stargazer Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 Hi I have a question on water changes. I'm in the process of setting up tank. I have 4 green tail barbs in the tank so far, 30 gal tank. readings are ammonia and nitrite are 0, nitrate is 40, ph is 7.0. should I do a change, or wait, the fish have been inthe tank for about 1 week now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 hmmm... if the tank has only been set up for a week, those readings seem a bit odd. Usually it takes much longer than that to go through the whole cycle. Have you ever had any ammonia show on your tests? Or any nitrite? Or is this the first test you have done? I would suggest doing a water change of about 20% but don't clean the filter. Keep on doing all the tests and let us know what they are if things change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stargazer Posted December 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 well i might have had a head start on the cycling. some one gave me one of there filter cartriges for my filter. there was a slight rise on the ammonia count at first and same for the nitrite but they both dropped quickly to 0 the nitrate has been climbing over the week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 It seems the tank is cycled and you can add more fish slowly to allow the bacteria to multiply and match the added biological load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Because you put in an already cycled filter sponge you moved some working cycle bacteria into the tank and got things started. You had a bit of a mini-cycle as things settled down. Your tank now has a working cycle to suit the fish you have now. Start doing your regular water changes and add new fish in stages and the cycle will build up to match the number of fish. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Congratulations on completing the cycle in record time, stargazer! Sounds like you did just the right thing by adding the used filter media. Well done. As other people have said, you can now go ahead and add a few more fish at a time - always making sure you maintain your tank well by doing regular water changes and not over-feeding. The good greeblies you have introduced through the filter will take a little while to get established in your tank (on the gravel etc) so don't do any drastic cleaning of the filer, and still keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite levels for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stargazer Posted December 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 thank you for the information. I think I'll wait another week or so before adding any more fish. would Tetras be a good choice to go with Barbs? I can't think of the exact name of the Tetras i want, they are shaped similer to the green finned barbs except they are silver with a black stripe or 2 on them one stripe is by there gills Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Tetras and barbs generally go well together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 I'm not familiar with either the tetras you're describing or the Green Tailed Barbs, but I agree with Caryl that generally tetras and barbs are fine together. Some barbs (but by no means all) can get a bit nippy. If that is the case just make sure that whatever fish you keep in there with them are quick enough swimmers to keep out of their way, and don't have long flowing fins that might get nipped by the barbs. Any torpedo-shaped fish can generally put on a good turn of speed when they need to, so your tetras should be fine. Also make sure you have a lid on your tank so nobody can jump out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Posted December 11, 2008 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 That maybe is a black skirt tetra (black widow) lovely peaceful fish. I have green barbs and tiger barbs in with my widows and they all get on very well. But i know you can get the long finned black widow which will most proberly get fin nipped by the barbs. Any fish with flowing fins will surely be a target by the barbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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