I have a new fish tank:
- 20 Gallons
- 6 plants ( Elodea, Cabomba, Vallisneria, 3xCryptocoryne)
- Eco-Complete gravel
Left free running for 4 days(Cycle was added at setup time) and added 2 Bleeding heart tetras 6 days ago and still don't have ammonia readings.
(GH 12, KH 9, pH 8.0, temp at 78).
Wondering why I still don't see any ammonia reading.
Anything more I can do to kick start the cycling process.
In my personal experience Cycle never helped me. What type of water test kit do you use? Also, what do you feed the fish, and how often and how much? Are you doing any water changes? The more detailed info you give us the better we can help pinpoint your issue.
I've used cycle for a couple tanks. Double the first dose and then a single dose every week after that.
It may take a couple weeks to get bacteria growth with it.
My test kit is Tetratest Laborett(for GH, KH, pH, ammonia and Nitrite). I also have a Nutrafin Nitrate test kit. Both test kits are liquid coloring tests. I haven't done water change yet. I feed twice a day, alternating staple flake food, spirulina flakes and freeze dried bloodworms. The food is gone within 2-3 minutes each time. My filter/lightning is an Marineland Eclipse II system.
I was also told I could put more fish(no more than 4) after a week with my 1st 2 tetras, by the store(Big Al's), but I don't think it would be wise to do. I read everywhere that no more fish should be added before cycling is complete. Comments?
I have tried cycle before and it doesn't do anything. It doesn't even contain the right bacteria. I tried it twice to test it out and the cycle was exactly the same length as with nothing added but fish. Tetras are pretty small fish and don't generate much waste. This is probably why it is taking so long. You can either be patient and the ammonia will end up showing up or you can add a couple more fish. Adding 1-2 more fish will help to speed things up and won't do anything detrimental to the tank. Adding 2 fish and then adding 2 a week later is not going to hurt anything. It's not like you are adding 7-8 fish all at once. That is when you have problems.
Do enough water changes during the cycle to keep both the ammonia and nitrite spikes at 1 ppm or less. You'll be just fine. The ammonia should spike pretty quickly and then the nitrites will take several (3-4) weeks. Let us know if you need anything else.
I was told to go with a 1" of fish per 10 gallons, for cycling, which is why I have 2 Bleeding heart tetras. Here is what I was thinking of having at the end: 2 Platties, 4 Pristella Maxilaris, 2 honey gouramis, 2 pigmy cories and my 2 bleeding heart tetras, which will max out my tank. So, you would recommend adding either my 2 Platties or Gouramis to speed up my cycling process.
You can also comment or make suggestion on my fish selection.
There's certainly nothing wrong with your rule. I was just saying that if you want to speed it up, adding a couple fish will help and certainly won't be enough to hurt the cycle or your tank.
I would add the platys next. They will survive the cycle no problem. Gouramis will too, but they are a bit bigger and will put more of a load on the tank.
I'll let someone else comment on your specific ideas for the setup as I do not have experience with several of the species you mention. I am mostly into cichlids.
I added 2 Platys on tuesday. So, now it's been 7 days with 2 Bleeding heart tetras plus 3 days with my 2 tetras and 2 Platys...still no ammonia, and of course no nitrite or nitrate. How long can it take before something starts? The fishes and the plants look happy. Could it be Cycle that is causing such a lag?
im not a fresh water keeper but it took my salt tank 4 1/2 months to cycle correctly...i listened to an LFS {that i don'tuse anymore } the first time and they had me over feed and over stock right off the bat to get the cycle going 6-8 damsels............the tank exploded and i lost everything ...poor little guys.........so if anything....just be patient my friend..........after i restarted and waited 4 1/2 months my tank is basically bullet proof.......a much better feeling for sure.........cycleing with fish or forceing a natural cycle unnaturally is not a good practice.....now like i said im a salt guy so.........the advise your getting from other fresh people will be better than im giving...but the concepts are the same ......good luck and welcome, Snowboss
Some kits stay on the shelves for a long time before they're finally purchased. I wouldn't put all your chips on it but the kit may be outdated, and I don't think its ever advisable to add new fish during cycling or what you may expect to be still cycling.
You're running into the same issue I had with my first planted tank. Cycling is very hard to notice when the plants are greatly masking the process. Your plants are kinda like algae... they suck up all that waste matter in an attempt to get nutrients. Of course, they don't use the ammonia and nitrate, but it ends up in their biomass anyway. Plants are weird lifeforms, they often just pack nasty chemcials in themselves without a care. xD
Thus, all that ammonia and nitrate is still IN the tank, just not in the water as much, so its harder for the tests to pick up. The tank will still be cycling though. Personally, I'd suggest adding a few more fish. Tetras are sooo small that the waste they make is tiny compared to the volume of water.
About "Cycle", I've never used it. I'm personally against using chemicals in my water as much as possible. Keeping the tank as natural as possible is always a good goal.
Thanks for the answer/confirmation about the plants. After a lot of readung I was thinking this could be what was happening. While testing this afternoon I got something I wasn't sure if it was real or not, could be bad reading since the colors were so thin. It looked as if I had 0.1 of ammonia AND trace of Nitrate(less than 5), is this possible? or just my eyes playing tricks. I will see tomorow if something change/increase.
Also, what about the Nitrite, this should be detectable(plants won't pack nitrite, only ammonia and nitrate), right?
As far as I know, plants will stuff anything thats in the water into their biomass. Its a natural part of how they grow, as far as I know. I could be wrong however. I am certain that they absorb nitrate though.
And, it's possible to have both nitrate and ammonia in the tank. ;) The bacteria in your tank might not be established enough to process the ammonia at a rate fast enough to keep up with you're tank, while still being established enough to produce nitrate. The other thing might be a sudden amount of decaying matter. Are you trimming your plants of their dead leaves? Are you fishing out the floating ones with a net? The decomposing plant matter is just like decomposing fish or food, it adds ammonia too!
