any advice?

[Xxaprilrose]

So I started my 37gallon tank cycle on the 16th, so about 11 days ago. The tanks current PH is 7.6 and ammonia is 2 PPM. I dosed it with ammonia the day I filled the tank. I also added API quick start as well. I have not seen any changes to the water. Yesterday I went to a fish store, fully intended on JUST LOOKING but I ran by the most beautiful flowerhorn I had ever seen. My dream fish. Definitely one I will not find anywhere else as it was unique especially for my area. I told him my tank is not cycled and only 10 days in at that point. He gave me about half a gallon of dirty water from one of his tanks and he squeezed out one of the sponge filters into the bag. I took it home and put it in my tank. He said unfortunately he can only hold the fish for a week though so I only have until saturday to cycle the tank. Today, the ammonia was at 1 PPM, no nitrites but maybe nitrate? Nitrate was a little more orange than the yellow on the api kit test so I am not sure. Anyways, if I grab filter media from a friend tomorrow to place in my tank is there ANY chance of it being cycled by Saturday? Or am I just going to have to get a refund? Like I said, I didnt anticipate this and I know the proper way to cycle a tank and I was going to wait the 6-8 weeks it wouldve taken but this fish... I cant stop thinking about him lol. Maybe I could empty my tank, add in only api quick start then add my fish the next day... with daily water changes? .. any suggestions thanks in advance

Oh! Also yes I am aware 37g is way too small for a flowerhorn. He is about 5 inches right now and I do have a 90 gallon but thats not set up yet so this 37g is only temporary.

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

Well if your set on buying him this week then you should just completely drain the tank and refill fresh and do a fish in cycle. That will require daily water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite levels as low as possible, and can be stressful on the fish. The fish store giving out a bag of water that they “squeezed” a filter pad in will do nothing but give you dirty water and possibly some diseases or infections/infestations from the stores system. So to answer your question, no there is no way to force your cycle by this weekend, if you have a friend that has a mature tank that would give you some of there filter media or substrate that you keep wet, it can go a long way in helping speed the process but it will still need to be monitored daily to keep the levels safe for fish.

 

[pwypGlofish]

I agree. Another idea for fishless cycling that's much faster is borrowing filter media from an active tank or a decoration from an active tank, those have beneficial bacteria for the fish which will kickstart the process in little time and hopefully you can buy that flowerhorn you fell in love with!