One Week Fish-In Cycle?

[ArtInducedComa]

I have a 20 gallon long tank and I did a fish-in cycle. I used API Quick Start and started with 4 bloodfin tetra. I checked the water each day for a week and never saw a spike in ammonia. Everything has been zero across the board and now I'm starting to see a slight rise in nitrates. From what I understand, zero ammonia, zero nitrites, and a small amount of nitrates, signals a cycled tanked. Is this correct?

Are these the results you would expect to see after just a week?

 

[Fresh2o]

Have you performed any water changes this week?

 

[ArtInducedComa]

I did a 25% WC two days ago.

 

[Fresh2o]

I wonder if the fish generated enough ammonia to get the process going.
Moving forward, I would continue monitoring the parameters (maybe every other day or 3x a week) and keep us posted on your findings.

 

[ArtInducedComa]

That's sort of what I was expecting to hear. I just kept reading about the cycle taking weeks to complete and so I felt skeptical that mine had even started.

Thank you for the info!

 

[ArtInducedComa]

So I've seen a small increase in ammonia. The test isn't completely yellow any longer. It definitely has a green tint to it but it's still less than 0.25ppm. My nitrates are getting close to 10ppm. But now I have a sick fish. He's swimming at a slight angle and has a red, bulging eye. I dont know what this indicates but he's not doing well.