i didn't let my 55 gallon tank cycle i know shame on me but what can i do to help keep my fish?

Question

my tank is doing fine and i haven lost any i do have quite a few fish mostlly small guppies tetra things like that.but it is getting a little cloudy

Answer 1

Well, at least you realize that you need to cycle your tank. Some people don't know that at all, so this is a good start. How long have you had the tank? The old, traditional method of cycling involved using fish. Although the fish were put in a little bit after the water was put in the tank, we still can use this method for you and the guppies should be sturdy enough fish that they might be okay. First, you need to get some beneficial bacteria added to your tank. You can add some Bio-Spira or Cycle or, another suggestion some have, is to get some established bacteria from an already cycled aquarium, however, this can be dangerous because there may be diseases in that aquarium. If you know that you can absolutely trust the quality of that aquarium, this is a good way to do it. Either way, this will add some beneficial bacteria to the water and get the process under way a bit faster. The first thing that one usually does to get get a tank cycling is raise the temperature of the tank, if possible to 82-84 degrees F. Your guppies could handle this, however, your tetras very well could not. Raising the temperature only speeds up the cycling process, so this isn't a necessary thing to do. Next, keep your tank only 55-60% full of water. This allows for the water coming out of the filter to "fall harder" into the tank, thus aerating the water more. Also, the more airstones and bubblers you can add the better to add to the aeration. Never turn off the filter. Every couple of days, do a 10%-15% water change. The more you can keep the light on the better, but as you have fish in the tank who need "time out" from the lights, you could keep the lights on during the day and into the evening, but you would need to turn them off during the overnight. Again, more light just speeds up the process and is not drop-dead necessary. And then, just keep checking your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates levels. When it is fully cycled, they should read 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites and 40 or less ppm nitrates. With fish already in the tank, this is all that you can do. With some careful monitoring, you should be fine! Good luck!

Answer 2

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/startupcycle/Step_5_The_Cycle.htm

Read through the articles on there. Do a search for doing a fish cycle on the tank as well. You'll want to be sure to buy a test kit to test the water parameters. And, you'll need to do small daily water changes to help dilute the toxins in the water. This will prolong the cycle a bit, but will help keep the fish alive. Also, some aquarium salt at a dosage of 1 tablespoon for every 5 gallons helps when the nitrites are high. It aids in their gill function. Ideally, a pet store near you will sell some BioSpira, it's expensive, and must remain refrigerated, but will instantly cycle your tank. You can also try using Prime by Seachem. It's supposed to detoxify the bad toxic stuff to a safer form for the fish, but still leave it there for the tank to cycle properly. That's probably your best bet.

Answer 3

are you adding any source of ammonia? this is what the fist set of 'bugs' eat, if you haven't added any ammonia, how can the tank cycle? firstly, you will be adding ammonia, then when the ammonia starts getting 'eaten' everyday, the nitrites will start spiking. Keep adding ammonia. This is when the second set of 'bugs' start growing, they 'eat' the nitrite. Eventually the ammonia and nitrites will go down in numbers and the nitrates will show up. When the tank is finished cycling and ready for fish, when you add ammonia in the morning, when you test later that day it should read 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and some nitrates. Then you do a large water change to get rid of the excess nitrates, and now you can add fish. Adding fish before this is not safe.

Answer 4

a little cloudy is a bacteria bloom. you are going to have that when you add a bunch of fish at once. you can try to reduce this with a beneficial bacteria in a bottle product like cycle or stress zyme. If you do water changes while it is cloudy it will stay cloudy. wait a few days and do a gravel vacuum 25% water change. then wait 3 or 4 more days and do it again.

underfeed your fish right now. more food is more mess. make sure they are eating everything in about a minute.

Answer 5

well 2/3 days after you've added your fish the water does get cloudy but the good news is that it does clear up( even better if you've got a filter) i also got a small tank and i didnt cycle it ( i know shame on me) but i bought some water conditioner to help make the water safer i would recomand u doing this. also after a week or so u should do a 20% water change. if your tank is clean and well conditioned your fishies should be okay.

Answer 6

over load on Cycle or any other type of biological boost (denitrifying enzymes). For the cloudyness, it could be a bacteria bloom, algae bloom, dirty water or new tank syndrome. It depends on the colour of the cloudyness, each will be treated different. An expert in a pet store should be able to identify it and turn you in the right direction you just send me a message.

Answer 7

Hi there. This article may help you with your needs. Call around and see which pet store would test your water for free. You can even make small water changes to get things right.http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php I believe things will go very well. Have a great day.

Answer 8

Replace half of the water with clean bottled water No chlorine. The Guppies should be fine but the tetras are more sensitive to cloudy water.

Answer 9

youcan get that stuff from the pet store, called aqua something {i cant remmeber the name} anyway, what it does, is helps make sure all the chlorine is out, and its supposed to help with the stuff that fish are supposed to have on them to help protect them.

i used to have a Betta, and i would change out his water once a week, {all the water except for a fairly small portion} he did just fine.. i had him for close to a year, before i moved, then i gave him to someone else...

Answer 10

CLEAN THE WATER CLEAN THE WATER CLEAN THE WATER CLEAN THE WATER CLEAN THE WATER CLEAN THE WATER CLEAN THE WATER