Cycle not starting? More fish?

[kaosfere]

Hello! My wife and I are new aquarists. She's never done this before, I had a few fish I kept as a kid, but I wasn't very scientific about it.

We've both done some research, talked to folks at our independant fish shop, and last weekend picked up a 35 gallon hex tank, along with an AquaClear 50 and other required tidbits.

After filling it with conditioned water, we let it come up to temperature and stabilize for a day, then put in three zebra danios to begin cycling.

It has now been 5 days, and there are no apparent traces of ammonia. Per my test strips, the water is within recommended ranges for hardness and pH. There is 0 chlorine. Temperature is 78 degrees. Filter has been running at full capacity until I throttled it back last night. The tank is planted with 5 small plants -- I don't remember the names, but none is over 6" tall.

Do I not have enough biomass in the tank to start an effective cycle? Or am I just being impatient? Most charts I've seen show that there should be a noticeable amount of ammonia by this point. Should we add a few more small fish, or wait it out a bit longer?

[zackish]

That is a small amount of fish and I am assuming you are feeding them sparingly. You should probably buy yourself a master test kit that tests for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. You should see some ammonia right now I am assuming but if not I would be patient.

[kaosfere]

That is a small amount of fish and I am assuming you are feeding them sparingly. You should probably buy yourself a master test kit that tests for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. You should see some ammonia right now I am assuming but if not I would be patient.

Thanks for the response. I have a 6-way test kit in addition to the ammonia gauge. It is continuing to show no nitrites/nitrates. By "small amount of fish", do you mean that it's less than would normally be used for a traditional cycle of a tank this size?

[Drumachine09]

Thanks for the response. I have a 6-way test kit in addition to the ammonia gauge. It is continuing to show no nitrites/nitrates. By "small amount of fish", do you mean that it's less than would normally be used for a traditional cycle of a tank this size?


Test strips are innacurate, and often give false readings.

Is the ammonia gauge the kind that suction cups on to the inside?

I would reccomend getting a liquid test kit that has at least the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests.

[zackish]

Well a 35 gallon hex tank is a good size tank and only 3 small fish in it...

[kaosfere]

Is the ammonia gauge the kind that suction cups on to the inside?

Yes, it is. Is that inaccurate, too?

I can pick up a liquid kit on the way home from work today, if you think that would be more reliable.

[RobbieG]

The liquid kits are much more accurate - you still need to figure out just what the heck color it actually is but even that is a little easier with the liquid kits.

I've had the test strips come out of the bottle reading 5 PPM ammonia!

[Bill M.]

Hey there..... I just recently started cycling a 29 gallon using only 2 zebra danios *which are the most popular cycling fish btw....* After 3 days, there was no trace of ammonia... Because I seeded my new tank with gravel and decoration from my ten gallon established tank, I felt confident enough to add 2 black skirt tetras and 2 serpae tetras. After 4 days, ammonia topped out at .25ppm ( I have the liquid test tubes) You should be fine to add up to 4 more fish for your cycling process, but keep checking the ammonia levels, at least 1 time daily. If they get up to .75 or 1.o, you have to do a water change, but it shouldn't get that high because you have a larger tank. I hope you are not over feeding... When cycling a new tank, I only feed two times a week...dont worry, they will be fine with so little food...fish can go over 2 weeks without food, not reconmended, but they can do it. I would also invest in a product made by Seachem called Seachem's Stability. It really speeds up the cycling process. It is around 5 dollars for an 8 oz. bottle which you can find at petsmart. You add 1 capful per ten gallons the first day, and then 1 capful per 20 gallons for the subsecquent 7 days. It really works.. I used it.. and dont let anyone tell you otherwise, even Cocoa Pleco...:) heh.. jk... but yea... you should be fine to add a few more fish... good luck!


p.s. ask someone who has a tank set up if you can have some of thier gravel. Take about a cup of it, as well as some water from thier tank, and when you get home, pour the water out into the sink, but pour the gravel into your tank. This is a great way to put more benificial bacteria in your tank which eat up ammonia! Heres the nitrogen cycle in sparknote form.. lol :The fish excrete wastes, which in time, release ammonia. The ammonia is eaten by the benificial bacteria, and thier wastes produce nitrites. Another bacteria eats the nitirites, and converts them into nitrates, which are abosrbed by plants in photosynthesis, which releases O2.....

Good luck!

[bscman]

It's likely the ammonia levels are soooo low your test strips can't read it. Definitely get a liquid test kit.

The thing with a larger tank, such as yours...the wastes from just a few tiny fish will dilute rapidly and become very slight trace amounts in the water...so it can be hard to detect.

If you really want things to get going, add a few more fish and feed them two to three times a day. The more ammonia they create, the faster the bacteria will colonize and the more of it there will be. Just keep an eye on it and make sure you keep it in check...if it gets TOO high it'll be harmful to the fish.
Myself, i just cant see cycling a tank that large with three tiny danios... I would probably use 6-8. You shouldn't have any issues.

[Zerileous]

while you dont have many plants, you also don't have many fish. frequently, a heavily planted tank will not experience a cycle. This is because fish waste is plant nutrients (in short). Your not going to have an ammonia spike if the plants are using it all.

As you increase your stocking, eventually your plants will be outpaced by fish and you will experience a "mini-cycle" which takes just a few days.

I would just warn to only add a few fish at a time and make sure you don't overload the plants all at once. This would have the same effect as dropping a bunch of fish into an uncycled aquarium.

[Drumachine09]

Yes, it is. Is that inaccurate, too?

I can pick up a liquid kit on the way home from work today, if you think that would be more reliable.

They do detect the presence of ammonia. However, it doesnt accuratly detect the quantity (or Parts Per Million (PPM)) in the water column.

You should be able to shell out the $7 for a liquid ammonia test kit, or $16 for the full test kit.

[rollie]

none of my tank will cycle. i know of a few peoples who tanks will not cycle. why i do not know. i can set up a tank today, let it run for 2 days then fill it with fish. and it will not cycle. i have over 50 tanks set up with fish in them, and none of them had ever cycle. the fish is fine and doing great.

[gm72]

I'm not sure how it would be possible to not experience a cycle at all.

[marcryan11]

agreed. I would even try adding 3 or 4 mollies. They are hearty enough to make it through most anything. and if they die you aren't out a lot of money.

I had luck helping a tank flip by over feeding just a little to get a cople pieces to decay and then it flipped within a day or so. Usually about a month for a good sized tank.

Another trick is to use established water or rock in the tank.

[gm72]

Using established water won't do anything since the bacteria do not live in the water column, but using decorations/gravel/etc from an established tank will do wonders.

marcryan11, by saying it "flipped" in a day or so are you suggesting you completed a full cycle in that time?

[Drumachine09]

Using established water won't do anything since the bacteria do not live in the water column, but using decorations/gravel/etc from an established tank will do wonders.



Also, a filter will help more than the gravel...i learned that today.

[gm72]

Totally agreed. The majority of the bacteria live in the filter media, so using existing media will indeed help speed the cycle. Good point, Drum.

[Drumachine09]

Totally agreed. The majority of the bacteria live in the filter media, so using existing media will indeed help speed the cycle. Good point, Drum.

Learned it from fishguy. Credits to him.

[Willyleigh]

The most likely reason thatyou are not reading any ammonia is because of the plants which you have in there, plants will absorb a limited amount of ammonia in order to make protein.