Can my 5 gallon tank complete nitrogen cycle in 3 days?

[hywaydave]

I started a 5 gallon tank a few days ago that will house my swordtail fry, right now they're still in my 53 gallon in a breeder box. I dosed with Prime and Stability the first night along with some fish food. The next day I took the old media from my HOB filter on my other 5 gallon tank and put it in the HOB filter in the new 5 gallon tank. I've kept dosing with Stability each night. Tonight was the first night I tested the water. My ammonia and nitrites are 0ppm, my nitrates are 5ppm. I know that using my old media cartridge in my new tank would really speed things up, should I consider this new 5 gallon tank cycled? The water still seems a little cloudy, but I can't tell if it's just the light, or perhaps I didn't clean the gravel good enough. I think it was a little cloudy looking the first night I set it up, so I don't think it's a bacteria bloom, but guess it could be. Thoughts?

 

[Rocky998]

I started a 5 gallon tank a few days ago that will house my swordtail fry, right now they're still in my 53 gallon in a breeder box. I dosed with Prime and Stability the first night along with some fish food. The next day I took the old media from my HOB filter on my other 5 gallon tank and put it in the HOB filter in the new 5 gallon tank. I've kept dosing with Stability each night. Tonight was the first night I tested the water. My ammonia and nitrites are 0ppm, my nitrates are 5ppm. I know that using my old media cartridge in my new tank would really speed things up, should I consider this new 5 gallon tank cycled? The water still seems a little cloudy, but I can't tell if it's just the light, or perhaps I didn't clean the gravel good enough. I think it was a little cloudy looking the first night I set it up, so I don't think it's a bacteria bloom, but guess it could be. Thoughts?

Add 2ppm worth of ammonia and if it comes back as 0 24hrs later do a very large water change and it should be ok for the fry.

 

[Kolykaf]

Did you add ammonia to the tank? It’s unlikely that 3 days is enough time for the fish food to have broken down and been converted to nitrate. I don’t like to cycle with food because it’s so imprecise and messy and usually takes a while. I would use something like dr tim’s ammonium chloride…With old filter media the tank is able to handle some bioload. The amount of bioload depends on how much media you transferred.