Question? :(

[Rafael]

Right now I'm trying to establish my 20g tank, but it looks like it's not really working out for me. I have a 20g long, with a bio-wheel filter (peguin something), a power-head, 50W heater, 20lbs of aragonite, 5lbs of LR. I have this set up for about a month and a half now, and every time that I put a damsel in it it dyes after about a week. What should I do? The temp is 80F, 1.022, pH ~8, amonia ~0.25mg/l, nitrite 0. I feel like my tank has not cycled at all since I never saw the amonia going higher than this and then lower.

Please help!!! :(

[tnguy86]

well, first of all, you have to understand that with such a small tank, there is less room for error. as of right now, i see that your ammonial level is just beginning to increase. you still have to wait for that to peak, and hten for the nitrite to peak and then level off and then watch as your nitrates increase. you know you have completed the cycle when you your ammonia and nitrite levels read zero and your nitrates are high. there are several ways to increase the cycle time. the best way is to add more live rock. live rock will increase teh cycle time dramatically. another way that i've used is to products that add beneficial bacteria to your tank. i've personally only tried this new product called stablity by seachem. it's a new product that just came out. i am unsure how well it worked as i didn't use it until i was halfway through my cycle. however, after using it , i completed the cycle 5 days later. as you can tell, 5 days is fast for teh final half of the cycle. also of importance is acclimation of your fish. ensure proper acclimation and you ought to be able to keep the damsel.
tai

[tdevil]

while i do agree with most of the above statement, except the part about adding products to speed things up, not that they dont work, i just dont like to speed nature up, but that is me

patients is the key in this hobbie, nothing ever happens fast, :)

sounds like you have "New Tank Syndrome

Understanding the nitrogen cycle is an important part of keeping a successful aquarium. The nitrogen cycle is responsible for the biological filtration within the system. It keeps the water free of toxic compounds that are a result of the respiration of the inhabitants, and the decay of any matter such as waste products and uneaten food. When we understand this cycle, we can anticipate situations that may cause damage to this process, and prevent or avoid these situations that may lead to livestock loss.

What is the nitrogen cycle, you might ask :)

In the nitrogen cycle, the waste products of the fish, plants, and invertebrates, along with any dead organisms or uneaten food, are broken down by bacteria and fungi into the resulting chemical, ammonia. Ammonia is extremely toxic to all of the aquarium inhabitants. It is broken down by an oxygen-loving bacteria, called Nitrosomonas. The Nitrosomonas bacteria feed on both oxygen and ammonia, and with their biological activities, they excrete a chemical called nitrite. Although nitrite is not as toxic as ammonia, even at low concentrations in the aquarium, it can be harmful to fish and invertebrates. Another bacteria Nitrobacter*, which also utilizes oxygen in its respiration, acts in a similar way as Nitrosomonas, and essentially changes the nitrites into a relatively harmless chemical called nitrate. The bacteria that will feed on nitrates are anaerobic, meaning they grow in areas of little or no oxygen. They require low-oxygenated stagnant water, and can be found in more elaborate filtration systems and within live rock. Here they breakdown nitrates into free nitrogen, which will leave you system by means of little bubbles that you might see every now and then

HTH

Jay