# help me translate these test readings



## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

nitrites at 0 ppm
ammonia at 0.50
nitrates at 0 ppm
pH 7.4

my tank has been set up for about 3 weeks now 

i tested last week and ammonia was at 0.25 ppm last week and pH was at 7.8

how is this for it being about 3 weeks old

i used an API master test kit


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## Nightshade (Dec 29, 2009)

Translation: Your tank is not yet cycled.

Are you cycling with or without fish?


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

Nightshade said:


> Translation: Your tank is not yet cycled.
> 
> Are you cycling with or without fish?


for the first week i didnt, i waited for the bacterial bloom to go away, so after a week i put in 2 angel fish and 2 catfish, then a week later 2 more catfish and a 3 sunset fire platys

over the past week since my last test the pH went down a little and ammonia went up from 0.25 to 0.50 ppm nitrite and nitrate stayed at 0 which im assuming is a good thing and once all 3 hit 0 thats when its cycled.

are these pretty normal reading for the first couple weeks?

im coming up on my one month next week and have to do my 25% water change, should i do that once the tank has cycled or do it next week regardless if the tank has cycled?


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## Nightshade (Dec 29, 2009)

What size is the tank?
With that many fish I'm surprised your ammonia is only at .5. This time can be the most frustrating part of fish keeping. As far as your test results go you are looking for not only the ammonia to drop to 0 but to see a spike in nitrites (unless you test daily you will most likely miss this stage) and then they will drop to 0 and you will test possitive for nitrates. This means your aquarium is cycled. Nitrate is the end product of of the cycle. At this point I wouldn't worry about the ph to much. The ammonia is what WILL kill your fish if allowed to climb to high. If the tank is on the smaller side (10-30gal) I would test daily. Because you are cycling with fish try to keep the ammonia around .25 to .5. You want to have some ammonia in there for the bacteria to eat so they can establish themselves, so if you are testing .5 do a 50% water change to bring it down to .25. Any ammonia at all is harmful to your fish so don't be surprised or discouraged if you lose a few, especially the angels as they can be finicky about water quality.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Well, I hope that tank is in the 40-55 range at least. Adding that many fish that fast even in an established tank can be bad. Definitely test daily. Your ammonia is going to spike pretty high probably if it is a smaller tank and you'll need to keep on top of it. You may find it hard to keep ammonia and nitrite (when they start showing up) in a lower reading, but as long as you can keep it at 1 or below your fish should be fine, but you should keep a close eye on them. First sign of stress, do a water change.


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

Your readings don't look right. Given all the fish you added you should have high ammonia and nitrite reading and the biginnings of some nitrate levels. Whenever you add fish during the cycling process, you set the cycling process back a few weeks and ammonia levels start over again. Your readings tell me that your cycling process is starting over again because of the added fishes. My experience has been that Angelfish and Catfish aren't very good cycling fishes, they don't like high Ammonia and Nitrite levels


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Depends on if you have plants in there.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

beaslbob said:


> Depends on if you have plants in there.


its a 50 gallon tank, with a couple of plastic plants


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Jack Harkness said:


> its a 50 gallon tank, with a couple of plastic plants


the reason I asked is because live plants prefer to consume ammonia directly so it is possible to have low or no ammonia and nitrIte spikes as bacteria build up. then when the bacteria are there the plants start conumsing nitrates.

With not plants or heavy algae it looks like you are at the start of the cycle.


my .02


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

beaslbob said:


> the reason I asked is because live plants prefer to consume ammonia directly so it is possible to have low or no ammonia and nitrIte spikes as bacteria build up. then when the bacteria are there the plants start conumsing nitrates.
> 
> With not plants or heavy algae it looks like you are at the start of the cycle.
> 
> ...


is it too late to put live plants in there, should i wait until the cycle is done? the aquarium is pretty dull with only 2 plants and the gravel


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Jack Harkness said:


> is it too late to put live plants in there, should i wait until the cycle is done? the aquarium is pretty dull with only 2 plants and the gravel




never too late.

