Question: Advice on tank readings (cycling tank)

[Dawn]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of cycling my tank again. It all went pear shaped a few weeks back after adding some river shrimp (and foolishly their bag water). All the shrimp died suddenly and the poor axies got some ammonia burns.

Here is a pic of my reading today, hope its clear to you (the ammonia bottle is slightly more yellow then the picture shows.



As you can see its not looking great yet and I'd really appreciate some advice.

Fear not, the axies are not in there :)

[Jacquie]

Hello Dawn,

Ammonia & Nitrite look to be '0' and Nitrate looks as if it's '40' - Have these readings for Ammonia and Nitrite been at a constant '0' for the last three weeks? If so, your tank is cycled.

If you are still getting an Ammonia reading then the tank has not yet completed the cycle - but it is well on it's way!

[Dawn]

Thats great! Unfortunately this is my first reading since the incident so I cant be sure. Do you recommend testing it once a week for a few weeks then?
Also should I be doing partial water changes even though there are not axies in there?

Thanks so much :)

[Jacquie]

Originally Posted by Dawn

Thats great! Unfortunately this is my first reading since the incident so I cant be sure. Do you recommend testing it once a week for a few weeks then?
Also should I be doing partial water changes even though there are not axies in there?

Thanks so much :)

I would test Ammonia and Nitrite each day to monitor the readings (Nitrate just once a week is fine). If after a week to a fortnight the Ammonia and Nitrite have not budged from '0' - the cycle is fine.

When the axies do a poop, I would throw the poop into the tank to feed the bacterias.

Partial water change once a week should be fine to keep the Nitrate from climbing too high. Nitrate is safe from 10-60.

[Kira]

Just wondering, whats that pH reading?

[Dawn]

Looks like its higher than the card which goes up to 7.6. I'll try reading it with the higher range test.

Thanks so much everyone :)

[Eva]

Originally Posted by Dawn

Thats great! Unfortunately this is my first reading since the incident so I cant be sure. Do you recommend testing it once a week for a few weeks then?
Also should I be doing partial water changes even though there are not axies in there?

Thanks so much :)

Hi Dawn,

In any case, if you are cycling without animals in the tank, you don't need to change the water. A weekly water reading should be fine, too, unless you want to know sooner what's going on. If you have animals in the aquarium, daily water changes and I would recommend testing the water every 12 hours.

-Eva

[Dawn]

you are all superstars thank you :)