unfamiliar cycling

[xoolooxunny]

i'm cycling a 10 gallon right now. after 3 days the nitrate is 5, the nitrite is 0 and ammonia is about .5. is that weird for anyone?i know the cycling period is accelerated bc im using an old biowheel, but shouldnt at least some nitrite show up??

[Chrona]

Wait a few more days. You could just be seeing the very beginning of an ammonia spike. Was the biowheel old as in just transplanted from an existing aquarium? Was it kept wet? If it dried up, then it's just the same as a brand new one in terms of biological filtration.

[xoolooxunny]

i didnt let it dry. this is the second time i'm cycling this tank because i had to replace the substrate after the cycle bc it ended up putting too much calcium in the water, raising the ph. i kept the biowheel and filter in a bucket of water from the aquarium while i dumped the rest and cleaned it and put new sbustrate in. what do you think?

[Chrona]

It's possible you are already cycled then. One of those Biowheels can house a TON of bacteria. I would still wait a few days just to be sure. I'm still waiting on F1oored to do a scientific study on just how much bacteria is in the filter vs in the gravel though.

[xoolooxunny]

ok, thanks for the reassurance. I'll be a little more patient and wait a few more days like you said.

[kimmers318]

What source of ammonia are you using to cycle your tank? The good bacteria that is on that biowheel will not live if it doesn't have a food source. Since you have an ammonia read I have to guess you are doing something, so yes, give it a few days to see how things go. A small nitrate reading is not uncommon if you have nitrates in your tap water.....did you check that?