This is getting rediculious!

[cashay]

I can't do this fish thing! I can't seem to keep the water parameters right!!!! One day they are perfect so I don't check it for two days and BAM! they are all messed up again!
this morning all my test were at stress levels! Ammonia levels at caution! i put two tabs in it that help clear it, they dissolve in like 2 minutes, Ammonia goes down to safe or ideal, then the KH is F messed up! the ph has dropped to 6.0 the Nitites are at 3.0 and the Nitrates are at 40+ What the HECK am I doing wrong!!!!!!!! Bigger tank hasn't helped any.... just makes the problem bigger..... And i thought this hobby was going to be relaxing!!!!

[babygeige]

Don't give up! Are you sure the new bigger tank has completely cycled? Really the only way to get it under control to where the beneficial bacteria can take over is to do daily (possibly twice daily) water changes. When I started my 10 gallon, it took almost 6 months to cycle.

Do you have any healthy filter media from another tank (or someone's tank that you trust is healthy)? If so, then you could seed it with that.

How many fish did you add to the tank when it was ready?

[cashay]

I had checked my old tank water, to make sure the water parameters were good, I used almost all of that water, plus the sponge filter I only squeezed out, I rinsed the gravel in the old tank water but used it... I know this ammonia clear and other chemicals are just a band aid, I need to get this right, The fish seem ok, but for how long?

[Carl]

I second babygeige's comments.

This tank does not seem to be fully cycled for this to happened.

I would consider the use of Prime for water changes and watch feeding amounts until your bio filter settles in.

Another thought based on what I have noticed over the years is that often stressing over every water parameter once the tank is cycled can be counter productive. In fact I recommend reading section #7 of my Aquarium Disease prevention article dealing with too much care.
Please do not take this as a reprimand or lecture, but I have found that many persons simply do best if they get the basics in order, follow basic procedures and then settle back and not worry about day to day water parameters. The use of Wonder Shells will help stabilize your minerals and aid in pH once the tank "settles in"
Here is this article:
AQUARIUM DISEASE PREVENTION; basic principles of disease prevention in aquariums

Hopefully keeping this in mind will allow you to enjoy your aquarium more.

Carl

[goldenpuon]

Cashay, don't worry. That is normal for a cycling tank. Just clean out the tank if you need to, get the levels down with a water change, and keep testing regularly. This is very normal, it happens a lot when I cycle my tanks. And keep in mind, it takes time, it can take a while for enough bacteria to build up to lower the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. If levels go pretty, high odds are the levels are at the time they are spiking in the nitrogen cycle. It should go down after that. If you are doing everything right, just make sure the water is ok for the fish and wait. Don't mess with the water chemistry too much. That's been my mistake in the past. If you mess with thinsg esided teh ammonia and nitrite, it can cause more harm than good. hope that helps!

[bikeguy33]

all seems to have been covered quite well. i would just add no more fish for awhile and wait. if the fish seem healthy, they will be fine as levels even out. my fingers are crossed for ya and i hope you start enjoying the hobby a lil more. it is in the end very relaxing and thereputic. good luck

[goldenpuon]

If the fish aren't acting stressed, don't worry. Just keep the levels under control until the tank is done cycling and you should be fine. Also, if your levels are at .5 or something, just leave them. While it is still a stress, it is not enough to cause major problem and in that case, it si best to just let the levels go down naturally.

[murdock6701]

cycling takes time - just when one level gets established, it throws off another or creates brown diatom or cloudy water - what starts off beautiful maf change and 4-6 months is not abnormal - you sound as crazy w/ worry as me - it will be fine

[goldenpuon]

When I started out and cycled my first 10 gallon, thinsg were nto just rocky, they were crazy! I didn't have a lot of people who were supportive and knowledgeable as here. I was in 6th grade and 12 years old and on my own calling stores for help and thinking they had good advice. Turns out most of it was wrong (though there were some good individuals). Nontheless, the fish died from me taking their advice much more than the elevated levels did. I felt like thinsg were out of hand too. But you're luckier than I was. I was on my own for my first 4 years or so of fishkeeping. You have good information which is a great start. Also, if you're finding tah feeding the tetras more than once a day it is ok to cut back on feeding. Fish can go even a week without food and have no problems.

