Fishless Cycle Complete so soon?

[GouramiFanatic]

I had a 10 gallon tank that has been in storage for a few years now. Last weekend I took it out, gave it a good rinsing with warm water, filled it up with gravel, plants (fake), and some other decor. It's only been up and running for 5 days and I'm already reading a positive nitrate level 5.0 without ever adding / reading any ammonia and nitrites. Is this possible? Does it mean I can add fish now?

I'm thinking it's possible for a few reasons.

1- The gravel that I put in there had been in a 5 gallon bucket which still had a little bit of water in it. This had also been in storage for the same length of time. Would the good bacteria still be alive? I also rinsed the gravel in warm water before putting it in the tank.

2- I took a few cups of gravel out of my 75 gallon and tossed it into the 10 gallon to speed up the process.

3- I had the filter media for my 10 gallon in one of the baskets of the XP3 running on my 75 gallon for about a week so it was able to get some bacteria on it as well.

I'm just really surprised because I never added ammonia to the tank so I'm not sure if I still should or not.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I'm sure it was the gravel and the seeding in the filter that did it.

Well congrats on the fast cycle, what are you going to have in there for stocking?

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Hmmm... I was comparing this cycle to my 75 gallon. I knew it wouldn't take so long, but I didn't think it would be THAT easy!

For stocking it, my first residents will be some baby Angels. I'm going to keep them in the 10 gallon until they're big enough to move over to the 75 gallon. I'm hoping and praying that all of my current fish will get along with the Angels and vice versa, but I do have a plan just in case I have to move somebody.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

That's cool, you know what you should do with that tank. Do a planted shrimp tank

 

[mgamer20o0]

I had a 10 gallon tank that has been in storage for a few years now. Last weekend I took it out, gave it a good rinsing with warm water, filled it up with gravel, plants (fake), and some other decor. It's only been up and running for 5 days and I'm already reading a positive nitrate level 5.0 without ever adding / reading any ammonia and nitrites. Is this possible? Does it mean I can add fish now?

I'm thinking it's possible for a few reasons.

1- The gravel that I put in there had been in a 5 gallon bucket which still had a little bit of water in it. This had also been in storage for the same length of time. Would the good bacteria still be alive? I also rinsed the gravel in warm water before putting it in the tank.

2- I took a few cups of gravel out of my 75 gallon and tossed it into the 10 gallon to speed up the process.

3- I had the filter media for my 10 gallon in one of the baskets of the XP3 running on my 75 gallon for about a week so it was able to get some bacteria on it as well.

I'm just really surprised because I never added ammonia to the tank so I'm not sure if I still should or not.

1 no alive bacteria
2 that does help
3 what i would do is run that media again for a week or two move it over and stock the tank.

ok what your doing is let the bacteria build up then moved it over. since there is no ammonia in the tank nothing for them to eat so they die. as they die they do make amonia and nitrites and then nitrates. so you may have had a good sized bacteria ready to stock your tank but after 5 days of it dying off its all or almost all dead. what i would do is reput the media back into the filter in the 75 gallon. do a very larger wc in the 10 gallon. in a week or two pick up some fish for the 10 gallon and move the media back over. the other option would be to move the media back over then pull it out and finish up a fishless cycle. the more tanks you have the more bacteria you can move over at once. i dont even cycle tanks anymore i just pull so much bacteria from a couple different tanks where it could then suport its self. any questions just ask.

I'm sure it was the gravel and the seeding in the filter that did it.

Well congrats on the fast cycle, what are you going to have in there for stocking?

no the gravel wouldnt have any alive bacteria after that long sitting there.

 

[CaptainAhab]

My 2 cents: The nitrate you're reading is probably the nitrate level in your tap water to begin with. The death of bacteria don't cause ammonia and nitrite (to any significant degree that would lead to nitrates of that level; if at all).

1) No
2) very little
3) Possible but without a food source (ie dosing ammonia, fish food, etc) whatever life was on that sponge is soon dead of starvation anyway. Bacteria need food just like anything else.

Also, how old are your test kits? They do go bad and give bad readings.

Remember for a cycle you'll need to see ammonia , then nitrites and then nitrates rising.

If you really think it is cycled, dose it with ammonia and see how long it takes to move to 0. If it is, it will move to 0 in less than 24 hrs.. much less

 

[GouramiFanatic]

I could absolutely kill my cousin! I had some company over the weekend and one of my cousins was wondering why I had a jug of ammonia in my room. I explained to him that I was cycling my tank with the ammonia instead of hurting any live fish. I left the room to go get some drinks and my cousin (who had been drinking), being the prankster that he is, decided he would "help" by pouring some ammonia into the tank. Thankfully there's no fish in the tank yet, but now I'm wondernig how to fix what he did! I tested my tank and the ammonia was literally off the charts. It was a darker shade of green than what the chart shows for 8.0. I'm so upset because it was all going so well and I was hoping to get some fish within the next week or so. How much of a delay will this cause? How do I fix it?

 

[AquaBry]

I would recommend a massive water change ASAP and careful monitoring with your test kit. Thank goodness you hadn't moved any fish into it yet.

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Thanks, as soon as I finished posting that message I did a big water change at about 75%. I haven't retested yet, but will be later tonight. I'll post the results when I finish. I guess that'll help me figure out the next step. I'm still furious that he did this, but like you said, at least it was an empty tank so no fish were harmed!

 

[AquaBry]

Thanks, as soon as I finished posting that message I did a big water change at about 75%. I haven't retested yet, but will be later tonight. I'll post the results when I finish. I guess that'll help me figure out the next step. I'm still furious that he did this, but like you said, at least it was an empty tank so no fish were harmed!

Good news, I am glad to hear you jumped right on it. i will cross my fingers and hope your test results are good. Best wishes.

 

[mgamer20o0]

i would act as your tank isnt cycled and starting a new. high ammonia level kills the bacteria. i think 8 is a little much so if you did some in there they prob dead.

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Not good!

Well, I just tested my tank and here are the results.

• PH = 8.0 (ish), the color is more pink than the 8.0, but not as dark as the 8.4 / 8.8 so I'm not really sure what it would be considered.
• Nitrite = 0
• Nitrate = 5.0
• Ammonia = 4.0

I'm glad to see the Ammonia level had dropped though I was hoping for a larger drop. Guess I'll keep doing large water changes until it's under control. Is there anything else I should do? Should I change the filter media?