Amonia Levels In New Tank - Confused

[dan the man]

hi there guys

finally got my 4ft tank set up about 3 days ago and im a little confused as to what to expect in terms of amonia spikes etc etc

had a look at some tutorials on the net, however they mention nothing about the time frame it takes too get things running

ive got 9 small fish in there, and i just did an amonia test and it says that the amonia is around 0.25 mg/L with the Ph at around 8 - from whattt i have read i thought the reading should be higher than this...

how long will it take rougly for the amonia levels to spike sharply with the setup i have? should i add a few more small fish to speed things up slightly?

also is my Ph too high?

cheers :)

[helenf]

hi there guys

finally got my 4ft tank set up about 3 days ago and im a little confused as to what to expect in terms of amonia spikes etc etc

had a look at some tutorials on the net, however they mention nothing about the time frame it takes too get things running

ive got 9 small fish in there, and i just did an amonia test and it says that the amonia is around 0.25 mg/L with the Ph at around 8 - from whattt i have read i thought the reading should be higher than this...

how long will it take rougly for the amonia levels to spike sharply with the setup i have? should i add a few more small fish to speed things up slightly?

also is my Ph too high?

cheers style_emoticons/default/smile.gif
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Certainly don't add any more fish! That will increase the size of your ammonia spike (and in a 4-foot tank you're going to be changing enough water to drive you nuts anyway) and expose even more fish to the dangers of elevated ammonia and nitrite, which isn't a kind thing to do. The thing that takes the time is waiting for the bacteria to grow. Your ammonia is clearly already rising and making it rise faster isn't going to do anything, since the bacteria can't grow any faster than they naturally do. Better to aim for the lowest ammonia levels possible while the tank cycles, by feeding less and doing plenty of water changes, as this is safer for the fish.

Most people nowadays go for the fishless cycling method, which is faster and doesn't risk the health of the fish. Is it possible to return the fish you bought, do a fishless cycle, then go buy more fish? if so, I'd suggest that, as its much safer for the fish. Basically any non-zero level of ammonia or nitrite will be doing permanent damage to the fish, much like a human breathing in even low levels of any very toxic chemical.

What kind of fish do you have in the tank? if they are sensitive types, like most tetras, goldfish, or catfish, you'll have to be even more careful to keep the ammonia and nitrite under control.

The tutorials don't say how long it takes a tank to cycle because it differs for each tank. I think the average is about a month. Two weeks of rising ammonia and then two weeks of rising nitrite after that, before it all settles down. But some tanks are faster or slower than that.

Keep measuring the ammonia and nitrite, at least twice a day. If either gets higher than about 1ppm do a partial water change to reduce that level back to under 1ppm. And wait. The bacteria will grow in time, and once the ammonia and nitrite have both dropped back to zero, you can start slowly adding other fish.

Whether a pH of 8 is too high will depend on the kind of fish you have. You need to research the care requirements of the species you have. You'll find a suggested pH range for each kind of fish. If your pH is slightly too high for your fish you might be able to lower it, but its often better to let the fish you have adapt to the water you have, assuming its not way too high for them. In general it is better to choose your fish to suit your water than the other way around.

[GoGuppy]

Take your time, don't try to rush things, as Helen said, it doesn't work that way when cycling a tank.
Cheers