Look at me, I have about 10 tanks and another 8 betta conatiners to look after which all have elevls I have to keep an eye on. You get used to cycling when you restart a tank or get a new one. Luckily, cycling doesn't take forever so that means my 18 some tanks/containers don't require constant maintance.

[cashay]

Murdock do I sound that worried? lol well I am, But I am going to take a DEEP breath and just try to relax... Well again I do appriciate everyones advice here, and will follow it to a T I don't want to give up! I will just do the water changes , Not sure I can do the twice daily, because I'm at work kinda early, But I can do it daily for a while, How long would I be doing this? How will I know when it is fully cycled? But I did want to share this little tid bit I have noticed,, I had my cardinals before I had the black and gold skirts. well the cardnials use to eat mid level all the time, thats why I had asked before are they bottom feeders because of all the food, But anyway, the skirts will zoom to the top and get the food like parana's.. dart at it. (which is cool) But I have noticed the last week or so my Cardinals are doing what they do now! I have seen them eat from bottom, middle, and they dart to the top... it's like they have picked up their behavior... I thought this was neat... I didn't know if anyone else had experienced fish taking after other fish..... ;D

[demfish]

When I was cycling my 1st tank. The LFS where I buy my fish, gave me a piece of their sponge to help cycle my tank. It worked well! Then I went to the brown tank, lots of fun there! That lasted 2 weeks, with water changes every day

[goldenpuon]

Once a day should be fine Cashay. Also remember that if you do too many water changes and remove too much beneficial bacteria, it can take longer. Cycling can take a few months but it already sounds like you're part ay through it. Do you have anything you can put in the tank to add nitrifying bacteria? That will help and speed things up. Fishkeeping is a balancing act especially when you set up a new tank but as time goes by, it becomes much easier.

I actually didn't even see my 40 gallon cycle. I used water rightfrom my fish's old tanks and added decorations including a spawning mop taht held a lot of bacteria. Every time I test it, all the levels are fine plus the nitrates are lower than they were in my 10 gallons. introducing bacteria from another source will help but either way, it sounds like you'll be fine. Also, if you're fish aren't stressing, taht's a big plus. you're doing something right. A lot of people, particularly people fairly new to fishkeeping lose fish during cycling. I'd say you're doing better than average (certainly better than I did, I lost about 8 fish as I added them and didn't know when to not my first time cycling).

[cashay]

I used my water from the 5 gallon tank and the gravel, the sponge filter, the plants, and everything in it, had to have some kind of good bacteria... I dont know will just quit worry ing so much and give it time

[goldenpuon]

Somtimes that can happen too. Once I used solely goldfish aquarium water that was 100% cycled for a 1 gallon betta thing. I added the betta immedietly which is normally nto a good thing but I figured since I was using good water, everything would be ok. But over the next week i noticed my betta acting off and I discovered that the nitrites had climbed to 7.0! The betta was fine but I found myself wondering where I went wrong. For me, adding thinsg from another tank to jump start anotehr comes with mixed results. Though I'm sure other peopl here have had better luck being more experienced. Also, the more things you add that have a good deal of bacteria in them the better.

[babygeige]

Using water from another tank doesn't really help the cycle process. There isn't a whole lot of beneficial bacteria in the water itself, there is more in the filter media, decor, and the top layer of gravel.

When I started my 30, I used the filter insert from my 10 gallon, as well as a little bit of gravel from the 10 sprinkled around. You also have to add fish at the same time as the media. If you just put the seeded stuff in there without fish, there is nothing to feed the bacteria.

It worked really well for me. I had no problems with any of my water parameters. I did the same when I started Finn's tank, and I also do this when I start the QT tank.

Keep us posted! Just be diligent with your water changes! Good luck!