Is my tank cycled?

MRQuad

i set-up my 100G tank for like 3 days now.. and i did some water testing..

here's the result:

pH = 7.6
HIGH RANGE pH = 7.4
AMMONIA = 0
NITRITE = 0
NITRATE = 0

this tank will be home of an african cichlids.. is my tank ready for the new occupants? or should i wait for 1-2 weeks? i can't wait that long.. please help me out..

thanks in advance..

willow

hi
those results say that the tank is not cycled.
you need a sorce of amonia in there.
have you got another tank ,if you have then you can use
filter media from the old filter for the new one,that
will help.

MRQuad

how much ammonia should be in there to get my tank cycled? about filtration, i used a sump.. i made it.. only bio-balls on it.. do i have enough filtration for freshwater?

thanks..

Amphitrite

Hello there, and welcome. Here's a couple of links on cycling your tank etc that will be useful to you if you're just starting out:

http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=343

http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=544

Laura Jager

100g is a great size tank. If you want to cycle your tank without causing any fish any harm it can be done. I just cycled our 210g. I used 100% clear ammonia (doesn't fizz when you shake the bottle), no fragrances, got ours at a hardware store. I put in 3-5 drops (eye dropper) per 10 gallons. I also asked the LFS if I could have a few cups of their gravel from a healthy tank, and also their dirty filter cartridge. They gladly gave these to me.

There are a ton of websites that can give you more specifics. The goal is to attain a reading of ammonia 0, nitrites 0, and a nitrate reading. It took a couple of weeks to do.

MARIOPARTY53

Hm, you could try sticking black skirt tetras as they can live through harsh conditions, Then after 6 weeks test it and put new fish in it

You need to cycle becuase you nitrates or other things might shoot off the charts for a day or two, then return normal and might not know it

Flashygrrl

Tetras? Not hardy. They will most likely die. And testing needs to be done quite a bit more frequently.

Sounds like to might want to take a peek at the cycling link also. Understanding it is very important in fishkeeping...and in other aspects of life too I've come to find out.

Anyways, OP...take a look at those links and read a bunch and it will be very helpful. This will help you a lot too: http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=18777

MARIOPARTY53

at one time i had them for my 5 gallon, when I first got my test kit, my nitrates where at like 70 and my p.h was high, yet they lived through it

but I sold the 5 gallon when I got my 55 gallon

jeaninel

I've used black skirts for cycling before and they did fine. They're more hardy than some of the other tetras. This was, of course, with daily testing and plenty of water changes. I wouldn't use the more sensitive tetras though, like neons or rummynose.

And then there's always fishless cycling which is the best option.

MRQuad

thanks a lot for the input guys, i really appreciated it..