New tank cycled ????

[zipperfly58]

Hello, I currently have a 38 bow front with 12 Mbuna's African cichlids. They are going to be out growing the 38. Last weekend I setup a brand new 55 gallon and am running a filstar XP-L canister filter. I have put nothing but new aquarium gravel and some slate that I purchased from a LPS. As for the water while doing a water change on the 38 I added about 12-15 gallons of established tank water from the 38. I want to remove the cichlids from the 38 to the 55, I just did a Ammonia test which was .25/the same as my tap water and the nitrites were at Zero. Is my tank ready to transfer my fish into their new home?

Thank

 

[Yorg]

Hello, I currently have a 38 bow front with 12 Mbuna's African cichlids. They are going to be out growing the 38. Last weekend I setup a brand new 55 gallon and am running a filstar XP-L canister filter. I have put nothing but new aquarium gravel and some slate that I purchased from a LPS. As for the water while doing a water change on the 38 I added about 12-15 gallons of established tank water from the 38. I want to remove the cichlids from the 38 to the 55, I just did a Ammonia test which was .25/the same as my tap water and the nitrites were at Zero. Is my tank ready to transfer my fish into their new home?

Thank

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Hi zipperfly58:

I doubt that the nitrogen cycle is established in the 55, so if you were to transfer fish to it you would be doing a fish-in cycle and would have to deal with both ammonia and (eventually) nitrite spikes. You could try to manage that with water changes and by using something like Prime which would help protect the fish from ammonia and nitrite poisoning, or you could leave the fish where they are and do a fishless cycle of the new 55.

 

[SherLar]

No, your tank isn't ready for fish yet. Old tank water didn't really do you any good. Almost no nitrifying bacteria will exist in the water column. Most is in your filter media, on your substrate, and decor. You'd be better off adding used filter media and a few pieces of porous decor to your new tank. These will already have bacteria colonized on them.
Your ammonia and nitrites will remain close to 0 without fish or another ammonia producer present in the water. If you were to add fish, however, you would see a spike in your ammonia levels, which grows higher daily, as the fish produce more and more waste.
IMO, add the used filter media and decor for a couple days, then add just a few fish. Check levels daily, and do a pwc daily as well. Then, when your levels become acceptable (ammonia 0 ppm, nitrites 0 ppm, nitrates <40 ppm), you can begin adding your other fish.