Fish Cycle Help

[buffy2000]

Hi Everyone,
I'm a little confused and just need someone to confirm..
1st fish tank set up about 9 weeks ago and finally my readings have settled down.. For the first 6 weeks I was testing the water with API 5 strip test & ammonia test strips.

I was told to Purchase the Master Test kit for Freshwasher fish and this has been my results below.. Now I don't know which one is correct?

Ammonia 0ppm
Ph 7.6
Nitrates 0ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Should I always have some nitrates??
But when I use the API 5 test strip I get these results

Ammonia 0ppm
Ph 6.5
Nitrates 20ppm
Nitrites 0ppm


2nd fish tank was set up 5 weeks now, 3 weeks with no fish didn't get anywhere trying to do the fishless cycle as I could not purchase Ammonia anywhere. So I took some media from the 1st tank and took 50% water from 1st tank and put in 2nd tank to start the cycle and introduced 3 Blood Parrots.
Been testing water every day and it's been
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrates & nitrates 0ppm
PH 7.6

Today's test using Master kit (before water change)
Ammonia 0.5ppm
Nitrates & Nitrites 0ppm
PH 7.6

using api test strip ( after water change)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrates slight pink i'd say 10ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
PH 6.5


I noticed white stuff on some of the ornaments I was going to pull it out and clean them but smells like algae? so decided to not clean and put back in tank.
As the ammonia levels were high I did a 30% water change.

I'm confused by each website telling me something different..
Thank you so much!

[procyg]

Should I always have some nitrates??
I have barely ever register nitrates, in fact most of the time I am at 0. If you have live plants you may just have struck a good balance.

PH tests for me were almost a full number off for me too with the strips and API master test kit. With the strips I was between 6.8 - 7.0 but the master kit has me more at 7.8. (went to an lfs with an electronic meter and it came out at 7.3 so go figure)



using api test strip ( after water change)
I have read that a test following a water change will not be very accurate and you need to let things settle down for 12-24 hours before testing.


I noticed white stuff on some of the ornaments I was going to pull it out and clean them but smells like algae? so decided to not clean and put back in tank.
Cant help here, as I have never seen stuff matching this decription

[buffy2000]

Thanks for your help.

So do you think my second tank is cycled? I have been doing regular water changes and using prime.

[Kayfish]

How did you cycle the first tank? If you didn't have an ammonia source before you added the fish, then I don't think it would cycle that quickly with fish. You said you added some media and water from the first tank. Adding the water won't do anything to help the cycle because the beneficial bacteria grows in the filter not the water. I also don't think that blood parrots are a good fish to cycle with. Not sure what the white stuff is but I don't think you want to do any cleaning while cycling. Are you doing the nitrate liquid test as directed? If not then you won't be getting accurate results. Testing your water right after a WC will also give you false results. In order to be complete you will need to see some sort of reading of nitrates. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and a reading of nitrates, then your cycled.

[procyg]

If your tests show any ammonia or nitrites than no you are not done with the cycle. A good idea is do get your water from the lower levels of the tank for your tests too. The concentration of ammonia will be highest there and if you are not getting readings from the bottom of the tank than you in good shape. I use my siphon to collect the water into my bucket and test from there. Also make sure you are rinsing the test tubes and caps in tank water before testing, any tap water in the tubes can throw off your results.

[Lady Hobbs]

1st fish tank set up about 9 weeks ago and finally my readings have settled down..

Cycling with or without fish? Much too long to cycle either method but especially if fish were used.

I was told to Purchase the Master Test kit for Freshwasher fish and this has been my results below.. Now I don't know which one is correct?

Not the strips. Don't count on accuracy with them.

Should I always have some nitrates??

If you do a lot of water changes, clean the gravel and keep the filters clean, having 0 nitrates is not unusal. But on the other hand, if you clean that much, you have probably removed some of the bacteria, as well.

2nd fish tank was set up 5 weeks now, 3 weeks with no fish didn't get anywhere trying to do the fishless cycle as I could not purchase Ammonia anywhere.

Have you read the cycling threads? There are other ways to get ammonia in your tank other than from a bottle. You could have used fish flakes, raw shrimp or fish. If you live in the US, ammonia is pretty available altho it might take some looking for it. Small hardwares, Dollar Stores, some WalMarts, Ace Hardware, etc.

So I took some media from the 1st tank and took 50% water from 1st tank and put in 2nd tank to start the cycle and introduced 3 Blood Parrots.

Water does not cycle the tank but the filter media would IF it had time to build up a good bed of bacteria. But by the sounds of the problems with the first tank, it may have not been very well seeded yet.

What size is this tank because trying to cycle with 3 blood parrots if the tank is a small one will not be a good thing. Different story if the tank is larger.

The white on the wood is normal.

Sounds to me as you are messing around with your tanks way too much. Each time you mess around with the filter, vac the gravel, clean this and that, you are removing bacteria that needs to complete your cycle.

Read the cycling threads, fed sparingly and keep up with water changes but do no cleaning.

Fishless Cyling requires nothing but some patience, adding a bit of ammonia each day. It takes about 2 weeks but does require patience but so does cycling with fish.