Fastest cycle ever?!!

[justrelax]

ok, i started cycling (55 gal) with pure ammonia and seeded substrate two days ago. i dosed the ammonia to 4ppm. yesterday my ammonia was at 1ppm and my nitrites were at 1ppm. i dosed ammonia back up to 4ppm at about 8:30 last night and this morning i tested again and my ammonia is at <.25ppm and my nitrites at <.25?!! i am using a liquid reagent test kit and i did have a buddy bring his test kit over as well this morning cause i thought "no way!", but both tested the exact same.
my pH is 8.0 and my temp. is a very solid 81.0 (love that stealth heater!). could i be done in three days? i did use a lot of fresh seeded material.
well, i'm hoping i'm lucky and this is the case. i'll plan on getting some fish tomorrow unless someone thinks otherwise. tia for input.
also, bubbles! bubbles bubbles bubbles! i have more bubbles in my tank than i know what to do with. they are very tiny, and i can't imagine they will hurt anything. this is o.k. yes?
thanx - chris

[malkore]

define "used a lot of seeded material"

With 1ppm of nitrite, the tank is NOT cycled. When you can add ammonia to 3ppm and in 24 hours ammonia = 0.00ppm and nitrite is 0.00ppm and nitrates are steadily increasing, the tank is cycled.

why are you keeping it 81 degrees? Unless you have discus, that's too warm.

you have a good jump start on it, but it's not ready for fish tomorrow IMO.

[cbk.o4]

ive heard many places to keep the tank around the mid to upper 80 to help the cycle process then drop it back down slowly before addin fish.

[Zagz]

The bubbles are harmless and normal in a new tank. I agree your cycle may not be as close as you were hoping. What malkore says is very true, keep dosing ammonia and see where you are in a few days. I am uncertain on the increased temp issue. I have heard that it helps from some and not from others. I have no honest basis to support or reject this theory. Good luck on the cycle. I hope the seeded media does speed things up for you!

[TomK2]

I have "heavily seeded" a tank's filter in the past, and had only 3 or 4 days of elevation in ammonia or nitrite. So yes, it is possible that a heavily seeded tank can have a functional biofilter in under a week. For my purposes, "Heavily seeded" meant that all porous biomedia in the new tanks filter came from the biomedia of an established tank's filter that was about 6+ months old, and the new filter was crammed with as much biomedia as it would hold. I otherwise used new substrate and decorations, and also used "low dose fish" instead of pure ammonia. If you dose the tank up to 1ppm of ammonia each day, and ammonia and nitrite are zero the next day, then I think you can stop using ammonia and add fish. Add fish slowly, starting with the hardier species, and keep an eye on it. Also, if you have added 8+ ppm of ammonia in total over the days, you should be able to detect an increase in nitrates by now, assuming the tap water started out low (0-5 ppm).

I would not have expected such a great result from just adding in and established tank's substrate to a new tank, I would have thought it would have to be the filters biomedia that was seeded for such a quick response, but if its working, don't over think it!

[justrelax]

by a lot of seeded material i mean: 2 large decorations (used), ugf (used),seven fake plants (used), one established bio wheel in my new emperor 400, both media containers filled with established substrate, and about five pounds worth of established substrate in a couple nylons (my wife just asked me this morning if i planned on buying her new ones ). my temp is at 81.0 based on the idea that it would help the tank cycle quicker, i too had read in more than one place this could help. as long as there's no fish i figured it couldn't hurt to try.

malkore, the nitrite reading of 1ppm was on day two. today (day 3) it was at <0.25.

i'm going to play it safe and continue dosing pure ammonia to 3ppm for the next couple days and see what happens. if i continue to have <0.25 readings for ammonia and nitrites after 24 hours i should be good then, yes? and i will be turning my heater down to 78-79...

thanx for all the input everyone, it's a big lake out there, easy to get lost in ! AA rocks!

[TomK2]

Yep, now that is a heavilly seeded tank!

I see no need to dose ammonia to 3ppm per day. I would think that if your tank can consume one ppm of ammonia in a day with no ammonia or nitrite after 24 hours, then it is ready for some stock. I believe that you are likely at this point now, considering how much colonized biomedia you put in the tank. Start off with an initial low fish load. SAy, 10% of your goal, and add fish weekly if everything is going OK.

Feel free to wait until your tank can consume 3ppm per day if you want to. I think you did a helluva job seeding and setting this tank up. Having access to colonized media REALLY makes a new tank easy.

[malkore]

Yep, I'd agree it was heavily seeded, but due to the seeded substrate, filter material and the bio wheel. the decorations and plants do help, but they have significantly less surface area than a bio wheel or 5lbs of substrate.

either way, you did it right.

0.25ppm nitrite is still more than 0. you are very close. very likely next monday you'll be ready to go.

[justrelax]

woo-hoo!! thanx for the info and encouragment everyone. i'll keep plugging away until monday.

what do you all think about starting with a couple black skirt tetras and a common pleco? that should be a light enough load for the first couple weeks after cycling, shouldn't it? and also, i should do a partial water change before stocking, right?

[rich311k]

Yes do a 75 - 80% water change. The pleco will outgrow a 55 gallon eventually. I think 6 black skirts would make a great first addition.