trace of ammonia

[lyric112209]

So I've had a cycled tank for about 2 weeks..I did a fish in cycle with 4 neon tetras, I just added 2 more fish 4 days ago and ive been testing the water everyday..today I got a slight reading of ammonia...wasn't quite the 2nd reading on the card nor was it 0. Will the tank adjust to this new number of fish?...nitrites are 0 and nitrates are around 10

 

[Mrs.h2012]

So I've had a cycled tank for about 2 weeks..I did a fish in cycle with 4 neon tetras, I just added 2 more fish 4 days ago and ive been testing the water everyday..today I got a slight reading of ammonia...wasn't quite the 2nd reading on the card nor was it 0. Will the tank adjust to this new number of fish?...nitrites are 0 and nitrates are around 10

It will take time but yes it will. You only built up enough BB to handle the amount of bio load you cycles your tank with (the 4 tetras). Just keep an eye on your water params and wait until things 0 out again before adding more fish.

 

[shellieca]

After only 2 weeks your tank has not completed its cycling unless you are VERY lucky. I would not add anymore fish until you are certain the tank has finished cycling. On average it takes 6-8 weeks. Every time you add fish, the BB will need to adjust so it is good you are going as slowly as you are. Have you seen any nitrites as of yet?

 

[lyric112209]

After only 2 weeks your tank has not completed its cycling unless you are VERY lucky. I would not add anymore fish until you are certain the tank has finished cycling. On average it takes 6-8 weeks. Every time you add fish, the BB will need to adjust so it is good you are going as slowly as you are. Have you seen any nitrites as of yet?

You misunderstood what I said...my tank has been a fish in cycle wuth 4 neon tetrad for 2 months...just the past 2 weeks it has been cycled...and I added 2 more fish and after 3-4 days I notice a slight amount of ammonia

 

[lyric112209]

It will take time but yes it will. You only built up enough BB to handle the amount of bio load you cycles your tank with (the 4 tetras). Just keep an eye on your water params and wait until things 0 out again before adding more fish.

Ok thanks!

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Ok thanks!

The way I understand fish in cycles to work (and I could be misunderstanding things since I'm somewhat of a newbie) is that in a sense once you get cycled the first time anytime you add fish you go through a mini cycle in a sense and you have to wait for your BB to catch up to the new bio load, so it's kinda like starting a new tank but having stuff to seed it with to speed the process up.

 

[lyric112209]

Ok got ya...makes sense...

 

[shellieca]

You misunderstood what I said...my tank has been a fish in cycle wuth 4 neon tetrad for 2 months...just the past 2 weeks it has been cycled...and I added 2 more fish and after 3-4 days I notice a slight amount of ammonia

Ahhhh, makse sense. Yes it is normal for there to be a slight spike for adding fish as you are adding to the bio load & creating more work for the BB. It is very smart to add a few fish then wait a couple of weeks or so to add any more.