Joined
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142 Posts
Ok all, time to swallow my pride and confess a few things. I used to keep cichlids (labs and zebras mostly) about 12-15 years ago, in my high school days. When I went away to college, my mother took my 55 gallon tank, got rid of the cichlids, cast it into storage, and I forgot about my love affair with these beautiful fish.
So much had I forgotten, that once I caught the bug again to keep these fish, that I had forgotten to do my research. Foolishly, I went to my mother's attic, found my old gear, and brought it home. My kids and wife were excited, and that pumped me up, and I wanted to get this thing set up ASAP.
I cleaned, I scrubbed, and cursed at those old stains, but I got most of them. I invested in some new lights and filter and heat. I even bought a brand new stand. Life was good, and I was soon going to have my fish again. I purchased some crushed coral from my LFS, got my rocks, cleaned all of it, and poured in my water. I had seen discussion about this thing called "cycling", but alas, all I did in the "old days" was let the water sit for a week, and dump my lot of fish in the old boy!
So I went to a PetSmart one day, found this Seachem product that said "relieves New Tank Syndrome". It had Prime, Stability, and Clarity all in the box. I thought, that oughta do me fine. Read some reviews on the stuff, and people claimed that they were putting fish in a day after. I started my "cycling" with this stuff on April 8th. I had two yellow labs in the tank by April 10th. I even took my water to the LFS. He said it looked fine. Gave me a piece of paper with my chemical readings on it, everything 0 except my pH at 7.5. The two labs looked so healthy, I even went back two days later and bought 2 more yellow labs. THEN I really started to read posts on this forum...
So I know I'm in the bad. I know I didn't cycle. I know I've brought shame upon my family and will never gain any credibility on this forum for my wrongs. That being said, I am an educated man, and an educated man believes he can solve problems. This is a problem I need to solve, but I need your help. Here is my detailed situation after that long drawn-out intro (but I said this was a confession
)
On 04-08-11 my water went in. On 4-10-11, the LFS tested it and had 7.5 pH, 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, and 0 Nitrates. At the time I had no idea, so this sounded awesome to me.
On 04-13-11, when I added two more labs, the levels were the same. pH had risen to 7.8 however. I added the two new labs, and all was good... Until the next day. I lost a lab. BUT, I think he was sick from the get go, as he was always hiding and never came out, even to eat. I thought he/she was being harassed by the bigger tank mate, hence the reason I ran out and bought two more. Either way, at this point I'm down to three labs.
On 04-14-11, I read heavily into cycling and why it is so important. Needless to say, I was confused, mad, embarrassed, and sad. How did my fish live years ago? Did I get lucky? Why would my LFS sell me fish knowing my situation? What would anyone say if I came out with the truth on here of what I had done? My poor fish are going to die. What to do?!? Well, the Seachem stuff had been working, so I decided to continue on with it for the full 7 days it recommends, and I ran out to buy my own API water chemistry test kit. I had to be checking water everyday I decided.
On 04-15-11 and 04-16-11 I tested. 0 ppm of everything, except my pH is now up to 8.0. I have stopped adding the Seachem Stability as of 04-16-11 and took some gravel out of an established 2.5 gallon tank my wife has on our kitchen counter top. Actually, it isn't gravel, it is marbles. I took them, placed them in a medium/large filter media bag, and popped it in my tank next to the intake hose for my filter. Hoping that the proper bacteria might wash off those marbles into my media.
That brings me to present day, 04-17-11. No change. Nothing has happened. Could it be that the Seachem is holding my tank in limbo? Is there any chance that my fish survive this? There is no ammonia, no nitrite, no nitrate. I hate to do a fish-full cycle, but I don't know what else to do. My LFS won't take back the fish, and I have no friends with established tanks for them. Suggestions? Lashings? Any ideas?
So much had I forgotten, that once I caught the bug again to keep these fish, that I had forgotten to do my research. Foolishly, I went to my mother's attic, found my old gear, and brought it home. My kids and wife were excited, and that pumped me up, and I wanted to get this thing set up ASAP.
I cleaned, I scrubbed, and cursed at those old stains, but I got most of them. I invested in some new lights and filter and heat. I even bought a brand new stand. Life was good, and I was soon going to have my fish again. I purchased some crushed coral from my LFS, got my rocks, cleaned all of it, and poured in my water. I had seen discussion about this thing called "cycling", but alas, all I did in the "old days" was let the water sit for a week, and dump my lot of fish in the old boy!
So I went to a PetSmart one day, found this Seachem product that said "relieves New Tank Syndrome". It had Prime, Stability, and Clarity all in the box. I thought, that oughta do me fine. Read some reviews on the stuff, and people claimed that they were putting fish in a day after. I started my "cycling" with this stuff on April 8th. I had two yellow labs in the tank by April 10th. I even took my water to the LFS. He said it looked fine. Gave me a piece of paper with my chemical readings on it, everything 0 except my pH at 7.5. The two labs looked so healthy, I even went back two days later and bought 2 more yellow labs. THEN I really started to read posts on this forum...
So I know I'm in the bad. I know I didn't cycle. I know I've brought shame upon my family and will never gain any credibility on this forum for my wrongs. That being said, I am an educated man, and an educated man believes he can solve problems. This is a problem I need to solve, but I need your help. Here is my detailed situation after that long drawn-out intro (but I said this was a confession
)On 04-08-11 my water went in. On 4-10-11, the LFS tested it and had 7.5 pH, 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, and 0 Nitrates. At the time I had no idea, so this sounded awesome to me.
On 04-13-11, when I added two more labs, the levels were the same. pH had risen to 7.8 however. I added the two new labs, and all was good... Until the next day. I lost a lab. BUT, I think he was sick from the get go, as he was always hiding and never came out, even to eat. I thought he/she was being harassed by the bigger tank mate, hence the reason I ran out and bought two more. Either way, at this point I'm down to three labs.
On 04-14-11, I read heavily into cycling and why it is so important. Needless to say, I was confused, mad, embarrassed, and sad. How did my fish live years ago? Did I get lucky? Why would my LFS sell me fish knowing my situation? What would anyone say if I came out with the truth on here of what I had done? My poor fish are going to die. What to do?!? Well, the Seachem stuff had been working, so I decided to continue on with it for the full 7 days it recommends, and I ran out to buy my own API water chemistry test kit. I had to be checking water everyday I decided.
On 04-15-11 and 04-16-11 I tested. 0 ppm of everything, except my pH is now up to 8.0. I have stopped adding the Seachem Stability as of 04-16-11 and took some gravel out of an established 2.5 gallon tank my wife has on our kitchen counter top. Actually, it isn't gravel, it is marbles. I took them, placed them in a medium/large filter media bag, and popped it in my tank next to the intake hose for my filter. Hoping that the proper bacteria might wash off those marbles into my media.
That brings me to present day, 04-17-11. No change. Nothing has happened. Could it be that the Seachem is holding my tank in limbo? Is there any chance that my fish survive this? There is no ammonia, no nitrite, no nitrate. I hate to do a fish-full cycle, but I don't know what else to do. My LFS won't take back the fish, and I have no friends with established tanks for them. Suggestions? Lashings? Any ideas?
