Cycling Tank (API Test Kit)

[colours]

Hello,

We recently got a new 20 gallon tank setup. It's been cycling for about a week now, We originally started using some Tetra water conditioner for the first little bit. We did a few water changes up to this point, yesterday we got the Seachem Prime/Stability to start using. We did a water change today with the prime and stability, we have one of our guppies in the tank now as he was getting really anxious in his old one.
He's been in there for about two days, he was a little anxious at first but has calmed down now.

We added a little bit of the current tank water (I did a test earlier, it's sitting at 0 ammonia)

We also got the API freshwater master rest kit results below from earlier today:

pH - 7.2(low)/7.4(high)
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0 (I did shake it well for the minute and before doing the drops).

I'm not sure if these readings are good? We have only done three tests over two days, and they have all been the same results shown above. We did bring a water sample to a LFS, they use the same test kit and came up with the same results (I wanted to make sure I was doing it right).

I know 0 ammonia is what we want, I assume it will drop?

Thanks

 

[Fresh2o]

You have an uncycled tank and it will continue to be that way until you introduce an ammonia source, established media, or both. Doing nothing will result in nothing.
The ammonia source could be the addition of fish (this is called a fish in cycle) or pure ammonia (free of detergents, dyes, perfumes, and surfactants) but never, never both at the same time.
For a fish in cycle you simply monitor the ammonia and keep up with water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrite at a safe level.
If you are adding ammonia only (daily), then water changes are not needed initially. The ammonia and nitrite will spike and eventually drop (may take 3-6 weeks).
The addition of established media such as filter media from an established tank will in BOTH fish-in and fish-less cycles will speed things up greatly. Maybe in as little as a week or two.
For more details on proper water parameters and cycling, look up the articles in the stickies section in the FW&Brackish>Getting Started section.


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[colours]

You have an uncycled tank and it will continue to be that way until you introduce an ammonia source, established media, or both. Doing nothing will result in nothing.
The ammonia source could be the addition of fish (this is called a fish in cycle) or pure ammonia (free of detergents, dyes, perfumes, and surfactants) but never, never both at the same time.
For a fish in cycle you simply monitor the ammonia and keep up with water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrite at a safe level.
If you are adding ammonia only (daily), then water changes are not needed initially. The ammonia and nitrite will spike and eventually drop (may take 3-6 weeks).
The addition of established media such as filter media from an established tank will in BOTH fish-in and fish-less cycles will speed things up greatly. Maybe in as little as a week or two.
For more details on proper water parameters and cycling, look up the articles in the stickies section in the FW&Brackish>Getting Started section.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Ah ok! It makes sense now why it wasn't starting. Thanks for the info. If we do fish-in is two enough or?

 

[colours]

We added our second guppy in yesterday. I think we had a higher reading of ammonia close to 0.5 yesterday.

Today:

Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrites: 0.5
Nitrates 0

it seems to be moving along now?

 

[jessipanda]

Yep, moving along
Since you're doing a fish-in cycle, try to keep the ammonia below 0.5ppm. If it reaches that, do a 50% water change to bring it down to 0.25ppm. It's a lot of work, but it will cycle quicker with the fish. Watch out for signs of ammonia by monitoring your fish's behavior and coloring. Usually ammonia burn appears as red patches and/or gills. Good luck! ?

 

[colours]

Yep, moving along
Since you're doing a fish-in cycle, try to keep the ammonia below 0.5ppm. If it reaches that, do a 50% water change to bring it down to 0.25ppm. It's a lot of work, but it will cycle quicker with the fish. Watch out for signs of ammonia by monitoring your fish's behavior and coloring. Usually ammonia burn appears as red patches and/or gills. Good luck! ?

Thanks for the info!

I had my girlfriend test the water tonight, these were the results she got:

Ammonia = 0.25
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0

will check again tomorrow afternoon