Tank cycled yet? Some questions

[jaws561]

I have had my 29g tank set-up for about 4 weeks and 3 days and I did some small water changes in the 3 1/2 week to now, (like 2 small ones) and right now the nitrites are all gone amonia is all gone and now theres anout 5 ppm of nitrates. Is the tank cycled and I can add some more fish? Thanks.

 

[xxmoorishmanxx]

yes

 

[Mofo2713]

absolutely....now is the fun part...

 

[gfink]

How many fish did you use to cycle your 29 gal? I have 5 Zebra danios, and 2 platties and it is taking forever. I am in week 4 and the ammonia is just starting to register on the test kit. lol

 

[TankGirl]

jaws561, I'll echo the above and say you have had a nice, short cycle. Stock slowly so as not to overwhelm your biofilter, though.

gfink, are you doing water changes during the cycle? Sometimes in an effort to protect the fish from dangerous levels of these waste products it can stall the cycle. Also cleaning the filter, vac'ing the gravel or otherwise "cleaning" the tank can set you back as well. It's best to leave the tank alone as much as you can during the cycle. It also helps if the temp is on the high side of what your fish prefer.

 

[FawnN]

Jaws,

Yes, it defintitely sounds like your tank is cycled. I would recommend you wait at least a couple days if not a week before you add any fish. Give your tank a chance to stablize a little more and then slowly add fish.


Gfink,

I'm worried that after 4 weeks you are finally getting an ammonia reading. How often are you doing water tests and what sort of water changes were you doing?

Or on the flip side too TG, if Gfink's ammonia level is too high for the bacteria it might stunt the growth of your bacteria. What are you readings now?

 

[jaws561]

I have 10 fish because of other family members being compulsive and buying more fish when I told them not to but it seems to not be a problem, thank god. I only plan to add a few more and more plants i only have like 5 in there now. Thanks!
Also, Initially I had the 4 serpaes for like 2 weeks and the ammonia was almost at its highest. then 2 swordtails were added then 2 balloons at about 3 weeks then 3 weeks 2 days 2 dwarf gouramis which keep eating at the plants, :? and now the tank seems to be fine and is cycled. if i get another tank i would probably do a fishless cycle to try both out. During the whole process only 1 fish died and it was the male swordtail which got finrot. Hope this helps. but If I were you i wouldent get anymore fish yet. Good Luck!

 

[TankGirl]

I assumed Gfink to mean the ammonia was "just starting" to show up, meaning low reading, but if it means it is just now starting to be a color light enough to show up on the high concentration end of the color card, then that will definitely stall a cycle - but if that were the case I would assume the fish to be in some serious distress.

 

[gfink]

Thanks for the concern about my ammonia, but I am quite confidant that my tank is just taking its sweet time since I started out on the safe side (afraid of a deadly ammonia spike!) And since I didn't start out with any borrowed rocks etc..

Here's the history of my 29 gal so far:
Week 1-2: 5 Zebra danios.
After 2 weeks everything reads 0 except my pH which dropped from 7 to 6.5
(FYI I tested every other day. )Added some pH Up a tiny bit each day and brought the pH back to 7 where it has been fairly steady. Did it slowly so I didn't shock teh fish.
After 2 weeks with the Zebras I realize that the little guys are going to take forever to pollute the 29 gal, so I pick up two micky mouse platties.
After week 3: I am finally getting some ammonia (0.25 ppm) There are some diatoms showning up now.
After week 4: ammonia is still around 0.25 ppm and there are more diatoms which the platties liek to eat. fish are showing no signs of stress.

Nitrite =0, Nitrates = 0

I have been feeding them once a day. I have added about 2 gallons due to evaporative losses. No water changes.

 

[Mofo2713]

more danios....