Adding old carbon pillow to cycling tank

[Fernando Alaniz]

I am currently trying to cycle my tank. I have a 5 gal fluval. I used live rock, sand, and bacteria. 2 clowns, cuc, a shrimp, and a royal gramma were added. I know I over stocked but I have a 75 gallon I am planning to convert to salt. Currently my ammonia is dropping but my nitrites are through the roof. My LFS said I could throw their old carbon pillow in my filter area to help boost some bacteria. Any reason I shouldn’t?

 

[glb]

I am currently trying to cycle my tank. I have a 5 gal fluval. I used live rock, sand, and bacteria. 2 clowns, cuc, a shrimp, and a royal gramma were added. I know I over stocked but I have a 75 gallon I am planning to convert to salt. Currently my ammonia is dropping but my nitrites are through the roof. My LFS said I could throw their old carbon pillow in my filter area to help boost some bacteria. Any reason I shouldn’t?

If the carbon is dried out I doubt it would have any living bacteria. Fwiw I’d take the fish out and cycle with pure ammonia first. That’s a lot of fish for a tank that size. If there’s ammonia in the tank it’s toxic to the fish. What’s your ammonia test reading? Moving forward, I’d only keep one fish in there at a time. Ask a lot of questions here. We want to help!

 

[Fernando Alaniz]

If the carbon is dried out I doubt it would have any living bacteria. Fwiw I’d take the fish out and cycle with pure ammonia first. That’s a lot of fish for a tank that size. If there’s ammonia in the tank it’s toxic to the fish. What’s your ammonia test reading? Moving forward, I’d only keep one fish in there at a time. Ask a lot of questions here. We want to help!

Carbon is still in water. My PH was between 7.5-8.0 which I know is low. I will get a better kit when I can. My test read between 2.4-3.7. With the chart I have (I’m guessing since the colors weren’t exactly either of the shades) I’m right around the 0.05-0.08 range for toxic ammonia

 

[glb]

Carbon is still in water. My PH was between 7.5-8.0 which I know is low. I will get a better kit when I can. My test read between 2.4-3.7. With the chart I have (I’m guessing since the colors weren’t exactly either of the shades) I’m right around the 0.05-0.08 range for toxic ammonia

Ok. I’d throw in some beneficial bacteria like Dr. Tim’s One and Only to help complete the cycle. With live rock and sand things will go quicker. Fwiw I’d still only keep one fish in there at a time. It’s a very small tank. I don’t know if that low level of ammonia will be harmful to your fish, but IME it’s better to not add fish until the ammonia levels are zero. Since your nitrites are high that shows the cycle is coming along. They should start to drop soon and you’ll see a rise in nitrates. Good luck!

 

[Fernando Alaniz]

Ok. I’d throw in some beneficial bacteria like Dr. Tim’s One and Only to help complete the cycle. With live rock and sand things will go quicker. Fwiw I’d still only keep one fish in there at a time. It’s a very small tank. I don’t know if that low level of ammonia will be harmful to your fish, but IME it’s better to not add fish until the ammonia levels are zero. Since your nitrites are high that shows the cycle is coming along. They should start to drop soon and you’ll see a rise in nitrates. Good luck!

I appreciate the info. Yeah out of pure ignorance and a LFS willing to sell water to a fish, I bought the cheapest tank and what sounded like the easiest. Little did I know I bought probably the hardest thing a beginner could learn to cycle on. BUT, it’s a double edge sword. If I can do this I can do anything. I take it as a challenge