I would add some anacharis and vals. they are fast growing plants to help keep up with the bioload. then feed the fish very lightly.


my .02


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

beaslbob said:


> never too late.
> 
> I would add some anacharis and vals. they are fast growing plants to help keep up with the bioload. then feed the fish very lightly.
> 
> ...


petco has some live plants, ill have to check them out and tomorrow and see if theyre vals and anacharis


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> Well, I hope that tank is in the 40-55 range at least. Adding that many fish that fast even in an established tank can be bad. Definitely test daily. Your ammonia is going to spike pretty high probably if it is a smaller tank and you'll need to keep on top of it. You may find it hard to keep ammonia and nitrite (when they start showing up) in a lower reading, but as long as you can keep it at 1 or below your fish should be fine, but you should keep a close eye on them. First sign of stress, do a water change.


what would be a sign of stress, one of the catfish is i noticed, his color isnt as dark as when i first got him, and my 3 platys dont hang around with each other as much as they used and one just stays at the top most of the time


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Jack Harkness said:


> what would be a sign of stress, one of the catfish is i noticed, his color isnt as dark as when i first got him, and my 3 platys dont hang around with each other as much as they used and one just stays at the top most of the time


Those can be signs of stress. Any time they act out different than what may be or what you think is the norm could be a sign of stress. Have you tested your water?


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## ReStart (Jan 3, 2011)

I think that for the average person, this cycling business is too much like rocket science. Having said that, you MUST keep ammonia and nitRITE levels low or you will loose fish. (nitRATE levels are not as critical but under 40 is best) 

Test them daily and do water changes to bring the levels down to something the fish can stand. Then be patient. Over the next month or two things will straighten out and you can add more fish, a few at a time. Continue to test, especially after new fish. I do 30% wc weekly and feel this helps. Plants, most any sort will help, imo.

Some of this I learned the hard way over the course of the last months. Most of my fish survived a "gang cycle" but I did loose 3 neons and my beautiful female Lyertail Mollie got the fungus (stress from bad water). After the cure, she is now blind. She does not have the white eyeballs but I can tell. She stays at the top just waiting for food and I make sure she gets enough. She is doing pretty well for a blind fish. The male is around her all the time and actually seems protective of her.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

i think the platys were just sleeping and thats why the one was at the top, but the one catfish out of 4 looks like hes shedding

all my other fish look perfectly fine except for that one, ill test my water now and tell you the results

will doing water changes reset my cycle?


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

nitrites and nitrates are at 0ppm right now

im testing ammonia right now


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## ReStart (Jan 3, 2011)

Yeah, I think it will upset the cycle balance a (little)bit doing wc, especially if it's like 50% everyday. I was told at the lfs that most of the good bacteria live on sturcture and not in the water so you are not throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

But, like someone said to me a few weeks ago, "You have to keep those levels low enough for the fish to survive, otherwise there is no point." 25% wc/day did that and the fish managed for the most part. I think tanks go through lot's of mini-cycles but we just miss most of them after the setup and fish introduction.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

nitrites and nitrates are at 0ppm right now

ammonia is at 1.0


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

should i do a water change with those test readings?

i think the only reason that one catfish looks funny is because when i first got him he was shaped funny and i felt bad for it so i got it


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

As long as it doesn't get higher than 1, I'd say you were okay. It may require you to check a few times a day to make sure it keeping at or below. If it gets above do a water change.

Take a pic of the one fish you say is peeling and post it. You may have some type of fungal issue going on.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> As long as it doesn't get higher than 1, I'd say you were okay. It may require you to check a few times a day to make sure it keeping at or below. If it gets above do a water change.
> 
> Take a pic of the one fish you say is peeling and post it. You may have some type of fungal issue going on.


hes hiding in one of the plants right now, ill try to get a picture of him, my camera is telling me to recharge my battery so ill get one in a few minutes, hes looking a little better than he did yesterday, my one month water change is coming up in a few days anyway so i suppose it wont hurt to do it a bit early


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

the first picture are 2 healthy ones, the second picture will be the questionable one


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

and when i do my water change do i keep the filter running or turn it off?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Not sure what you mean by monthly water change? I hope that you do them more often than that? Espeically while cycling a tank. Once you're past that, up to you as long as you test your water and control your stocking and feeding levels.

