# Air Pumps and Cycling



## PhillyFish (Jan 25, 2010)

I have a 20gal with about 8 Mbuna, all 2in or less. I run an AquaClear 50 on it. I am still having Nitrite issues. This is my first Cichlid tank. Will an air stone help the cycling process? I never have had water issues with my community tanks and never used an air stone in any of them. Is there anything else I can do to help with my water issues?


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## timbruun (Oct 13, 2009)

Water changes to keep the nitrite down until the bacteria is up enough to change it over to nitrate. You could run a bigger or additional filter on there to help out.


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## PhillyFish (Jan 25, 2010)

I have been doing regular water changes. Nothing has been really working. I see a lot of people use air stones in their tanks. I never have but would this help out?


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## timbruun (Oct 13, 2009)

Air stones are more for looks than anything. Unless your filters aren't causing enough surface agitation then I wouldn't bother with it. Just keep up with water changes and it will come. You should have cycled before adding fish.


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## Cognition (Oct 14, 2009)

8 mbuna in a 20g probably isn't helping... thats a fairly large bioload for such a small tank. As stated about, airstones only move water, you need to filter it.

To answer your question, the only way air is gonna help your water parimeters is if you run it to a sponge filter.

But honestly, you might want to consider looking into diffrent fish such as shell-dwellers from tanganyika. Or the more costly route(your probably gonna get hooked and go this route anyway, I did) would be a larger tank....

Thats just my 2 cents tho


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

PhillyFish said:


> I have a 20gal with about 8 Mbuna, all 2in or less. I run an AquaClear 50 on it. I am still having Nitrite issues. This is my first Cichlid tank. Will an air stone help the cycling process? I never have had water issues with my community tanks and never used an air stone in any of them. Is there anything else I can do to help with my water issues?


Depending on where you are in the cycling process, this could be perfectly normal. Nitrites can take a few weeks to drop. Water changes are the best thing that you can do right now. Watch feeding and certainly don't add more fish. An airstone will do nothing to drop nitrites. You might consider a product like Prime that claims to detox nitrite. Can't hurt.

How long has the tank been set up?

Did you add these fish right away, meaning did you cycle, or are you cycling with fish?

How long has it been since the ammonia dropped to 0?

Eight 2" fish in a 20 shouldn't be causing nitrite spikes once fully cycled. Your biofiltration should be able to handle that. But, I'm not suggesting that your combination of fish will be successful long term in a 20 gallon tank.


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## Malawiman999 (Feb 2, 2010)

Water changes should do the trick.


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