Brand new - could use some advice please!

[Family]

Hi everyone. I have had a few fishtanks in my life, so I'm not completely new to the hobby. But is has been awhile and this new tank is as much for my 4yo daughter as it is for me (it is decorated like Bikini Bottom from Spongebob).
Basics:
37 gallon aquarium
two filters - 40 & 10 gallon
the Bikini Bottom decorations and a few plants
basic black gravel with some colored gems

In the past I had always just bought fish within a day or two of setting my tank up (always 10 gal tanks) and never had trouble. This time however, with the larger tank, and the fact that I'd like to avoid some of the pitfalls that I've heard about from aquarium owners about dying fish, etc I'm trying to do a tank cycle before adding fish.

So here is where I am at using the API test kit after a week (just bought the kit based off reading this sites forums) of having the tank set-up:

water is soft
PH @ 8.3
Ammonia @ 0
Nitrite @ 0
Nitrate @ 5

So what is my next step? I see a lot of people mention adding ammonia (bought Ace brand 10% with no additives) and I know about the calculator on how to figure out how much to add. I'm wondering if I should add ammonia now or should I be waiting for different reading before seeing if my tank can cycle it?

Thanks to anyone who answers this post. My daughter is anxious to go pick some fish out, but I know patience will pay off in the long run. That being said I'd like to make sure I am doing the right thing each day going forward so I can take that next step.

 

[bud29]

to the forum!

You can start cycling the tank now with some ammonia from ace. Here is a great article on how to do a fishless cycle:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html

Cycling can be a real patience tester. My 30 gallon has so far taken more than 10 weeks to cycle. But it pays off in the end with healthy fish (And, my cycle is taking abnormally long; cycles generally take only 4-8 weeks)

 

[Family]

I know when the cycle is finished I should have 0 ammonia and 0 Nitrite on my readings. What should the Nitrate reading be?

 

[bud29]

Your nitrates will be extremely high, so you want to do a 90-100 percent water change the day before you get fish. After you get fish, you ideally want less than 20 ppm nitrates, but anything below 40 is still O.K.

 

[Family]

I added ammonia to the tank using the calculator. It bumped my ammonia up to 4 that day. I did not test it yesterday but tested it today to see where it was at. Dissapointed in the results. Here are my readings prior to adding the ammonia on 9/3:

PH @ 8.2
Ammonia @ 0
Nitrite @ 0
Nitrate @ 5

Here are the results (9/5) about 36 hours after adding the ammonia:

PH @ 8.2
Ammonia @ 4.0
Nitrite @ 0 (though it might be up a touch as it isn't as blue as the last test, it had a bit of a purple hue this time, but still wasn't up to the next level)
Nitrate @ 5

My concern is that the ammonia seems the same as it was after initially adding it. So I'm thinking the bacteria isn't forming since they aren't feeding on the ammonia.

What is my next step? Do I need to do a PWC? Do I just need to be patient? If I should simply be patient when is the next time I should test? Should I even bother testing for nitrites and nitrates if the ammonia isn't going down (these kits aren't cheap!)?

Thanks to anyone who gives me some advice!

 

[jlk]

You properly conditioned the water when you initially filled the tank, correct? If so, waiting is the hard part. It can take anywhere from 2-4 wks to see an initial ammonia drop when cycling from scratch. No need to test nitrites or nitrates yet. You can test ammonia every other day right now until you start to see it dropping, then test daily. oOnce your ammonia starts dropping, you can also start to test for nitrites. Adding some cycled media is the quickest way to jumpstart your cycle right now. Have some patience!

 

[Family]

Thanks. I figured I was probably just being impatient. I did condition the water beforehand. There is zero chlorine in the water. The alkalinity is high, but my Ph has stayed consistent.
I have a co-worker whose had tanks for years and she was asking if I wanted some of her fish (they are planning on getting rid of one of their tanks). I declined since my tank hasn't cycled. But I think I might ask for some decorations or gravel to add to help boost the bacteria growth.

 

[jlk]

If you can some of her established filter media, that would be great!!! If you have a ph of 8.3 and high alkalinity, your water certainly isnt soft, btw.

 

[Family]

My latest update:

9/9
PH @ 8.2
Ammonia @ 1
Nitrite @ .25
Nitrate @ 5

Should I be doing anything now? Should I add more ammonia now?

 

[jlk]

Thats great progress! Yes, redose your ammonia but take into account you already have 1ppm of ammonia in your tank. Heres the ammonia calculator in case you dont already have it- just make sure you adjust the desired 'ppm' to 3ppm so you wind up with 4ppm in your tank.

Calculator