So far... So... nothing?

[mrcrazypants05]

Okay so I've seeded my canisters with a bio-fiber pad from my 55 gal... It's been 2 days and my ammonia has been at 0.25~0.5 for the 2 days.... This would be the third morning... So far no I've had no nitrites at all... and I just tested my nitrates at a little above 0... The bacteria has had enough time to have split about like 6-7 times lol... I would think there would be more than enough. Am I just being too impatient?

 

[Jchillin]

What are you using an ammonia source?

 

[mrcrazypants05]

Shrimp Pellets... With gas prices the way they are... I don't wanna drive 15 miles to get some pure ammonia. My car gets 12mpg that would be $3.50 right now and whatever the ammonia is. I figured since I had the shrimp pellets and they are made for shrimp... why wouldnt they work as well? lol Plus the 2oz thing was like $2 anyway and none of my fish eat it...

 

[flamingonhot]

that....

if its cycling i think your being to impatient...ammonia builds up at about 7 days so i think it would tank about 10-15 days to actually see nitrates and all that good stuff.

just let it sit for a while and see what happens.

 

[Jchillin]

You could have added some fish since you were using a seeded filter. There may not be enough ammonia available from the shrimp pellets.

 

[malkore]

Yes, when seeding with 'seasoned' filter media, you have all the necessary bacteria for the nitrogen cycle...but you don't have enough to deal with the amount of ammonia a fully stocked tank would produce.

So as Jchillin points out, you could have lightly stocked the tank after 24 hours (just for temp stabilization really). Teh shrimp pellets will be a source of ammonia though, so if you don't have any fish to put in just yet, keep putting food in...even overfeed a little, or add some flake food since it breaks down faster than dried shrimp.

 

[mrcrazypants05]

well I just threw my 4 giant danios in for now... ammonia is at like 0.5 and i nitrite test started showing a little darker, but not enough to test at 0.25 or whatever... So, I guess we'll see how things go. I was hoping to get my 3 SA Cichlids this thursday, but I've waited this long for this tank so whats another week or so?

oh and btw thats after a 35-40% PWC

 

[Jchillin]

That sounds a little better. There is a good chance that the "seeded" media will not die-off and you may be done in a few days.