Cycling Question

[Oriana]

Alright I have a few cycling questions because I feel like I have done something wrong with my cycle. I have a 13 g tank that has had 3 platies in it for around 2 weeks now. I have been testing my water every other day or every day since I put the fish in and I have yet to get a reading different than 0.25 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 0 nitrate. Shouldn't my ammonia be going up or something?

When I purchased my tank the sales person told me I needed these water conditioners (see attached picture) after nothing happening with my cycle I looked over everything I had and saw that the second bottle reduces ammonia and nitrites and rapidly matures the tank. I'm thinking this is/was a bad thing to use? I stopped using it and did several 40% water changes over the last few days but even now am still seeing nothing but the same old reading. I am using the API test kit and the bottles are all good (not expired).

I was wondering what other people think? Did I mess with the cycle by using this? And how can I rectify this.

Thanks!


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[Rpeinhardt]

I don't see a picture but I'd be patient and only do water changes if the ammonia gets above a couple ppm or so.

There's a Goldilocks zone you want to maintain where there's enough ammonia for the bacteria but not too much for the fish.

If you can get your hands on a piece of filter material from an established tank, that will jumpstart your cycle.

 

[Oriana]

Oops I'm not sure what happened to the picture but hopefully now it's attached

I really wish I could get my hands on some used filter media but so far no luck, no one I know owns fish and the few stores I have asked have said no and tried to convince me that it was unnecessary....

I'm just confused about the cycle because I thought that after 2 weeks with fish there would be more ammonia than 0.25 or that my readings would vary. I did 1 water change a week until I began o suspect that the bottled stuff was affecting my cycle and then I did 3 water changes of about 40% each to try to rid the tank of the stuff.


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[friscuba]

I personally think you are well on the way. I started my 40 with 6 platys. Barely got a reading of ammonia one time in the first month. Never had a nitrite reading. I did about a 40 % wc every 5 days. Fed what they could consume in 30 seconds 3 times a day the first week, 5 times a day the second week, then pretty much 8-10 times a day the next. Added 8 rasborah hets, 8 rummynose, 3 corys and 2 otos on day 21. Fed what they could eat in 30 seconds 3 times a day for 3-4 days, then 6-8 times since. Finally started seeing nitrate after the addition of the big group. Added 12 cardinals and 2 more corys week 5. The last week I've seen a baby platy (at least one) that didn't get eaten or sucked up into the power filter wandering around. Still no ammonia or nitrite. I'll have to check the nitrate again. I do 50-60% WC each week now. I have had plants from day one, a sword and an anubias on driftwood, with more plants added later. I bought the anubias specifically to have something that might seed the tank, thinking an algae covered piece of driftwood could go a long way.... seems to have worked.

I'm thinking at 3 weeks in, if you are still not seeing any ammonia or nitrites and your fish are looking healthy and active, you're pretty much established for that load. I'd expect to see some nitrates at a minimal amount maybe around then. They'll pile up more quickly as you increase the load and feeding on the tank, what you've got now probably isn't producing a whole lot of waste. Keep your fish additions small, my first one was a bit more than I'd usually do. Odds are you are not heavily overfeeding, that'll drive the levels up fast, no need for that. Slow builds are OK.


I'm not familiar with the Aqua pro additives, but if step 2 contains a live bacteria colony, it just may have worked. In theory they can do as well or better than seeded material from an established tank.