Cycled? Or too early to tell?

[clb2196]

So, I've got a 29 gallon. I decided to use SuperBac to cycle (I realize some people don't agree with that, but my lfs recommended it). My tank is pretty heavily planted. After a week of having plants, I got some danios. It's been 10 days now with 7 danios, and no ammonia or nitrite readings at all. No nitrate either, but with all the plants I might not see any, right? I haven't added any ferts, yet, so that would be all they're using. Would it be possible to not see any ammonia after 10 days, or does it sound like I'm cycled? I'll be adding future fish very slowly, I realize anything else I add can casue a mini cycle.

The next fish I'll be adding are cories, probably. How long should I wait to add them?

 

[missileman]

I think it is too early to tell.
7 danios is a pretty light load in a 29 gallon and with it heavily planted they can suck up quite a lot of amonia.
It is possible that your cycle really hasn't started yet.

 

[clb2196]

So... wait it out? Or will the plants always absorb it? More fish? I was thinking 3 more danios total. Or go to the cories? Or do they need a more established tank?

 

[missileman]

Cories spend more time on the bottom which is where any poor water quality issues will be worse.
I don't think the plants will always absorb the amonia.
Does the bacteria supliment require adding a dose every so often?
Most of any bacteria you may have added at the start would likely have died off without enough food to sustain them.
I personally would either wait another week or add a couple more danios. and see if you get any readings.
PS: good choice on the danios, they are hardy fish to cycle with.

 

[clb2196]

Cories spend more time on the bottom which is where any poor water quality issues will be worse.
I don't think the plants will always absorb the amonia.
Does the bacteria supliment require adding a dose every so often?
Most of any bacteria you may have added at the start would likely have died off without enough food to sustain them.
I personally would either wait another week or add a couple more danios. and see if you get any readings.
PS: good choice on the danios, they are hardy fish to cycle with.

I added half at the beginning (when I got the fish), then half about 3 days later.

I'm totally fine with waiting, just want to make sure I don't end up in a spot where the amount of ammonia from the fish is just enough from the plants, and then I get a major spike when I add fish. A little spike I can handle.

Yeah, I got the danios because they're hardy and compatible with my stocking list, but I actually like the little guys. In fact whenever I upgrade to a bigger tank I think I'll make this one a danio species tank.

 

[clb2196]

Anyone else?

 

[bs6749]

You can safely add more fish to your tank right now if you so choose since you have plants in the tank, provided that you have sufficient lighting and other nutrients for the plants to grow. Plants prefer ammonia to nitrate but can use either.

Your cycle hasn't really started yet but your tank will eventually cycle. The important thing is that you don't see any ammonia, or nitrites in the tank. For the most part, nitrate readings of 20ppm or less are preferred. Any higher than that and you will want to do a water change. What else were you thinking about adding to the tank? I wouldn't add too much because you want to avoid seeing ammonia. You should also start changing out 10g of water every 3-4 days or twice per week.

 

[clb2196]

Yeah, plenty of light (2.4-ish WPG), and getting dry ferts.

I'm assuming with plenty of plants I won't see too much nitrate ever, right?

I'm doing 20% PWCs twice a week right now, and testing the water every day.

I want to add (total, over however long it takes) 3 more danios, 6 cories, 6 kuhlis, and a gourami. Thoughts on what the order should be?

As far as water quality being worse on the bottom, the danios actually hang out down there quite a bit, probably because they like playing in the plants, and they haven't grown all the way to the top yet. I'm guessing with more bottom fish they probably won't be down there as much.

 

[bs6749]

I'd add the gourami last because they can be territorial, however I believe it's more of an aggression issue between other gouramis. I'd add the danios and the cories all at the same time. Danios aren't going to add much to the load. The cories will, but at the same time they will clean up all of the uneaten food so you don't have ammonia present.

I think 6 kuhlis may be a bit much for your tank in addition to the cories. Seems like an awful lot of bottom dwellers in a 29g tank. That's just speculation on my part though and I don't have any experience with kuhlis. They do like to burrow in the sand though right?

Yes, in a planted tank you shouldn't see much for nitrates. I still recommend changing out 10g twice per week in an attempt to remove pathogens (by doing a gravel vac). It's also a good idea to do this in order to remove hormones from the water along with oils from foods and your hands and to reduce your total dissolved solids.

 

[clb2196]

Thanks.

Yeah I was planning on the gourami last probably. The kuhlis second to last because I'm having trouble finding them around here. I'm not too worried about the bottom dwellers, I've had some people that are loach "experts" or at least know lots more than me say 6 of each should be okay.

I'm thinking about adding the cories in 2 groups of 3- I'm a little worried about adding 6 at once. Maybe a week apart?

And yeah I'd rather err on the side of too many water changes. I have a Python so 20% or so change only takes 10 minutes or so.

 

[missileman]

As far as Khulis.
Every experience is different and there are different species of Khulis.
I bought 4 of them a long time ago. For a long time I thought only one survived until I broke the tank down and found out all 4 were still alive.
I moved them to another tank and now it is as if they are not there at all.
If I am lucky I may spot one about once a month or so. I do kind of regret getting them because they add to the bioload but I never see them. I think if I ever get around to it I might just get rid of them.
The ones I have are solid brown.

 

[clb2196]

As far as Khulis.
Every experience is different and there are different species of Khulis.
I bought 4 of them a long time ago. For a long time I thought only one survived until I broke the tank down and found out all 4 were still alive.
I moved them to another tank and now it is as if they are not there at all.
If I am lucky I may spot one about once a month or so. I do kind of regret getting them because they add to the bioload but I never see them. I think if I ever get around to it I might just get rid of them.
The ones I have are solid brown.

I'm planning on getting the ringed ones, if I can find them. what I've heard is that the more hiding spots they have, the more they'll come out, since they know they have somewhere t hide. Before they go in I'm getting a little driftwood cave, and I'll probably make one out of pvc or something, too. I also hear they come out at night, and I have LED lunar lights, so hopefully I can see them a little in that too.

 

[clb2196]

So! I'm not sure if it was the SuperBac or the plants making a silent cycle, but I have nitrates. And still no ammonia or nitrite spike.

 

[bluerose]

I silent-cycled my tank with plants too, although I also think that my Anubias Nana, which came in a pot with moss which I didn't know needed to be removed until a week or so later, did an excellent job inadvertently seeding the tank...

Silent-cycling is the win-win method I think although it is tricky to pull off. Happy plants make for happy fish anyway

 

[clb2196]

I silent-cycled my tank with plants too, although I also think that my Anubias Nana, which came in a pot with moss which I didn't know needed to be removed until a week or so later, did an excellent job inadvertently seeding the tank...

Silent-cycling is the win-win method I think although it is tricky to pull off. Happy plants make for happy fish anyway

Well everyone seems happy right now. I'm just letting the plants grow, they'll need some trimming etc next week or so. I'm also planning on doing some DIY Co2 this weekend when I can be home all day to watch it. What do you use for ferts?

 

[krap101]

IME, my khulis were out pretty often. When I tried out a river tank, the a couple of the khulis somehow got into the 1/2" pvc piping that I was using for the flow, and they died down there.

I bought some ferts and got them last week. I got some pmdd pre-mix, kh2po4, and barr's gh booster from Aquariumfertilizers.com. I ordered on friday and I got them on Wednesday, so I was happy.