Hi, this is my first post as I need help that Google and Youtube have not been able to provide me. Hopefully someone here can help me.
I had a 4 inch turtle in a 20 gallon tank filled all the way up with a turtle topper. I was using a Fluval 207 rated for up to a 45 gallon tank since I heard turtles were messy. I cycled that tank with the turtle in it and just kept an eye on the turtle. That tank definitely cycled and I used an API test kit to make sure the water was safe before I decided to try adding some fish. No ammonia, or nitrites. Long story short, the turtle ate everything I tried except two juvenile cichlids.
Then I wanted a bigger tank. So I upgraded to a 55 gallon tank. The problem is that I didn’t have space to run both tanks, so I couldn’t cycle the new tank and keep the fish in the old tank. So here’s what I did to prepare for the move:
- Bought a bigger Fluval 407 (rated for 100 gallons)
- Took the old ceramic filter media from the old filter and put it all into the new filter (which only filled one of the two baskets on the new filter)
- Could not save the sponges because they were different in size
- Was able to run the new filter (with old media) on the old tank for about a week before the transfer)
- Did not transfer any substrate because I wanted to go from gravel to sand in the new tank
- transferred about 5 cichlid rocks which have been in the tank for a long time.
- Used as much of the old tank water as I could to fill the new tank (which I kept in buckets with the fish and rocks while I was setting up the new tank)
- Treated the new water in buckets with API tap water conditioner, then filled the new 55 gallon tank
- Used API Quick Start to help the cycle.
- Added my turtle and two fish (feed my fish a couple pinches twice daily and the turtle every few days)
As you can see, I tried my best to make the move as smooth as possible, and have been testing the water daily for the last 3 days. My question is, how do I know if the tank is cycled?
Results of my water tests have shown 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and about 10 ppm of nitrates. I’m not sure if nitrates are increasing yet because the test kit only shows differences in 10 ppm increments and the color is not yet 20 ppm.
I would like to add more juvenile cichlids, but I’m not 100% sure if it’s safe yet. I also want to add more fish to make more nitrates for my aquarium plants (Anubias and Java Fern). Is it safe to do so? I have some Seachem Prime ready just in case of an ammonia spike. So far so good, but don’t want to put more fish in and risk losing them all. Any help would be appreciated.
I had a 4 inch turtle in a 20 gallon tank filled all the way up with a turtle topper. I was using a Fluval 207 rated for up to a 45 gallon tank since I heard turtles were messy. I cycled that tank with the turtle in it and just kept an eye on the turtle. That tank definitely cycled and I used an API test kit to make sure the water was safe before I decided to try adding some fish. No ammonia, or nitrites. Long story short, the turtle ate everything I tried except two juvenile cichlids.
Then I wanted a bigger tank. So I upgraded to a 55 gallon tank. The problem is that I didn’t have space to run both tanks, so I couldn’t cycle the new tank and keep the fish in the old tank. So here’s what I did to prepare for the move:
- Bought a bigger Fluval 407 (rated for 100 gallons)
- Took the old ceramic filter media from the old filter and put it all into the new filter (which only filled one of the two baskets on the new filter)
- Could not save the sponges because they were different in size
- Was able to run the new filter (with old media) on the old tank for about a week before the transfer)
- Did not transfer any substrate because I wanted to go from gravel to sand in the new tank
- transferred about 5 cichlid rocks which have been in the tank for a long time.
- Used as much of the old tank water as I could to fill the new tank (which I kept in buckets with the fish and rocks while I was setting up the new tank)
- Treated the new water in buckets with API tap water conditioner, then filled the new 55 gallon tank
- Used API Quick Start to help the cycle.
- Added my turtle and two fish (feed my fish a couple pinches twice daily and the turtle every few days)
As you can see, I tried my best to make the move as smooth as possible, and have been testing the water daily for the last 3 days. My question is, how do I know if the tank is cycled?
Results of my water tests have shown 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and about 10 ppm of nitrates. I’m not sure if nitrates are increasing yet because the test kit only shows differences in 10 ppm increments and the color is not yet 20 ppm.
I would like to add more juvenile cichlids, but I’m not 100% sure if it’s safe yet. I also want to add more fish to make more nitrates for my aquarium plants (Anubias and Java Fern). Is it safe to do so? I have some Seachem Prime ready just in case of an ammonia spike. So far so good, but don’t want to put more fish in and risk losing them all. Any help would be appreciated.