Newbie Cycling Question

[DPirateRoberts]

...I know the longtime posters must hate hearing these questions, but if you could spare me a couple of minutes, I'd appreciate it.

Here's the history of my test during cycling.

Tue Jun 20, 2006 9:17 pm
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0.00
Nitrate: 0.00


Thu Jun 22, 2006 7:56 pm
Ammonia: 0.50
Nitrite: 0.00
Nitrate: 0.00

Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:07 pm
Ammonia: 0.00
Nitrite: 2.00
Nitrate: 10.00

Today, my readings are:

Ammonia: 0.00
Nitrite: 1.00
Nitrate: 10.00

What should be my next step?

I'm doing a cycle with a couple of hardy fish (at any signs of distress, I will be removing the fish) and about 4 snails in a 55 gallon tank. I have placed some gravel and artificial plants from an older cycled tank in the tank being cycled.

 

[joannde]

From the looks of it you'll be down to 0 nitrites soon ... keep it going ! nothing to do right now.

 

[DPirateRoberts]

Patience. It's a foreign word to me. Ha ha!

Thanks, joannde.

 

[tbonem91]

yep - you are almost done congrats! once Ammonia and Nitrite both reach 0, you are finished... BUT you need to know (you might already) that the amount of bacteria that have built up are only enough to process the current amount of waste. Just because you are cycled doesnt necessarily mean you can add a lot of fish because if you do, you will get the chance to enjoy another mini-cylce while your bacteria populations catch up. I dont know if you have your stocking list finalized but I wouldnt add more that 1 fish per week so that the bacteria colonies can catch up to the increased bio load and you wont deal with spiking ammonia/nitrite.

 

[rich311k]

Everything looks on track. As tbone says be sure to stock slowly to avoid a mini cycle.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Man that was a fast cycle. I agree with the other two, add fish slowly, in small numbers. With only a couple fish in a 55g, you'd have a huge mini-cycle if you added a large number of fish.

I'd add about 4 fish every 2 weeks and see how that goes. Don't forget to check for ammonia and nitrites after you add more fish.

 

[DPirateRoberts]

Thanks tbone & rich. I will stock slowly when the cycling is done. I'm going to put the fish that are in my 20 gallon tank into the 55 gal. 4 guppies, 3 fry (I lost one) and 4 cory cats. I will make sure not to rush to put them in.

 

[DPirateRoberts]

Man that was a fast cycle.

I bought the tank from an experienced aquarist. I wonder if there were some nitrates already in the gravel that I bought. It was still in old tank water when I got it.

Also, I introduced a lot of plants, ornaments and gravel from one of my older cycled tanks. I'm wondering if that sped it up, too.

Maybe I got lucky?

 

[joannde]

Yep - the items you took from your cycled tankseeded your new filter and those little guys just reproduced and cycled your tank quickly - best way to do it

 

[DPirateRoberts]

My readings as of this morning:

Ammonia: 0.00
Nitrite: 0.00
Nitrate: 10.00

 

[Zagz]

Congrats. The seeded media would be the help you got for the speed of cycle. Even if the tank had some water still in it, beneficial bacteria dies off quickly with no ammonia source. I got a used tank and kept everything wet but bacteria still died off within 2 days.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Seeded material and plants help out alot. When I set up my 29g I used filter material from my established 55g and lots of plants. It was a fast setup to get my neons out of the ammonia in the 10g. I think I registered ammonia a couple days and nitrites a couple days in the 29g...and it was cycled within a week I think. Very fast.

Congrats on being cycled!

 

[DPirateRoberts]

Thanks. I added 2 guppies to start with. I'll add a couple more in a week or so.

 

[7Enigma]

Question:

Are you taking all the inhabitants from the other tank and putting them into the new tank? If so, just take the filter off of the old tank and put it on the new tank and you can move all of your fish over at once. If you plan to put fish in the old tank (ie get more), then be careful as the tank MIGHT need to be cycled for a bit (though if the tank is well seasoned you might have a lot of bacteria already on the substrate/glass/decorations).