it's done i think

[sergo]

well i think my tank is finally done cycling after 10 days fishless. :19: ammonia is 0, nitrites are finally at 0, and i was reading some nitrates (about 10) and as of last night i'm not reading any. is that weird or what? i do have a few plants in there so i guess the plants are taking it all in. i have been moitoring the nitrates over the past week and they have gone down and my plants seem to growing at an accelerated rate over the past week so that might explain why they're down to 0. so here's my question...
if nitrates remain at 0 or stay real low do PWC's still have an important role since it seems their purpose is to remove excess nitrates? i still plan on doing PWCs but maybe not as large as i originally planned? any tips?

[Glasstapper]

now that your tank is cycled, your ammonia and nitrites should always remain 0 (unless you overload your tank too soon, but don't do that). Your nitrates will keep rising, though. I don't know how fast they will rise, but weekly part water changes at about 25% should be adequate to keep your nitrates under 5 ppm. If not, then step up to 30% PWC, and just keep adjusting until you can manage your nitrates. Nitrates will never always remain 0. Part water changes are always a good idea if nothing else but to at least siphon the gravel to get that yuck out of there. My nitrates are rarely above 10 ppm, but I still do twice weekly water changes to keep my gravel clean and the constant fresh water helps your fish grow faster.

Fishless cycling is the way to go, in my opinion. Good job on the 10 days. Mine took about 12 days. It was so awesome to not have to wait for 2 months and worrying about my fish getting poisoned. I don't know why everyone doesn't do it this way.

[Lady Hobbs]

Congratulations! You have a cycled tank. Once you start adding fish and feeding them, your nitrates "may" raise a bit but I don't see it happening. You are all set to start adding some fish! Go for it!

[sergo]

thanks for the replies. i just thought it to be weird that i was reading 10 nitrate and now nothing. i'll keep a eye on it thought. time to find some fishthumbs2:

[Sasquatch]

Congrats on the rapid cycling. Go easy on adding new fish and make sure to quarantine them. You don't want to waste all that hard work by having to dump a bunch of meds in your newly cycled tank.

As for the PWCs, do them even if your nitrates are low. They get rid of other things like phosphates which can also cause problems like algae blooms. Also, like Glasstapper said, it'll clean some of the gunk in your gravel and stop them from getting anaerobic, which can kill some of the good bacteria you've established.

[freshwaterfishlover]

Did you test your tanks PH?

[sergo]

Did you test your tanks PH?it's been 7.6-7.8 the whole time.

[KneeKickLou]

very congrats on the quick cycle. what are you going to stock in the tank?

[sergo]

very congrats on the quick cycle. what are you going to stock in the tank?i have no idea. right now i have 4 bettas in there just to keep things going. i'm definitely going to slowly add a couple here and there but i need to do research first. i know i would like to a have a descent number of colorful fish which means they will have to be on the smaller side. any suggestions on what to start with?

[KneeKickLou]

I hope those bettas arnt all males but im sure you know better then that :ezpi_wink1: . Well as for suggestions I would recommend some Dwarf Gouramis they are very colorful and they dont get very large and a pretty calm so they can go with a lot of different fish. I have some in my tank and I love them

[sergo]

actually there are two males and 2 females in there. the males have been together before as for a week i thought i had 2 females and 1 male but that wasn't the case. 1 was missing the white tell-tell sign of a female on the belly. i was a little upset at first as i thought i had a gorgeous purple female instead i ended up with a gorgeous purple short finned male in a female container. well, i know now. and went out and bought another for sure female. they didn't fight before i knew and for the most part stayed away from each other. we'll see what happens now with another female in there.

[sergo]

a divider is ready just in case, so don't flip out on me folks.