Hi lionfishy

i seen yr link to this site from animalnetwork thought id check it out i hope ppl respond faster here lol ...to those who dont know me i have a 108 gallon tank and i came to fish forum in animal network to find out what i was doing wrong my fish were dying all time and posted a couple posts about it then 3 am last night i found it had sprung a leak so i had to put my fish in a 5 gallon bucket till i got to petland today to get a 10 gallon for now till i silicone the 108 gallon tank and get water back and heated.. the discussion went towards me getting a -*test*-('") kit to -*test*-('") water i was not -*test*-('")ing it and i did buy -*test*-('") kit today...but kinda leary bout -*test*-('")ing it seems soo confusing if i have it correctly??? when i -*test*-('") for ammonnia or nitrate or nitrites or ph if any of them come back high the only way to recover is to do a water change? if thats so why -*test*-('") at all just keep doing water changes? no? i also never said in my other posts that i was doing water changes everyweek like petland told me to but then i had a few friends say cause its such a big tank i shouldnt have to change water so much? so now that my 108 dont have water in it should i fill it and -*test*-('") it and do u think it will be all mucked up now cause i had to take all the water out with any or all good stuff they need in water?

You will probably have to cycle the tank again. The bacteria needed for a healthy tank lives in the filer media and gravel ect, once that has been rinsed the bacteria die. The bacterias needed are living so also need well oxygenated water to live and many things can kill them off eg using cold water in a warm water tank when changing water, not using a chlorine remover before adding new water.
It normally takes between 4-8 weeks to cycle a tank fully depending on the temp and other things.
Now for the -*test*-('") kits, when you add fresh water (fill the tank again) you should have 0 readings of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. If you are going to cycle with fish (which most recomend fishless cycling) the ammonia will build up first and will get really high (and possibly kill your fish) this is when the ammonia -*test*-('") kit comes in. Test the water everyday once ammonia is showing and do water changes before it gets really high (about 20%) then also start -*test*-('")ing for nitrite (they will come next) the nitrite levels should get higher and the ammonia should lower. It should be noted that nitrites are still toxic to fish in high levels so watch them closely once again do water changes when neccesary. Now comes the nitrates now anything under 40ppm (preferably 20ppm) is ok, but if it gets higher than this it can cause problems also. once there are 0 readings of ammonia and nitrites your tank has cycled.
Nitrates need to be removed by doing regular water changes, if you have a planted aquarium then the plands do use some of it but you still need to do water changes ect.
NB - dont vacuum while the tank is cycling, the bacteria need to set up a stable home in the gravel and if you vacuum you can upset the cycling.

Once the tank is cycled you should only need to -*test*-('") for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates if you fish are acting unusual and you have a feeling something is wrong.

Hope this has helped

Fishfriend

hi fishfriend

ty for yr explaination i got part of that but i have a question now bout my plecos i read somewhere that having plecos can make the ammonnia rise in a tank and they do put out alot of waste i see alot of it on bottom of tank so i shouldnt vaccuum my tank at all for for those weeks its cycling????i thought if theres alot of fish waste it makes the levels go up??? and as for my tank we didnt clean it per say rocks are still in it and filter pump was not washed or rinsed out so will i still have some good bacteria in there for them still???

Mojo, you should still have some good bacteria from the filter as long as the filter was not turned off for any great length of time (the bacteria needs oxygen to survive )
As for the plecos, yes they do cause alot of waste with all there algae eating abilitys just one question before i say too much more about vaccuming.
Do you have anything in the bottom of the tank ie gravel, sand ect. Or is it bare?

yes i got colored gravel in it and the filter pump was out of tank for bout 12 to 14 hours but never got rinsed i had to use it once i got new lil 10 gallon to put them in till i got 108g fixed .....and it went right in the water and as for putting clorine chemicals in i always do that when im filling up the buckets cause i have to do it the bucket brigade way lol so chemicals go in it before it goes in tank

really not vacuum tank for that many weeks isnt that bad for fish with too much waste in there?....sorry i just read yr other post beforei posted my other post lol

If your gravel is still wet, then the bacteria in it is mainly still their. Your plecos shouldn't be that much of a problem. I have a 7 inch pleco in my 20 gallon, and I have no problems. Keep up with your water changes vacuming once in a while. It may be that your Ph isn't normal. If you haven't checked, then you should. It should be around 7.0

But is you -*test*-('") it and everything is extremely low or nonexistant, than you might have to cycle it. I Suggest a fishless cycle. Just hope that some bacteria lived in the wet gravel and you have no worries.

-Ross