Is my tank cycled??

[sazzyg23]

Hi,

I set up my 3ft planted tank almost a month ago and I am very confused if my fishless cycle is complete.

I have been adding Seachem Stability since starting, and dosing with Dr Tim's Ammonia solution. I added a small amount of filter media from my 10gal to help. I've been adding the recommended amount of ammonia, but as I have an API test kit it has never shown to be very high. Every time I have added the amount that should make it 2ppm it has shown to be very low when I tested it and the next day the ammonia has been completely gone.

I have never had any nitrites, and if I do have nitrates they are very low as I can't tell if it's reading as 0 or 5ppm.

My tank is full of algae and doesn't smell too good.

Am I ready to do a big water change and add fish since it's capable of getting rid of the ammonia so quickly?

 

[AquariumFish]

How large is your tank and what are your other water parameters for i would say that this is because of ammonia.

DO NOT ADD ANY FISH UNTIL YOU FIGURE OUT WHAT IS WRONG

Just highlighting the point lol

For I added fish to early and they died

Also see if you can post a picture....

Would be helpful

 

[Cecibella123]

How would you describe the smell? Ammonia smells like -well- ammonia. Dead and decaying plants will cause a horrendous smell. Would also likely cloud your water. Some types of algae also produce a bad smell.

 

[lksdrinker]

Hi,

I set up my 3ft planted tank almost a month ago and I am very confused if my fishless cycle is complete.

I have been adding Seachem Stability since starting, and dosing with Dr Tim's Ammonia solution. I added a small amount of filter media from my 10gal to help. I've been adding the recommended amount of ammonia, but as I have an API test kit it has never shown to be very high. Every time I have added the amount that should make it 2ppm it has shown to be very low when I tested it and the next day the ammonia has been completely gone.

I have never had any nitrites, and if I do have nitrates they are very low as I can't tell if it's reading as 0 or 5ppm.

My tank is full of algae and doesn't smell too good.

Am I ready to do a big water change and add fish since it's capable of getting rid of the ammonia so quickly?

Sounds like you dont really know if you ever dosed enough ammonia to complete or even start the cycle. If I were you, I'd dose the ammonia and test within 15 minutes or so. You should definitely see a reading then; and if not you're not dosing enough. If you do see a measurable amount and it is back to 0 within 24 hours you know that the first round of beneficial bacteria is doing its thing. Unfortunately you might've missed the opportunity to see any nitrite develop and then disappear. In that case, I'd keep dosing the ammonia at a higher rate and see if you start getting measurable nitrate readings. If so, you're good to go after a nice big water change to get the nitrates back in check.