Not sure if I am doing this right

[PhishFood]

Okay, I bought my Dragon a 2.5g tank and have decided to do a fishless cycle. Just not willing to risk my fish!

I bought a Freshwater Master Test kit to monitor it and some Stress Zyme (recommended by a store employee to help kickstart the process)

After (The day after it was intially introduced) putting some in some Stress Zyme the readings were:
.25 ammonia
0 nitrite
PH 7.6
Didn't both with the nitrate yet (Should I!?)

I dont' know if this is important but I have a live plant in there already.

Question: How often do I need to test the water to check up on it? Is the Stress Zyme the correct thing to use? According to the bottle I need to put more in on the '7th day' etc....mmm is that right?

Also in Dragon's tank now (too small for him right now, that's why I'm upgrading for him!) I noticed the PH is kinda high 7.2-7.4 (been testing it each week). He seems to be doing ok, is his usual spunkyself. I'm just worried, because shouldn't the water be 7.0 pH?. What to do!!! I do one partial water change once a week and one 100% (It's a 1/2g!)

Is this right? Any recommendations? Sorry for the long message, I just want to make sure I do it right. This is my baby we are talking about! Thanks.

[amanichen]

PhishFood said:

After (The day after it was intially introduced) putting some in some Stress Zyme the readings were:
.25 ammonia
0 nitrite
PH 7.6
Didn't both with the nitrate yet (Should I!?)

Test it, see if there's any. What are you using for a source of ammonia?

I dont' know if this is important but I have a live plant in there already.

Plants will make use of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. While they are beneficial to water quality, the rapid and large pH changes during a typical fishless cycle may be too much for them, which means if you're doing a fishless cycle it would be best to introduce plants after the ammonia and nitrite levels stay at zero (when the cycle is established.)

Question: How often do I need to test the water to check up on it? Is the Stress Zyme the correct thing to use? According to the bottle I need to put more in on the '7th day' etc....mmm is that right?

Basically, nitrosomas bacteria are responsible for the ammonia to nitrite conversion, and nitrospira are responsible (based on recent research) for the nitrite to nitrate conversion.

Most products which claim to speed up the cycling process contain nitrosomas and nitrobacter bacteria, which means they'll help the ammonia to nitrite step, but the products are apparently useless for the nitrite to nitrate step.

Unfortunately most of these products don't do much to help the process along because there's usually a "roadblock" at the ammonia to nitrite step. And since they contain the wrong bacteria for the nitrite to nitrate step, you don't see a dramatic difference.

Stress Zyme, Cycle, and other products of that nature generally don't work very well...it speeds them up, but not in a dramatic fashion. So far, BioSpira made by Marineland has worked very well for seeding a tank, because it contains the supposed proper bacteria for nitrite to nitrate in freshwater aquariums.

But, you really don't have to spend any money at all on bacteria in a bottle because fishless cycles generally happen fast enough for most people's comfort level (unless you're in a real hurry.)

BTW, if you're not familiar with the nitrogen cycle, go and read this:

s94779296.onlinehome.us/website/Fish/articles/nitrogencycle.html

Also in Dragon's tank now (too small for him right now, that's why I'm upgrading for him!) I noticed the PH is kinda high 7.2-7.4 (been testing it each week).

Adding ammonia to water will raise its pH, so check the ammonia level in the tank.

He seems to be doing ok, is his usual spunkyself. I'm just worried, because shouldn't the water be 7.0 pH?. What to do!!! I do one partial water change once a week and one 100% (It's a 1/2g!)

Why would the water have a pH of 7.0...is 7.0 the pH of your tap water, or are you just making a stab in the dark?