Cycle Complete!

[Mr. FishMan]

I couldn't get my tank to finish its cycle so I went with adding a bit of fish food everyday for a little over a week and was able to complete the cycle Its been a while since ive been on this site (besides the past few days) and thought id fill everyone in. Parameters are all good,
Amonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 20
SG - 1.022
PH - 8.2
Since they've been stable for several weeks now I picked up 3 four stripe damsels and 2 yellow tails on thursday evening. After acclimating them for an hour I netted them into the tank and they all went into hiding. I figured it was normal behavior and went to bed. the next morning all the damsels were out swimmimg and what seemed to be happy. They took to flake food immediately and I also give them a frozen food alternate that has krill and brine shrimps. They love it. So far no signs of aggression, the 3 four stripe damsels formed a mini school and the two yellow tails seem to have paired up although no signs of breeding.. yet haha. I'm surprised they are doing so well and getting along as good as they are since I've read a lot about them being extremely aggressive towards a lot of fish especially if theyre of the same species. I do have a bigger tank than average though, so maybe that helps. Anyway, just thought I give an update.

 

[Ingy]

Keep an eye on your ammonia levels. If you did a food cycle and not a raw shrimp or ammonia dosing, you will have a very weak bacteria colony. That is somewhat evident by the nitrates only being 20ppm after the cycle completed. Now, throwing 5 new fish in there (4 over the recommended number) your bacteria likely won't be able to keep up with the added bioload, and you'll see a new cycle start.

 

[Mr. FishMan]

I used frozen krill, not flake food, as the ammonia source which i think is pretty close to shrimp. Is there a big difference between the two? but I understand what your saying. also I didn't add all 5 fish on Thursday I meant to say I added the 4 stirped damsels on Thursday and the two yellow tails on Monday. I know thats still not enough time for the BB but I didn't want the two yellow tails to establish a huge territory before I added the other ones.. as for the amonia I have been watching it and after adding the 3 4 striped damsels there was a small ammonia spike but it only got up to .25 ppm so there was a mini cycle but not a huge one..

 

[Ingy]

? Guidance on what?
But here's what I'd do.
0.25 may seem like a low number, after all, it's the lowest reading on some test strips above 0. But it's still high for fish. Do a 25% PWC to bring it down and keep watching it. If it goes back up, do another PWC. If it stays low, or has already gone down, you're in the clear.

 

[Mr. FishMan]

Guidance on getting ammo down.. but you answered that, thanks. I did a PWC yesterday of probably only 15%, Will do another PWC of 25% today, and after, If ammonia is still present do you mean for me to do another 25% today or wait till tomorrow?