Newbie with new tank/ ammonia questions
I am looking for some guidance on ammonia levels in an uncycled tank with 2 Mickey Mouse platys. My DH posted previously in a post entitled : ” I don’t understand what is going wrong here…”
Further background: We are new to this hobby. We decided we would get fish so our 10 year old son could work on his Pet Care badge for Wolf Cubs (Scouts Canada). My DH seemed to do a lot of research and I only became involved recently when he was unavailable due to work commitments. Consequently, I am suddenly doing lots of online reading. For some reason, whether by omission or commission I do not know, he did not cycle the new tank without fish. We started with 3 mollies and 3 Mickey Mouse platys in a 29 gallon tank, losing 1 molly on Day 1 (within 8 hours) and 1 after 48 hours. We are now on Day 10, losing 1 platy Day 9. (We took the remaining molly back to the store on Day 8 as it was being aggressive with the platys and they wouldn’t come out of their artificial log.)
When we took the molly out of the tank, a platy accidentally got scooped up into the bag. We got it back into the tank, but the following day I noticed one of the platys had a red patch on it’s body, above the anal fin. I hadn’t noticed it before, but it could have been there previously. It is this platy that died and I wondered if it got injured as my DH/I tried to get it back into the tank.
I started doing daily partial water changes on Day 5, but only 1 gallon, then gradually increasing the volume each day as I become more confident ( Day 5, 1 gallon; Day 6, 2 gallons; Day 7, 4 gallons; Day 8, 5 gallons; Day 9, 6 gallons and Day 10, 8 gallons) . We are carefully watching pH (API reagents) which is around 7.2 to 7.6. Water temp is about 80 F.
The ammonia has been rising as expected with an uncycled tank; 2 ppm on Day 7, 4 ppm on Day 8, 6 ppm Day 9 (when I found the dead, potentially previously injured, platy). I added 30 ml of Ammo Lock on Day 9 and changed 6 gallons (20%). I have added Stress Zyme as well. So far, no nitrites are detectable on the API 5 in 1 test strips. (I just bought a nitrite and nitrate reagent kit, but haven’t used them yet.) We are trying to feed a pinch of flake food twice daily, now that we are down to 2 platys.
How low should I try to keep the ammonia level? I realize it’s presence is expected in an uncycled tank and is necessary to get the nitrogen cycle started, but since we lost 1 (possibly injured) platy at 6 ppm, should I attempt to keep it to 4 ppm, if it is even possible through daily water changes? (I am aware that any ammonia rendered inert by the Ammo Lock will still show up on the reagent test.) I did a 30 % change today. Is it advisable to try 20% changes twice daily or would this be stressful on the 2 remaining fish? (The KH is about 40 to 80 ppm on the 5 in 1 test strip and 4 dKH / 72 ppm by reagent. I am wondering if the KH is on the low side we could be more likely to experience wider pH fluctuations.) I am heating the replacement water in a second “unused” 10 gallon tank. Should I add Ammo Lock every 2 days as the bottle label advises?
Thanks for your help in advance. I realize that this was perhaps not the best way to start, but here I am, trying to do the best I can with the given situation. Thanks for your understanding.
Category: UniQuaria
