How long for ammonia to appear?

[longimanus]

I have a new (used) 37 gallon tank I bought from someone off Craigslist. The tank came with 11 Neon Tetras, two Checkered Rainbows, one Zebra Danio and three Clown Loaches. The tank was up and running when I went to look at it, it came with gravel, a small piece of driftwood, a fake ornament thing, some plastic plants, an undergravel filter, a heater and an Aquaclear 200.

The tank looked good so I bought it. He proceeded to empty all the water out and of course it started to STINK! Once I got it home I removed the UG filter, rinsed the gravel and scrubbed the tank. I put the gravel, plants and wood back in and filled her up. I did not put the UG filter back in because I hate them. Then I added the heater and the AC 200, which of course didn't work. Sigh. I had access to a brand new AC 70 so I put that on with the media from the AC200. Now I am unsure if the AC200 was actually running when it was in the guys house. It's terrible that I didn't notice!

Anyway, my question is how long does it usually take for ammonia to start showing up if the tank is cycling from scratch? I mean the tank should have some bacteria from the plants, ornament and driftwood and I'm hoping the filter media was good. Plus there was a couple gallons of their old water that went into the tank with the fish.

I set the tank up on Monday the 16th, so it has only been like four days, but with that many fish I expected to see some ammonia by now? Or is that still too soon? Nitrites are also zero, but there is a small amount of nitrates, maybe 6 or 7. I did a 15% water change yesterday.

[PostalPenguin]

If you are using the media from the old filter you likely will not see any ammonia. When I started my 10gallon from scratch ammonia started showing up within 24 hours and since it has been 4 days your tank is likely cycled and good to go.

[Lady Hobbs]

Bacteria is mostly in the filter media and in the gravel. Cleaning the gravel removed it there so that only leaves the filter media. Make sure you always use dechlorinated water, keep your heat at around 78, aerate your tank and use some Tetra SafeStart and you will get that tank cycled. I hope you removed the UGF? It's not too often those are used anymore and from the smell you describled, you can see why. It gets pretty bad under those plates. You also can't have plants in the tank with them.

Read the cycling thread to help with cycling issues.

[longimanus]

I did read the cycling threads.:)
Yes I discarded the UG filter, I dislike them and the smell was awful! Water has been dechlorinated using AquaPlus by Nutrafin. Temp is exactly 78! I am running an AC70 so there is alot of aeration in there.

I had read different things about how long it takes ammonia to start spiking, that is why I was confused. I figured with 16 fish there would have been some ammonia by now, but again I wasn't sure if it only appeared after a couple weeks like I've read in some articles or after a couple days like it says in other articles.

[lobsternoob]

Sounds to me like your good to go, and nice work removing that UGF, I have no idea why they even sell those dang things anymore. I know the smell your talking about, pretty awful. Seriously though, if your seeing no ammonia so far probably enough bacteria survived to keep up with it.

What part of the AC 200 didn't work, was the motor burned out, because it could just be a case of needing to clean or replace the impeller, and all the little pieces that go with it. In fact it could have been working before, but during the move got unseated or just moved around a bit. I say that because the Aquaclear filter that came with a tank I picked up the other day (used off craigslist also) didn't seem to work at first until I cleaned the impeller and reseated it properly.

[longimanus]

It might have been something simple like that. I took the impeller area apart and it was so slimy and gungy! But when I tried to clean the plastic the whole thing was just smelly and the plastic was etched it was so icky, so I tossed the whole thing. I'll buy a new one.
Oh, when I plugged it in it did nothing at all, no noise or anything, so I'm not sure what it was.

[lobsternoob]

If you plugged it in and heard no noise then most likely the motor is burned out, if that's the case your outta luck there, sorry.

[longimanus]

Oh that`s okay. I had a brand new AC70 I was able to put on.

Thank you for all the replies! :)

[longimanus]

So it's been over a week now.
Tests are consitantly showing;
Ammonia=0
Nitrites=0
Nitrates=5ish
PH=7
Temp 78degrees.

I'm doing 15% water changes every three days or so. (I've done two)

Do you think I can still expect to see an ammonia spike? Should it have happened by now if it was going to? Can I consider my tank cycled and add a few more fish?

There are sixteen fish in there now, but most of them will not be staying. I will be rehoming the eleven neons, one zebra danio and two unidentified rainbowfish.

[Shrubs]

I keep seeing the recommendation to raise temps to speed up cycling. Right now I'm cycling a 28 gallon with 2 smaller fancy goldfish. I've always read goldfish tend to prefer mid to low 70's, would it be safe & comfortable for them to raise the tank to 78 to speed the cycle? (I'm also using SafeStart, and it's nicely planted which should help keep ammonia under control a bit more.)

[longimanus]

Bump
Still looking for opinions.:)