Fish-in cycle

[KFav93]

UPDATE: cycle is coming to an end (finally). No annomia, no nitrites and high nitrates. I just performed a WC to remove the nitrates. I just want to ask you all when it's okay to start stocking again. Should I give it a week?

 

[Andy Sager]

UPDATE: cycle is coming to an end (finally). No annomia, no nitrites and high nitrates. I just performed a WC to remove the nitrates. I just want to ask you all when it's okay to start stocking again. Should I give it a week?

What you need to understand is that when the cycle is finished, it means that there is only enough bacteria present to handle the ammonia load present at the time it finished cycling. It does need more food ( ammonia) to keep going. That means that you can start adding fish at any time ( the sooner the better) HOWEVER, you should not overstock in the beginning as your bacteria bed will need to catch up to the new bioload. Slow and steady wins the race here.
After adding your new fish, wait a day and do an ammonia test to see if it rises. If so, you added too many and will need to keep an eye on the level and possibly do water changes to keep it below any dangerous levels for the fish until the bed catches up to the load. I also suggest that you always, always, ALWAYS test your water before adding any new fish in the future as well. This can potentially save you a lot of fish deaths and money by not putting fish into a bad system.