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I am confused about cycling

2K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  Byron 
#1 ·
You guys have been soooo helpful already..... but I am lookin for more help

I bought a 55 gal tank that was up and running and I brought most of the water and all the decorations and sand with it. I set it up withe the few fish that came with it and have been adding fish from there. The tank has a Whisper 60 and an Aquaclear 70 filters.
I just put a few small plants in the tank
I installed the tank on 10-8
The install acted as a 30-40% water change
I have been testing the water as I add fish with a good test kit (no strips)
every test has been
Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
ph was a little high at first but since adjustment it has been 7-7.2

I thought that there was suppose to be ups and downs in the numbers. I have read people talk about a "stalled" cycle. Is that what I am dealing with???

This is what is in the tank now:
1) PLECO
3)CORY CATS
1) Rainbow Shark
2) DALMATION MOLLYS
4) APPLE SNAILS
2) SWARD TAIL
10) GHOST SHRIMP
2) AFRICAN DWARF FROGS
3) BLACK SKIRT TETRAS
3) SERPAE TETRAS
3) TIGER BARBS
1) BLACK MOLLY3)GOLD TWINBARB PLATTYS
5) NEON TETRAS
6) GLOFISH

Pleas let me know what you think.

Thanks
 
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#2 ·
I'm a bit worried about your test kit/testing method, you should never have all 0 readings past the first day of adding all new water.... (unless of course you have some sort of nitrate removal device which still would probably leave some nitrates). A stalled cycle along with a regular cycle would have high ammonia and/or nitrites and low nitrates at least for some time until the ammonia goes to 0 then a while later the nitrites will go to 0 and you will see your nitrate levels rise.

What test kit are you using, and what is your method for collecting/testing the water? You have a pretty heavy fish load, one that should be showing plenty of nitrates
 
#5 ·
I would think that with that many fish all at once your ammonia would be sky high without nitrites or nitrates. Something doesn't add up.

I had an established 75 gallon tank that was only about 50% stocked. I added 10 smallish fish at the same time and within two days I had ammonia.

Keep testing the water. And when you test for nitrates, shake the bejeesus out of bottle number two and the test tube for a good two minutes.
 
#7 ·
Since this was a used tank that was already cycled you probably didn't have much of a mini cycle when you moved it. You used the original substrate and decorations which help a lot. Did you use the original filter also? Did you keep the filter media wet when you moved it? How long was it down while you moved and re-set it up?
 
#8 ·
The tank came with a whisper 60 and an aquaclear 70 which I did keep in the water while we moved it. I did change the carbon filters in the 60 about 2 days after setup because they were pretty clogged.

The entire move from Full to Full wasabout 3 hours.

I think I have pinpointed where my confusion lies.......
Is the "cycle" a one time thing??? I was thinking that I was going to see a constant fluctuation in these numbers.
What I think I now understand is that once the tank has cycled I is a good thing to see all 0 in my test results.

PLEASE if I am still way off base let me know.

I did check on aquadvisor.com and it says that I am at 125% filtration.... so maybe that is helping.
 
#9 ·
Well a cycle tank will have 0 reading for ammonia and nitrites but you should have some reading for nitrates. Maybe re-test for those and be sure to shake the bottles as noted by Romad.
 
#11 ·
Varying opinions on nitrate abound but the general consensus is to keep it no higher than 20ppm. While 40ppm and even higher may (note, may) not harm some fish, it will others long-term.

I don't see mention of any live plants, so assuming you have none (you should, with your selection of fish) a weekly partial water change should keep nitrates in check. The amount will depend upon fish load, looking at your list I would do 50% weekly.

Have you checked your tap water for nitrate? Some has nitrate, some has ammonia and some nitrite; it is good to know at the start if any of these are present in your source water so they can be dealt with and you know more exactly what is occurring in the aquarium.

Byron.
 
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#12 ·
I have some vals I got from Fishkid and a few banana plants, but that is it so far. You actually answered my lighting question on another thread, about 8,000k all glass bulbs.
Thanks for that as well. I would like to put in a few mor plants but have not been able to pick what I want yet.
I have been doing 25% weekly, but I can increase it.
I went to Aquadvisor and put in my info... it said I was at 105% stocked and the filtration was 125% and suggested 25% weekly. I figured that since the stock level was based on adult critters and most of mine are not that size yet, I would be ok fer a while.

I have been learning tons.... thanks to this forum. I hope you that answer all the questions realize how much us Newbs appreciate you knowledge and the fact that you invest so much of you free time in helping others. I am sure that you all have saved many fish and kept many of us from giving up and putting our stuff on Craigslist.
 
#13 ·
Thank you. There are many members here with more knowledge than I have, and collectively we must have quite a lot to share--and obviously we are happy to share. We want you to be successful too.

I know the people who design those programs mean well, but fish compatibility is very complex. If you have plants, you have more fish space--but don't go overboard with that idea:shock:. You can also get away with less water changes--but the fish load (type of fish, number) in relation to the volume and the plants determines this.

Don't forget to check your tap water for nitrate, just to know. Another thing with plants, is lower or non-existent nitrate. I have 5 ppm in my tanks, Kymmie has zero, all due to the plants.

Byron.
 
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