Little scared.

[fernalfer]

Ok so i cycled my tank but was ghost feeding it with flake food and pellets in a mesh bag. My nitrates were very high 80ppm. Almost everyone on here has said to stop feeding the tank and let it do its thing because by continuing to ghost feed would just lead to my nitrates going up.

So i took their advice and it has been over a week now with no food source for the bacteria and my first fish is ready to go in the display tank from being quarantined. Needless to say i'm afraid that their will be no bacteria and i will have an ammonia spike and all those weeks of quarantine and a healthy fish will go down the drain.

I almost feel like i need to check it with pure ammonia but that will just be going backwards and adding to my nitrates.

 

[strummerfan]

Don't worry about a lack of bacteria. However, those Nitrates better be way down before you add that fish.

 

[BigEZ77]

How long has tank been up with rock in it? Can't hurt anything my testing with ammonia.

 

[fernalfer]

Don't worry about a lack of bacteria. However, those Nitrates better be way down before you add that fish.

Yes the nitrates has since been brought to about 30ppm via water changes and chaeto in refugium.

How long has tank been up with rock in it? Can't hurt anything my testing with ammonia.

tank has been up for 1 month and 2 weeks but have stopped ghost feeding the last week and a half.

 

[thegrun]

The bacteria is fine for up to a year without food. There's enough to worry about without adding things needlessly to the list!

 

[CStrickland]

Nitrates don't hurt fish
You can pick up a bottle of Seachem Prime. It's good to have on hand for emergencies because it detxofies ammonia, and also makes tapwater safer. Then you'll have it if there is an ammonia spike for any reason. I also like the ammonia badges that seachem makes. You stick it on the glass in the water and it changes color of any ammonia shows up, then you dose Prime so the fish don't get hurt.

 

[mzeme565]

you will be fine

 

[fernalfer]

Nitrates don't hurt fish
You can pick up a bottle of Seachem Prime. It's good to have on hand for emergencies because it detxofies ammonia, and also makes tapwater safer. Then you'll have it if there is an ammonia spike for any reason. I also like the ammonia badges that seachem makes. You stick it on the glass in the water and it changes color of any ammonia shows up, then you dose Prime so the fish don't get hurt.

Have both Prime and 2 badges. i bought them for the QT tank.

 

[CStrickland]

You'll be fine.
You remind me of myself a little the way you're overthinking this. I had a fish a couple weeks ago that I nursed all the way through qt, gently acclimated, and did everything right. After a few hours of peace in the tank I went to bed. In the morning I found that he had discovered the one, teeny tiny gap in my screen and slipped into the overflow and died. I was sooo mad! But it just goes to show, you do what you can and hope for the best. Good luck!