition to the water, and have the filter and heater running at all times if you're starting a tropical tank and have the lights on as long as possible through out the day. Also lots of oxygenation will help with the cycling process. Use air stones. During this time you should have everything running at all times.

 

[Dark Jester]

You're not supposed to do water changes when you're cycling a tank for the first time, all you need to do is fill the tank with water add the appropritate amount of water condition to the water, and have the filter and heater running at all times if you're starting a tropical tank and have the lights on as long as possible through out the day. Also lots of oxygenation will help with the cycling process. Use air stones. During this time you should have everything running at all times.

Water changes are needed if the ammonia level is higher than what will allow the cycle to happen. In this case, it is. Running the tank at higher than 3 is pretty much just hurting the fish while providing no benefit.

 

[jeep07]

Alright. I just did a 70% water change and tested the water 20 minutes later. The ammonia was a little hard to tell cuz it was light green and darker green. I say it was 3-4. So, tomorrow, I will do a slightly higher water change. But I think im on the right track guys

 

[kdrun76]

Your test kit maxes out at 8, so any value higher than 8 also reads 8.

Ruthlessagression: you are wrong. You are not mistaken, you are wrong. Very,very wrong.

 

[jeep07]

I just did a 80% water change and the ammonia read at 1!!!! Yesss. But the nitrite read at 0 again, how long should I expect to wait till the reading goes up?

 

[kdrun76]

From the time the ammonia was low enough to allow the bacteria to grow, to the first nitrite reading is typically about 5-7 days. Ammonia will be gone by about 10 days and the nitrites will start to get real high. The nitrites stage can go either fast or slow, I have seen both. Slow means you have nitrites for 6-8 weeks. Fast means you have nitrites for about 2.5-3 weeks.

 

[jeep07]

So i should be doing 80% water changes daily untill my nitrites are higher and nitrates start to pick up?

 

[RuthlessAggression]

Your test kit maxes out at 8, so any value higher than 8 also reads 8.

Ruthlessagression: you are wrong. You are not mistaken, you are wrong. Very,very wrong.

Please educate yourself on things you do not know about before making obscene comments

 

[NCStateFisher]

Please educate yourself on things you do not know about before making obscene comments

This should be interesting

 

[TheRealAndyCook]

This should be interesting

this is about to be the most epic thread ever.