Fish-in Cycle, confused

[digitallinh]

Hello! First post I think!

I started a fish-in/safestart cycle on my 29 gallon with 12 danios / pearl gourami (one danio death the first night) roughly 5 days ago. I tested my water a couple times a day through the 5 days and experienced fairly constant ammonia .25 mg/l and <0.3 mg/l nitrite levels (tetra master kit does not have a nitrate test)

Today the ammonia test came out zero and the No2 test pretty much stayed where it has been at <0.3 mg/l (those familiar with the tetra testkit, its the yellow one).

So no spikes, whatsoever, no seed material besides safestart and if you can count eco-complete. I fed the fish 2 times a day, everyday. I performed 0 water changes.

This is my very first tank and I have no idea what I am supposed to expect, but am I cycled? Can I add more fish?

P.S. Would the plants cause these readings? I have a small amount of live plants in my tank, pictured below.

[meggysb]

hey, i to am cycling my 29g :) i would not add any more fish for at least 2- 3 weeks, just to give your filter time to catch up. if i were you i would also continue to test your water daily, and i would also do a 35% WC just to be on the safe side because there might be toxins that you test kit isnt picking up. to cycle a tank with fish properly, it will take you about 8 weeks to 3 months. good luck :)

[genocidex]

hmm did you check more than just those 2 parameters? the cycle should produce an ammonia spike then a nitrite spike then the nitrates should hit, after those 3 have spike and the ammonia and nitrites have gona away will your tank be cycled.
how long have you been cycling your tank?

[digitallinh]

hmm did you check more than just those 2 parameters? the cycle should produce an ammonia spike then a nitrite spike then the nitrates should hit, after those 3 have spike and the ammonia and nitrites have gona away will your tank be cycled.
how long have you been cycling your tank?

The only parameters I checked regularly were nitrite, and ammonia. I started this process 5 days ago, fish-in first day. I saw no spikes at all, which is really strange. Could it be a faulty test kit? I'm using the Tetra master kit.

I guess the definitive answer would be to pickup a nitrate test kit tomorrow and if I get a reading, my tank should be cycled?

[genocidex]

yes you definatly need a nitrate test but do yourself a favor bring like a cup of water with you, ask them to test it, (do a test at your home first) if thier results are different then get a full new set api is a favorite

i used to use tetra products but they hurt my sole lol

did you read the post by lady hobbs about cycles?

[digitallinh]

So I bought a nitrate test kit and tested my water this morning, got a 10 ppm nitrate result! Cycled in 6 days!

[Grangers710]

Hopefully more people chime in, but I'd be pretty surprised if your tank is cycled in just 6 days, especially with a fish-in cycle. I'm not an expert by any means, but that just doesn't sound right. I definitely wouldn't add any more fish for awhile, but keep checking the water just to be safe. I'm currently cycling a 75 gallon with fish and there will be days where my ammonia and nitrite are at 0 or very close to it, and then the next day they will spike dramatically.

[Grangers710]

side note - I like your structure in the middle of the tank. did you create it?

[genocidex]

where did u buy the test kit? any fish store whos worth their salt will be more than happy to test your water for you. how much of a water change are you doing and how frequent?

[imma24]

I'm with everyone else - getting a reading for nitrates does not mean you can safely declare your tank cycled after 6 days. I would wait another week or two and keep checking your ammonia & nitrite levels to see if either go up at all and as others have said, if they do, do water changes to get those levels down & protect your fish.

Remember, this hobby is about patience and you need to ensure your water parameters stay consistently good before adding new fish.

[fishlessintx]

I'm not familiar with the testkit you're using but if you show nitrIte then you're still not cycled. To be fully cycled, you must be getting nitrAte readings with ammonia and nitrItes at zero.

I don't believe your tank is cycled after 6 days....sorry.

[digitallinh]

I'm not familiar with the testkit you're using but if you show nitrIte then you're still not cycled. To be fully cycled, you must be getting nitrAte readings with ammonia and nitrItes at zero.

I don't believe your tank is cycled after 6 days....sorry.

I'm using the Tetra Laborettelink (http://www.bigalsonline.com/productDetailsPage.mtw?productId=7556097&source=ComparisonShopping_Google&CAWELAID=388698560) test kit I bought from Big Als + API nitrate test kit, both liquid test kits.

I have not done any water changes at all throughout the week.

Just did a water test and resulted 0 nitrite, 0 ammonia and a 10 ppm nitrate (the last step in the biocycle).

I added 6 kuhli loaches this morning, which would be the last of the fish for this tank, and everything seems to be going fine.

Again, I'm not going to discount a faulty kit, so who knows, I'll just play it by ear from here on out. How can you tell if fish are drowning in ammonia anyhow?


@genocide - I built that structure using 12x 12 slate tiles, smashing them to small pieces , sanding the edges and siliconing everything together!

Thanks everyone for your input/help, these forums have been invaluable for my learning curve.

[digitallinh]

Also , to anyone having reservations about Tetra Safestart to cycle a brand new tank, I guess the jury is still out, but it should be encouragement to give it a shot, since it seems to be working!

[Lady Hobbs]

No, the plants didn't do that. You need lots of plants to make any difference. You did two water changes in 5 days. I believe you also state you used SafeStart? That neutralizes toxins. It's only been 5 days so has barely had a chance to do anything yet.

[digitallinh]

No, the plants didn't do that. You need lots of plants to make any difference. You did two water changes in 5 days. I believe you also state you used SafeStart? That neutralizes toxins. It's only been 5 days so has barely had a chance to do anything yet.

Yeah, I'm not really sure where all my ammonia is going then to be honest, if nothing is metabolizing it and I have not done any water changes.

I thought it was the plants, but i guess it really doesn't matter at this point when my water is clean for the fish.

[imma24]

Considering you just added 6 more fish yesterday, I am also finding it hard to believe you have no ammonia reading. The ways to tell there is ammonia in the water is by testing and watching the fish to see if they are showing signs of ammonia poisoning like red gills, etc.

[fishlessintx]

What was the water readings before immediately your WC?

I just added fish to my tank 4 days ago and my WC today resulted in 0,0,5 (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) but before my WC it was .5,0, 10 (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate).