hello; others may have better information but if nitrates are not showing up then my guess is the cycle is not complete. Here is a link to an article that may be of value.
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/nitrogen_cycle.html
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/nitrogen_cycle.html
I agree with Skjl47, and in that tiny tank (too tiny(its no more than a puddle) for an oscar IMO), I would think every other day water changes will be needed forever to keep it from scarring out with HITH as it ages.
Hi
S
skjl47
,
Yes, I know that he ate the barbs.
I don't think it's tannins from the driftwood causing the cloudy water because I did boil it and soak it for weeks before I put it in, but it's still possible I suppose.
I'm also aware that the cycle is incomplete and that the bacteria populations have to adjust to the oscar. My question was that it seems to be taking an awfully long time. :/
duanes
, my oscar is four years old and has never had any health problems so far. I believe the minimum tank size for an oscar is 55g, but I guess it's a matter of personal choice and experience. In his old aquarium (which was almost the same size), I was able to keep the water quality adequate with weekly 30% water changes. Thank you for your concern, though
Yes, I know that he ate the barbs.
I don't think it's tannins from the driftwood causing the cloudy water because I did boil it and soak it for weeks before I put it in, but it's still possible I suppose.
I'm also aware that the cycle is incomplete and that the bacteria populations have to adjust to the oscar. My question was that it seems to be taking an awfully long time. :/
duanes
, my oscar is four years old and has never had any health problems so far. I believe the minimum tank size for an oscar is 55g, but I guess it's a matter of personal choice and experience. In his old aquarium (which was almost the same size), I was able to keep the water quality adequate with weekly 30% water changes. Thank you for your concern, though
I agree with Skjl47's assessment. Your initial stocking with 6 barbs was too small. A large amount of the BB may have died off as a result. My estimate is that for three weeks you were only adding .03 ppm ammonia per day, or roughly .13 nitrate per day. With water changes your nitrate would have still been below 1 after 3 weeks and might appear to be zero.
What size is your Oscar and how much are you feeding it when you feed it? Also, can you post a current nitrate test?
What size is your Oscar and how much are you feeding it when you feed it? Also, can you post a current nitrate test?
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Most Oscars get bigger then 12 inches which is the depth of a 55
Yeah, I agree. I think the BB would have been better off if I put the oscar in immediately, or got more tiger barbs but, alas, here we are.
He's about 10 inches, I think (though it's hard to measure because he starts wiggling and begging for food whenever I get near the tank). I feed him 10-ish medium-sized cichlid pellets per day. Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by post a current nitrate test? I already said I was getting nothing...
Sorry, it was 63 gallons actually. I meant almost the same size as this one, not a 55g. The nitrates were usually around 10ppm.
hello; then this is current. This seems to indicate not a complete cycle.
Lets see if I am following your situation. You had the Oscar in a different tank, correct? If that tank is still going perhaps some gravel, media or such can be robbed from that. Such things will be loaded with bb in an established tank and will create a quick cycled tank. If not the old Oscar tank then perhaps another cycled tank??
Yeah, the old oscar tank's no longer running but I'll steal some gravel from my 75L. Thanks!