I turn off my filters when I do my water changes. Just easier to me because I have plants and the filters will beat up the bottom and root up my plants.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> Not sure what you mean by monthly water change? I hope that you do them more often than that? Espeically while cycling a tank. Once you're past that, up to you as long as you test your water and control your stocking and feeding levels.
> 
> I turn off my filters when I do my water changes. Just easier to me because I have plants and the filters will beat up the bottom and root up my plants.


ive been told to change 20-25% once a month


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Bad idea IMO. If you check all of your levels and they are all within an acceptable level, then maybe you can do that. However, without that information I wouldn't attempt it. 25% is the minimum I would do, but I would do it no longer than a week apart. Don't get me wrong, people get away with it everyday and it works for them. Personally, I don't want to chance it. I change 50% a week on all of my tanks and I have 3 fairly large ones and 5 total. I know the work it takes and it's just too easy for me not to. I do it regardless of what my readings are.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> Bad idea IMO. If you check all of your levels and they are all within an acceptable level, then maybe you can do that. However, without that information I wouldn't attempt it. 25% is the minimum I would do, but I would do it no longer than a week apart. Don't get me wrong, people get away with it everyday and it works for them. Personally, I don't want to chance it. I change 50% a week on all of my tanks and I have 3 fairly large ones and 5 total. I know the work it takes and it's just too easy for me not to. I do it regardless of what my readings are.


i suppose i can do it once a week from now on, i just have to get a siphon to make it a bit easier to do.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

For a 50 all you would need is a 5-gal bucket and a gravel vacuum. All I used until it became cold outside and I couldn't bring the outside hose in the house....even with 2-125g tanks.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> For a 50 all you would need is a 5-gal bucket and a gravel vacuum. All I used until it became cold outside and I couldn't bring the outside hose in the house....even with 2-125g tanks.


i just did a 25% water change with 2; 1 gallon jugs, took about half an hour to do, all i need to get is a gravel vacuum, theyre pretty expensive at petco so ill probably get one on amazon, ive never used one before.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

you have a 125 gallon tank in your house? i hope you have a good foundation on that floor its on


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Jack Harkness said:


> you have a 125 gallon tank in your house? i hope you have a good foundation on that floor its on


I have two. One is in a corner so I know for sure it would never be a prob. The other is next to a load bearing wall. I'm also on a crawl space. They weigh 14-1500lbs.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Jack Harkness said:


> i just did a 25% water change with 2; 1 gallon jugs, took about half an hour to do, all i need to get is a gravel vacuum, theyre pretty expensive at petco so ill probably get one on amazon, ive never used one before.


This is all you need. The x-large one is only $16.99. I think it is the one I have.
Top Fin® Gravel Vacuums - Aquarium Maintenance - Fish - PetSmart


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> I have two. One is in a corner so I know for sure it would never be a prob. The other is next to a load bearing wall. I'm also on a crawl space. They weigh 14-1500lbs.


thats crazy, so i take it these are on the 1st floor? i dont think i can trust 1500 pounds concentrated on one spot on a second floor unless it was specially supported for that much weight


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Yes, on the first floor.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> This is all you need. The x-large one is only $16.99. I think it is the one I have.
> Top Fin® Gravel Vacuums - Aquarium Maintenance - Fish - PetSmart


so where does the water go after the vacuum sucks it up? i was on amazon and saw one that it sucks up the water and rocks and the water passes through a sort of filter and out the other side leaving any debris in the filter


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

The one I linked to has a hose that connects to the barrell-looking piece that you would stick into your 5-gallon bucket. When it fills you empty the bucket.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> The one I linked to has a hose that connects to the barrell-looking piece that you would stick into your 5-gallon bucket. When it fills you empty the bucket.


so i take it that the sucking end isnt wide enough to let the gravel pass through?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

It is, just usually not strong enough to suck up standard size gravel. Some planted gravels are light and can be sucked up, but you control how hard it goes into your gravel.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> It is, just usually not strong enough to suck up standard size gravel. Some planted gravels are light and can be sucked up, but you control how hard it goes into your gravel.


ill head up to a petsmart my next day off work, maybe tomorrow if i have time and pick one up.

thanks a lot for all your help, since i did my 25% change today ill let it settle and test again after work and see if my ammonia went down


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

so i went to petsmart and picked up some anacharis and a topfin gravel filter like the one you posted here, the one made for 40-50 gallon tank was way too big, the vacuum part itself was twice as tall as the tank so i got the next size smaller

i forgot to take into consideration that my tank is long and not tall.

and one of my angel fish decided to eat the anacharis for the first few minutes it was in the tank, hopefully the plants will get a chance to grow before getting eating


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