Cycle question, how long for ammonia to show up?

[Vmax911]

Here's a little background. I recently bought a used 50 gallon aquarium. Thanks to advice from other members of the forum, I was able to have the HOB filter (aquaclear 200) moved to another tank while the one I bought was emptied. I also kept water in the HOB during the transport of the tank to my home, hoping to preserve the bacteria. Since I had to do some work on the stand, I setup the HOB in a 2.5 gallon bucket with 5 white clouds in it.

Well, the stand took a bit longer than I had hoped, I decided to test the water in the bucket to make sure everything was in check. This "bucket tank" has been running for 3 days, and I got the following readings from my AP test kit:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 25

Is three days long enough to have the ammonia show up, or was I successful in keeping the bacteria alive in the HOB?

I hope to get water in the 50 gallon tonight, and will transfer the HOB to it. (If I have time, I may put the media in the XP3 and get that going as well.) What should I expect to see when I do the transfer?

Thanks!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

It was a success. Now keep in mind that if there were more fish in the previous tank that some of the bacteria did die off, and the filter is just cycled for the 5 white clouds. So if you add more fish when you go to the larger tank, add slowly. It won't be cycled for a full tank load.

 

[dskidmore]

I think you're safe. If ammonia doesn't show up in the first week of feeding the tank, it's probably cycled. Second clue is the high nitrates. Unless your tap water tests high for nitrates, the presence of nitrates is indicative of successfully processed waste. Be conservative about increasing your population of fish, and you should be fine.

 

[ksfishguy]

Keep testing after you add more fish and don't feed to much. My friend did this and had a mini-cycle when adding more fish. Not a major issue, water changes took care of his fish with not much stress. Good luck!

 

[Vmax911]

Update:

I transferred the HOB, bucket water and white clouds to the 50 gallon tank Monday night. The tank has run two days, and I checked the water yesterday afternoon.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 15

I figure the nitrate dissolved into the additional water supply of the larger tank. So it seems all is well. I also added a few plants and a couple neon rainbow fish last night. Will check water parameters again in a couple days.

 

[dskidmore]

2.5 gallon bucket, nitrates at 25
diluted to 50 gallons, should be 20x dilution
expected nitrates 1.75
15> 1.75
You must be producing more nitrates while keeping ammonia and nitrite at 0. Sounds good. Just need to start up the PWC routine, and you should be set.

 

[Vmax911]

Thanks for doing the math for me

Is the purpose of the PWC to lower nitrates (and of course replace trace minerals). Is there an optimum nitrate level (I've just heard to keep it under 40 ppm). Also, the plants should begin to absorb nitrates as well, correct?

 

[dskidmore]

The PWC removes nitrates, but it also prevents any other toxic buildup in the system. You put food in on a regular basis, so you need to take waste back out. This also takes care of evaporation replacement without getting distilled water or increasing the water hardness.

For a planted tank, optimum nitrates are between 10 and 20, depending on who you ask.
Plants will absorb some nitrates. The planting density, light, and other nutrient availability will determine how fast nitrates are absorbed. In a heavily planted, high light tank, sometimes nitrates require supplementation.

 

[Vmax911]

Update #2.

Tested water again.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20

It's been a week and a half, still no signs of ammonia, so I think I bypassed the whole cycle thing. I also added some true aquatic plants and four cory's.

Did my first pwc, changed quite a bit (probably close to 50 percent, due to hornwort falling apart all over the place). What is the typical percentage of a pwc?

I am waiting to install my XP3 filter until I get my inline heater in. I decided to stick the foam that came with it in the tank. My idea was to allow bacteria to start colonizing on it. Will that actually happen, or am I just causing an eyesore?

 

[dskidmore]

In a fish only tank. or unfertilized planted tank, 10% per week is normal.

If you're fertilizing your plants, and using the estimative index method of dosing, you would change 50% every week.

 

[Vmax911]

I think I'll choose #1!

Thanks for the info.