new 29 gal

[almcloud]

Started my new 29 gal 8 days ago.
Used filter media from my cycled 10 gal, 3 fake plants and about 30% of gravel in my 29 gal is from my 10 gal. Moved over some bacteria to get it cycled faster.
6 days after running my tank (Marineland with penguin Bio Wheel filter 200 - 29 gal) and measuring water daily w/API kit to see any Ammonia or Nitrite peak, I decided to get my first 2 fish ... Cesar (black male Molly) and Atos (neon sword tail).
After days 7 & 8 I tested water again and it reads:
PH 7.6 (LA tap water w/Prime)
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 0.0
Does this mean that bacteria from old media already cycled the 29 gal tank and is controlling the water parameters OR the cycle hasn't even started yet? I measured twice to leave no room for errors.
PLS HELP WITH ANY SUGGESTIONS!

 

[jlk]

Is it possible for tank to be cycled already? Possibly, but because you have zero nitrates i suspect its not cycled yet. Before you added any fish, did you add a source of ammonia daily? If not, make sure you are testing your water parameters (amm/nitrite/nitrate) daily for the next few wks to make sure you do not see any spikes of amm or nitrites and read up on fish-in cycling. I did a fishless cycle on my 50gal using the old filter media & plants from my cycled 20gal and it still took a solid 3wks to completely cycle. I suspect you may see spikes in amm/nitrite but its also possible you will not because there are only 2 fish supplying ammonia. I would def wait a few weeks before adding any more fish (when your numbers are steadily staying 0 amm, 0 nitrite, some nitrates) and then do so very slowly so your bacteria can gradually adjust to the higher amounts of amm/nitrite. Keep us posted!

 

[almcloud]

Is it possible for tank to be cycled already? Possibly, but because you have zero nitrates i suspect its not cycled yet. Before you added any fish, did you add a source of ammonia daily? If not, make sure you are testing your water parameters (amm/nitrite/nitrate) daily for the next few wks to make sure you do not see any spikes of amm or nitrites and read up on fish-in cycling. I did a fishless cycle on my 50gal using the old filter media & plants from my cycled 20gal and it still took a solid 3wks to completely cycle. I suspect you may see spikes in amm/nitrite but its also possible you will not because there are only 2 fish supplying ammonia. I would def wait a few weeks before adding any more fish (when your numbers are steadily staying 0 amm, 0 nitrite, some nitrates) and then do so very slowly so your bacteria can gradually adjust to the higher amounts of amm/nitrite. Keep us posted!

Thanks.
Nitrate showed a bit of ORANGE with the API KIT but not enough to mention, I wanna say maybe 1.0 if anything. Okay I will monitor daily.
As far as my 10 Gal I saw a little Ammonia (0.2) and Nitrates (2.0) after I removed one filter and left second one with about 1 week bacteria in it. Any suggestions?

 

[librarygirl]

Did you add ammonia for the six days when you didn't have fish in the tank? The bacteria need a food source (ammonia). Without fish in the tank you'd add ammonia and go through the fishless cycle; even with seeded media, which could speed the process up, it's best to test with pure ammonia first. Since you've added fish they're going to add ammonia to the tank. If you're starting to get some nitrate and no ammonia or nitrite it could be that there's enough bacteria to handle the fish in there. But to be sure I'd keep testing daily for a couple of weeks. Remember if you remove the media though you're going to remove any bacteria in that tank. I'd keep it in there and not remove anything.

As for the first tank you took the media from, you likely removed too much bacteria and are going through a mini-cycle. You'll need to do water changes until ammonia and nitrite stay at 0 on their own. Nitrite or ammonia over .25 are toxic to fish, so with nitrite at 2 I'd do a good four 50-60% water changes back-to-back to get that nitrite down.

 

[almcloud]

Did you add ammonia for the six days when you didn't have fish in the tank? The bacteria need a food source (ammonia). Without fish in the tank you'd add ammonia and go through the fishless cycle; even with seeded media, which could speed the process up, it's best to test with pure ammonia first. Since you've added fish they're going to add ammonia to the tank. If you're starting to get some nitrate and no ammonia or nitrite it could be that there's enough bacteria to handle the fish in there. But to be sure I'd keep testing daily for a couple of weeks. Remember if you remove the media though you're going to remove any bacteria in that tank. I'd keep it in there and not remove anything.

As for the first tank you took the media from, you likely removed too much bacteria and are going through a mini-cycle. You'll need to do water changes until ammonia and nitrite stay at 0 on their own. Nitrite or ammonia over .25 are toxic to fish, so with nitrite at 2 I'd do a good four 50-60% water changes back-to-back to get that nitrite down.

Thanks a lot. Will do.

 

[almcloud]

Thanks a lot. Will do.

Water test on day 10:
PH 7.6 (LA tap water
Ammonia 0-0.1(slight green coloration on API KIT, but way far from 0.25)
Nitrite 0.0 (nice light blue)
Nitrate 0-1(slight orange coloration on API KIT but way far from 5.0)

I am thinking a 10% water change just to be on the safe side. What do you think?

Also, what's your opinion on adding the bottled bacteria (Nutrafin Cycle) for starting and maintaining healthy bacteria environment in tanks?

 

[almcloud]

Did you add ammonia for the six days when you didn't have fish in the tank? The bacteria need a food source (ammonia). Without fish in the tank you'd add ammonia and go through the fishless cycle; even with seeded media, which could speed the process up, it's best to test with pure ammonia first. Since you've added fish they're going to add ammonia to the tank. If you're starting to get some nitrate and no ammonia or nitrite it could be that there's enough bacteria to handle the fish in there. But to be sure I'd keep testing daily for a couple of weeks. Remember if you remove the media though you're going to remove any bacteria in that tank. I'd keep it in there and not remove anything.

As for the first tank you took the media from, you likely removed too much bacteria and are going through a mini-cycle. You'll need to do water changes until ammonia and nitrite stay at 0 on their own. Nitrite or ammonia over .25 are toxic to fish, so with nitrite at 2 I'd do a good four 50-60% water changes back-to-back to get that nitrite down.

Water test on day 10:
PH 7.6 (LA tap water
Ammonia 0-0.1(slight green coloration on API KIT, but way far from 0.25)
Nitrite 0.0 (nice light blue)
Nitrate 0-1(slight orange coloration on API KIT but way far from 5.0)

I am thinking a 10% water change just to be on the safe side. What do you think?

Also, what's your opinion on adding the bottled bacteria (Nutrafin Cycle) for starting and maintaining healthy bacteria environment in tanks?

 

[jlk]

I would do a larger pwc (50%) just to be on the safe side because you have fish. Water changes will not hurt anything and will not affect your tanks cycle. Just my opinion, but the 'bottled bacteria' is just a waste of money and may actually be detrimental to your cycle. They generally do not contain the proper bacteria for cycling-the correct source of bacteria would need to be fed ammonia daily just to survive and thats not happening in a bottle sitting on a shelf. Just keep monitoring your water parameters & doing pwcs as needed and your tank will cycle all by itself! Keep up the good work!

 

[almcloud]

I would do a larger pwc (50%) just to be on the safe side because you have fish. Water changes will not hurt anything and will not affect your tanks cycle. Just my opinion, but the 'bottled bacteria' is just a waste of money and may actually be detrimental to your cycle. They generally do not contain the proper bacteria for cycling-the correct source of bacteria would need to be fed ammonia daily just to survive and thats not happening in a bottle sitting on a shelf. Just keep monitoring your water parameters & doing pwcs as needed and your tank will cycle all by itself! Keep up the good work!

Thanks a lot!