Tank does not seem to be cycling.

[Russ359]

I have a 37 gallon tank with AC70 filter

Set tank up on Jan 15th, no fish - water clear
Added piece of drift wood Jan 17th
Jan 19th water cloudy - Pet store said most likely a bacteria bloom
Jan 28th added 6 1" fish after pet store tested water and said everything OK

My question is during cycling I should see an ammonia spike then nitrite spike then level off correct?

A week after I added the fish ammonia was still in safe zone, nitrate non detectable. I did a 15% water change anyway.
Test water with strips each day, ammonia does not seem to be rising and nitrates are low. Is my tank stuck before it even cycled? All fish seem fine (except one fatter one spends significantly more time near top not moving too much).

Should I be concerned? What could be causing cycle not to start? Water is well water so I did not add any additives to it before filling tank as there is no chlorine, PH is good.

 

[HeatherW]

you are adding water conditioner though right?
I would suggest that you get a liquid test kit (like API master kit) and use that to test your water. I used the test strips before and they are not very accurate. that being said, it may take a little time before you start to see the ammonia. don't worry! it will come. you have a larger tank with not a lot of fish in there so at the start your tank is absorbing their ammonia output. have no fear - you will start to see ammonia soon. then the fun begins!

 

[Russ359]

Thanks, no I was not using any water conditioner. Pet store said I did not need as it was well water. We have pretty good well water.

 

[Hholly]

I have well water too. But I use water conditioner in case of heavy metals, and it helps detoxify ammonia and nitrate. My water has high nitrates straight from the tap.

 

[Russ359]

OK, good to know. what conditioner do you recommend or are they all the same?

 

[Hholly]

Prime by Seachem is good stuff.

 

[skywhitney]

Prime by Seachem is good stuff.

+1 Tis some good stuff!

 

[Russ359]

thanks

 

[BBradbury]

Tank Cycling

I have a 37 gallon tank with AC70 filter

Set tank up on Jan 15th, no fish - water clear
Added piece of drift wood Jan 17th
Jan 19th water cloudy - Pet store said most likely a bacteria bloom
Jan 28th added 6 1" fish after pet store tested water and said everything OK

My question is during cycling I should see an ammonia spike then nitrite spike then level off correct?

A week after I added the fish ammonia was still in safe zone, nitrate non detectable. I did a 15% water change anyway.
Test water with strips each day, ammonia does not seem to be rising and nitrates are low. Is my tank stuck before it even cycled? All fish seem fine (except one fatter one spends significantly more time near top not moving too much).

Should I be concerned? What could be causing cycle not to start? Water is well water so I did not add any additives to it before filling tank as there is no chlorine, PH is good.

Hello Russ...

I'm no authority, but from your post, you don't have enough fish in the tank to start the cycling process. You only have a few small fish and a fairly large tank with a lot of water to dilute the small amount of fish waste.

It's like trying to cycle a swimming pool with a couple of fish. There's no way for any ammonia to build up in the tank.

The "fish in" cycing is really simple. If several, daily tests for ammonia and nitrite read "0", then add a few more small fish. Keep testing daily. If several days of tests still read "0" ammonia and nitrites, then add a few more fish.

When you get a test that shows a trace of ammonia or nitrites, then do a 25 to 30 percent water change to get the water back into the "safe zone". Don't add more fish until several daily tests read "0" for the above pollutants.

Just follow the above steps until the tank is fully stocked.

B

 

[Russ359]

B
Thanks that makes sense. Ammonia did rise, but is staying in the safe zone per the strips. I ordered the API test kit. So I plan to test as us suggest, if OK add a couple more fish and wait. Hopefully I will get to a critical fish mass to get the ammonia up a bit and the cycle to start.

thanks

 

[Russ359]

OK, got a API test kit. Ammonia reads between 0.25 and 0.5 PPM. Nitrate and nitrites at zero. Added a cap full of Seachem to tank. I guess I should do a 10 to 20% water change today.

 

[BBradbury]

Tank Cycling

OK, got a API test kit. Ammonia reads between 0.25 and 0.5 PPM. Nitrate and nitrites at zero. Added a cap full of Seachem to tank. I guess I should do a 10 to 20% water change today.

Hello Russ...

Yes, when your test shows a trace of ammonia or nitrites, then remove and replace 25 to 30 percent of the water. The water change will remove the pollutants and bring the water back into the "safe zone".

If you cycle with fish, then the water needs to be tested every day to keep the fish safe. Without the fish, then the water changes aren't as vital, because there's nothing that will be harmed by the pollutants.

B

 

[Russ359]

thanks, I am cycling with 5 platys. Will do a water change today. About how long does the cycle take? heard up to 6 weeks!!!

 

[jetajockey]

6 to 8 weeks isn't uncommon. And there's no minimum amount of fish needed to cycle. A big tank will still cycle even with only a few small fish, it just does it on a smaller scale so its harder to see the spikes and swings when testing.