New 10 gallon! Beginning Cycling Question

[Sharkbutter]

Oh yea, I have graduated from the 5 gal to the 10 gal and am 4 days into the fishless cycle. I seeded it from the existing 5 gallon tank and have had the ammonia levels fluctuate down, but no sign of the coveted Nos. Does it generally take longer ( I am sure longer than 3 days, but I just want it to happen!)

When can I expect to see signs of growth? Is it normal to see the ammonia drop so quickly or am I just wishing so much that I see a drop in my test?

I started out at a healthy 5 ppm and saw it drop to 4.5 and then down to 2.5 on day 4 (dosed back up to 4 tonight). Does it happen that quickly without seeing Nos or am I just a super noob (entirely possible). All other paramaters are holding fairly steady with ph at 7, TH and Alk both a smidge low at 10 and 80 respectively. Thanks!

 

[laxpatrick]

You could see ammonia drop in a seeded aquarium in 4-5 days. Nitrites take some time... Record cycle times are 10 days to 2 weeks - so it'll likely be a few more days at a minimum before you see nitrites being gobbled up...

 

[missileman]

A well seeded tank from another aquarium can cycle in a few days.
I set up a 29 gallon recently, put used filter media from one of my other tanks along with a couple of pieces of decor and the tank never went through a cycle. I did not do a fishless cycle, I stocked the tank and never even saw amonia or nitrite, I started getting nitrate readings within a few days.
PS: are you testing for nitrate? It is possible to never see nitite in a well seeded tank.

 

[Sharkbutter]

Yes, I am testing for nitrite, but I only have the test strips, not the liquid form ( I have liquid for the ammonia). Results for nitrite and nitrate come back negative.

Also, define well-seeded. I seeded but, as I am a class A newb there quite a few things I have no idea about. The way I did it was to add a fixture from the existing tank (was going to use that one anyway in the new tank and figured it was an extra measure), took some substrate and transplanted it and rung out the sponge from the old tank. Is that enough in the way of seeding or do I need to keep seeding?

 

[missileman]

Should be plenty.
Seed again, just squeezings from the sponge should be enough, when you start seeing nitrite.
I have heard the test strips can be inaccurate and sometimes not work at all. I have never used them myself so can't say for sure.

 

[Sharkbutter]

They work alright for my smaller tank, it stays pretty steady and my fish are happy. I have always been just a little unsure of them in any case. Might have to invest in liquid.

 

[missileman]

If you are really going to get into keeping aquariums (it is addictive) its a good investment.

 

[Sharkbutter]

Totally addictive. I am ...hooked