WisChris
Aquarium Advice Regular
Got my new 26 g up and running 3 weeks ago. Planted it pretty heavily 18 days ago and initially planned on a fishless cycle. LFS talked me into 4 bloodfin tetras (cycling fish only). My tank particulars are under my profile.
So…I've been testing daily with the API Master & have done 2 water changes. Ammonia has never risen above 0.25 ppm. For the last 3 days it's been 0, or very close. I have yet to see any Nitrites As for Nitrates, I thought I saw a small amount 7-9 days ago (subtle, just over 0).
I'm having a hard time determining if this tank has cycled. I expected to see Nitrite and Nitrate easily by this point. Not sure if my plants are taking care of them, or if I need to keep waiting I'm excited about getting my stocking going, but I don't think any of my permanent inhabitants are very hardy (cory cats, oto cats, pencilfish, neon/green tetras).
So, wondering if I can slowly start stocking any of the above?
Thanks
So…I've been testing daily with the API Master & have done 2 water changes. Ammonia has never risen above 0.25 ppm. For the last 3 days it's been 0, or very close. I have yet to see any Nitrites As for Nitrates, I thought I saw a small amount 7-9 days ago (subtle, just over 0).
I'm having a hard time determining if this tank has cycled. I expected to see Nitrite and Nitrate easily by this point. Not sure if my plants are taking care of them, or if I need to keep waiting I'm excited about getting my stocking going, but I don't think any of my permanent inhabitants are very hardy (cory cats, oto cats, pencilfish, neon/green tetras).
So, wondering if I can slowly start stocking any of the above?
Thanks