did the cycle will ever start in my tank?

[avnera]

I have a 26gal fresh water tank with 3 silver dollar bill and 2 catfish.
I had an ammonia level of 8 PPM since the beginning (I start with 22 fishes) till 2 weeks ago (reduced by daily 25% water change for 2 weeks) now the ammonia, the nitrite and the nitrate are 0 for 2 weeks. The last time I change the water was a week ago.
I know that the nitrite should go up and then the nitrate level will clime, is there something I should do? Stop changing water for a wile? can I have more fishes in the tank now?I do I know if the cycle start?

 

[Kwenbee]

Holy cow! 22 fish in a 26 gallon???? (Yeah, I know, ya'll are going to remind me about my overloaded tank). Even I know that was WAY too many fish for a 26 gallon tank...no wonder you had an 8.0 ammonia spike.

I think they told me you may not notice the nitrite climb. I did, but maybe not everyone does (your tank is bigger). I'd say if the ammonia and nitrite has been 0 for two weeks, you can now do weekly water changes rather than daily.

I wouldn't add anymore fish, though. I think silver dollars get fairly big, but I am far from an expert, so I'll hand this over to one of those who knows....

 

[astroguy]

well, first off, how did you reduce the amount of ammonia? Only by water change? or did you add some ammonia-reduction product?

During the cycle, ammonia is *gradually* diminishing while nitrites are increasing. Then when nitrites
decrease, nitrates increase. Having everything at 0ppm for 2 weeks means, imho, that you never cycled but only falsely reduced the amount of ammonia by adding some product. Tell us more, please.

I strongly suggest not to add any new fish now. Btw, which catfish do you have?

 

[tkos]

If after a week you have some nitrates in the tank then the tank has cycled. Nitrates are the end of the nitrogen cycle. It could be that the nitrite spike was small or that something happened to your cycle.

But in the future never let a tanks levels get above 1 ppm of ammonia or 0.25 ppm of nitrite.

 

[avnera]

thank you for your reply all tests are still show 0.

I reduce the ammonia only by water change ,the I was advised by the forum before. but the problem now is that the nitrate is still 0 wat should I do? should I put some cycle product inside now? or do I need to have some ammonia in the water to start the cycle?

 

[jsoong]

No need to add ammonia - the fish will look after that!

I suspect that with zero across the board, that you have stalled the cycle by removing too much ammonia. Or perhaps your tank is cycled & you don't see any nitrates because you removed it with the water change.

I would suggest holding off on the daily water change & watch the levels daily. If the ammonia starts to climb, then you have not a cycled tank. You'll then have to manage the ammonia levels by adjusting your water change to keep it at 1 or so to start the cycle.

If the ammonia & nitrite remains at zero, & you start to see nitrates, then you're done! You can then monitor the nitrate level to guide your water change (I like to keep mine less than 10-20).

 

[tkos]

Yeah, follow what jsoong says. That is pretty good advice.

 

[Endgame319]

fish plural is still fish, just thought i'd point that out. And "did the cycle will ever start in my tank?". I'm guessing english isn't your first language, and if it is, well...