Tank Cycling - the hard way

[campo]

I moved my 4 Discus and 4 Tetras to my new 200L (55 G) tank with a new canister filter two weeks ago and used the same gravel & sand and plastic plants to speed up the biological side of things.

At this point, the water readings were Ammonia 2-4 Nitrate 0 & Nitrite 0.
The tank has Ammo Lock in it and I have done a 50% water change which I do every day to second day.

Are these reading normal for a green tank at this stage.

I normally turn the canister off for about 10-20 mins while I add the new water and water ager.

Thanks

[sharn]

take that ammo lock out as it could be hindering the cycle. your ammonia readings are potentially deadly! it sounds like its just started cause you have no nitrate readings at all. keep up with those water changes every day to get that ammonia down and you should see it drop in no time. cutting down on feeding for a bit will help too :)

so you transferred all your bits and pieces from a healthy tank with no ammonia and nitrite readings and now youve got this? what do you mean by green tank? planted or green from algae?

turning your filter off for that amount of time shouldnt do much id imagine.

[FishLover]

turn off filter for more than an hour and you are asking for trouble.

10 to 20 minutes are ok as far as I know. I would ask why bother to do so? I keep my running all the times other than I service them.

[marg]

Campo,

Why are you turning your Filter off - you leave it running when you do water changes - if you turn it off you risk killing all the good bacteria in it.

Regards,

Marg.

[jim from sydney]

Campo...i agree with Margo.....leave the filters on...no need to turn them off.....only if the waterlevel gets down to the water intake do i switch mine off.....as soon as it is just above it again with the new water.....do i switch on again....that is only a few minutes......Jim

[Merrilyn]

Welcome to the forum Campo, and welcome to the wonderful world of discus.

I think you mentioned in another post that you have an oscar as well. Are you able to take some of the used filter medium from his tank, and put it in the filter of your discus tank.

You're certainly on the right track by moving some of the gravel and plants from a mature tank, but in this case, with readings that high, your cycle is going to take way too long, and put your fish in danger of ammonia or nitrite poisoning.

Ammolock will lock up the ammonia, but still give you an ammonia reading on a test kit. Unfortunately, I've found that it also makes the ammonia useless as a food for your bio filter. The manufacturers may claim differently, but this is from personal experience. Once I stopped using Ammolock, the tank began cycling properly.

In your case, I'd stop using Ammolock and try some other brand of dechlorinator for the time being. Do daily water changes, and keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrite readings. Your tank will take a long time to cycle, probably 8 weeks or so, but that doesn't matter. Just keep up with those water changes, and constant testing.

[campo]

I turn my filter off because I don't have the resources to age the water before putting it in the tank. I am under the impression that the chlorine in the new water will kill off the bacteria almost instantly before adding the water ager, or is this wrong.

[Merrilyn]

You're right Campo. Chlorine in the water will kill off bacteria, both good and bad. I add dechlorinator while the tank is filling, and don't have problems with my filters.

Turning your filter off for a short while, when you are filling the tank won't do any harm to your bio filter, just as long as you remember to turn it on again. People have been known to forget .......me included :oops: