what is happening with my cycle?

[Minderella83]

I have had a 10 gallon tank up for 17 days, it has one adult swordtail in it. My test results today are.

pH 7.2
ammonia 1.5 (it has been 1 for the whole time)
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 30-40

Do you think it is cycled, the beginning, middle or end? Do I need more fish in it to make it cycle or is the one swordtail enough to make it cycle?

[OscarFan]

Looks good to me.

[MandyL]

It doesn't make sense to have that much ammonia and that much nitrates at the same time... Have you tested your tap water to see if it has either one before adding it to your tank? Have you had a nitrite spike?

[Minderella83]

My tap water does have nitrate level of 20. The highest my nitrite got was 1.0. I had been doing water changes every other night until last sunday then I have just let things go the was they wanted.

[Sasquatch]

As long as you have ammonia, the answer is definatly no.

You mention that you had nitrite readings of 1 before ... how long ago? Have you done anything to the tank like disturb the gravel or clean the filter?

What are you using to test the water?

Cycling with one swordtail is fine for a 10g. You don't want too much bioload at a time when you're cycling with fish.

[Minderella83]

11 days ago I had nitrites of 1, just was doing daily to every other day water changes about 50 % but like I said in the last week I havent changed any water thinking I was effecting the cycling of the tank by doing water changes.

[RichBowyer]

You should not have any issues with ammonia in a cycled tank. I am of the opinion that daily water changes are not necessary.

[Sasquatch]

11 days ago I had nitrites of 1, just was doing daily to every other day water changes about 50 % but like I said in the last week I havent changed any water thinking I was effecting the cycling of the tank by doing water changes.

That's just downright weird ... it looks like you've had your nitrite spike, but you still have ammonia in the tank. But then again, having a nitrite spike 6 days into a fish cycle is really too fast. Did you seed with material from an already established tank?

What are you testing with? Dry strips or liquid kits? Strips are pretty innaccurate ...

I'd suggest checking the accuracy of the test kits. Buy new ones and cross check the readings ... could be that one of your kits isn't reading right.

Sorry I can't be more help ... but you reading are downright bizzare.

[MandyL]

Can you tell us exactly what you have done with your tank since setting it up? Have you cleaned anything, filter, gravel, etc. other than just replacing water? Do you use a dechlorinator? It really sounds like you were having a Nitrite spike but somehow the cycle got reset and started over with Ammonia again.

[Wild Turkey]

Yes we need more info to tell you where you are in the process, but ur tank is definitely not cycled if you only have one fish in the tank and u are seeing ammonia, especially that much.