Cycled in 3 days?

[Sjasmin888]

I just started a new 20 gallon tank in an attempt to recreate a natural river habitat for my Hillstream Loaches. My tank has been set up for 3 days and had 8 zebra danios in it for 2. I checked my water parameters yesterday and I was reading ammonia at .25 ppm so I added Prime to protect my fish. Today ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, nitrate is 20? I've used a total of 3 cap fulls of Seachem Stability over the course of these three days and added half a cup of gravel from a cycled tank the day I added the fish, but the jump from ammonia to nitrate being made in 24 hours has me a bit wierded out. Is there anything that could cause false readings, or has my tank really just cycled that fast?

 

[Yorg]

I just started a new 20 gallon tank in an attempt to recreate a natural river habitat for my Hillstream Loaches. My tank has been set up for 3 days and had 8 zebra danios in it for 2. I checked my water parameters yesterday and I was reading ammonia at .25 ppm so I added Prime to protect my fish. Today ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, nitrate is 20? I've used a total of 3 cap fulls of Seachem Stability over the course of these three days and added half a cup of gravel from a cycled tank the day I added the fish, but the jump from ammonia to nitrate being made in 24 hours has me a bit wierded out. Is there anything that could cause false readings, or has my tank really just cycled that fast?

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Three days would be awfully fast! I can't think of anything that would be giving you false readings based on wha!t you wrote, unless your test kit is very old or has been exposed to any extreme temperatures. I'd keep testing for a few more days, and if everything holds steady then you've probably got a cycle!

 

[_Drago_]

It's extremely unlikely that beneficial bacteria could have grown enough in that amount of time so I'd be very weary. When cycling, tanks go from having perfect readings, to ones that are alright, then very bad ones until they finally flatten out and hit the point of being "cycled". Wait a week or two more and if the parameters remain the same then you should be fine!

 

[Brookster123]

Did you use a mature filter? Rocks from an actual river? Plants?

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[Sjasmin888]

Gravel from an established tank at a very trusted LFS. There are only two small plants in it and they both received high concentration salt baths before placement.

 

[Brookster123]

Gravel will do it..

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[coralbandit]

I think you are cycled to consume .25-.5 ppm ammonia.
The gravel if active definitely works.
I have not used stability but do believe the bacteria in bottle is an excellent addition for the attentive cycler.
Just watch for spikes if you increase bio load.
I roll over cycled sponges to new tanks and never skip a beat.
Just change water like it matters and keep an eye on levels.

How do the fish look? I let them tell me more then test ,just not during cycling.
They can offer great conformation...

 

[BBradbury]

Sj...

A trace of ammonia or nitrite is enough to kill even a hardy fish like a Danio. You have to test the water daily and if you have a trace of ammonia or nitrite, remove 25 percent of the water and replace it with tap water treated with an additive to remove chlorine and chloramine. 25 percent keeps the water chemistry in the safe zone for the fish and leaves some dissolved waste for the growing bacteria colony.

Cycling a tank takes weeks. Using chemicals to shorten the cycling process can appear to cycle the tank, but generally leaves you with an unstable water chemistry later.

B

 

[MattMal88]

I've cycled a 55g tank in a week using well established filter media and gravel from another tank of mine. 3 days definitely sounds a little quick so I'd do as the others are saying and test the water for a few more days. If all stays stable then you're probly good to go. I'd just be careful how fast you add any other fish to the tank.

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[Sjasmin888]

My water tested stable at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 5-20 nitrate (water changes) for Teo more days, and now all of a sudden I'm back at .25 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate. I guess I'm doing another water change and dosing with prime today.