I recently bought my first tank and have a question about the water cycle.
It's a 36g tank with an Aqueon quietflow 30 filter. I set it up, filled it, and let the filter run for a week without adding any fish. I did not add any bacteria or materials from a previous tank... As doing a fishless cycle as a beginner seemed very daunting.
After a week I added 2 mollys and a Betta. They've been in there about 9 days now. I have been monitoring the water levels every other day and I am concerned that I've never seen the ammonia or nitrite readings spike.
Today I purchased the API master test kit and both ammonia and nitrite readings were 0... With a nitrate reading of 10. Before I was using the API dip sticks... But I never saw the ammonia or nitrite levels go above .5.
I'm wanting to add more fish (just a few at a time) but I'm not sure if it's safe yet. If the ammonia and nitrite are reading 0 does that mean it has already cycled? Could it have possibly cycled with a high reading of .5? Can the cycle have a delayed start and still be coming?
Thanks for the help
It's a 36g tank with an Aqueon quietflow 30 filter. I set it up, filled it, and let the filter run for a week without adding any fish. I did not add any bacteria or materials from a previous tank... As doing a fishless cycle as a beginner seemed very daunting.
After a week I added 2 mollys and a Betta. They've been in there about 9 days now. I have been monitoring the water levels every other day and I am concerned that I've never seen the ammonia or nitrite readings spike.
Today I purchased the API master test kit and both ammonia and nitrite readings were 0... With a nitrate reading of 10. Before I was using the API dip sticks... But I never saw the ammonia or nitrite levels go above .5.
I'm wanting to add more fish (just a few at a time) but I'm not sure if it's safe yet. If the ammonia and nitrite are reading 0 does that mean it has already cycled? Could it have possibly cycled with a high reading of .5? Can the cycle have a delayed start and still be coming?
Thanks for the help