Cycle Problem Or Not?

[kris2112]

i have 56 gallon tank with internal filter

added 2 mollies sunday morning

monday test (morning)
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0


monday afternoon added established tank gravel (absoloutly filthy) to filter media and hung a net infront of filter outflow

monday evening added 4 small danios and tested again

same results as morning


tuesday never tested

wednesday (morning)

ammonia 0
nitrite 0.25
nitrate between 1 and 2

any usefull comments please im still new so go easy on me thanks
feel free to ask any questions

 

[Colin_T]

the nitrate test kits will be reading the nitrite as nitrate and giving you a false reading. Therefore don't bother testing for nitrate just yet.
If there is nitrite then the filters are working to some degree.

 

[kris2112]

[excellent answer thats exactley what i was wanting to know thanks

when will i know that the nitrate reading is real will it be when i have 0 nitrite reading
i have api master kit i was told it was quite a good kit.

 

[Colin_T]

when the nitrite has gone up and then come down to 0, you can start testing for nitrate.

 

[OldMan47]

Colin is on the money here. The thing you need to worry about is that you have fish in the tank, so you must do water changes to keep the nitrite from going up above 0.25 ppm while the filter bacteria become established.

 

[kris2112]

i have been doing water 10% every other day nitrite levels havent gone above 0.25 yet today was the first day i saw anything i will keep testing and do bigger water changes if nitrites spike more?

will that be ok?

 

[OldMan47]

Do not limit yourself to 10% water changes. If a 60% change is called for, just do it. If you try to do 6 of the 10% water changes you will not have the same success and will just be wasting water. If 10% daily is doing the job, then that is enough.

 

[kris2112]

i did a 10 -15 % change before and nitrite and nitrate levels are back to 0 but ammonia is up to 1 now this is the first time i have detected any ammonia
should the ammonia not be constantly down to 0 now nitrite and nitrate have shown or could it still be because it is still early stage of phase 2

 

[OldMan47]

Double check the ammonia level of your tap water. Some people, me included, have ammonia in our tap water. If the ammonia is coming from the tank, a large water change of maybe 50% followed by another 50% change is in order. An ammonia reading of 1 ppm is immediately dangerous to your fish while a more moderate 0.25 ppm is only a problem if it is allowed to persist for a time.

 

[kris2112]

i have just come home for dinner and checked tap water no ammonia found
also i tested the water in my tank without doing any changes and now have 0 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate
i fed the fish a small amount this morning.

 

[kris2112]

just tested water again same results as yesterday 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate
i have not done any water changes and have fed them twice both small amounts to see if anything pops up on amonia or nitrite level but nope

any ideas?
or am i just waiting for a spike to come?

 

[OldMan47]

You may have enough water and so few fish that levels are hard to detect until they get a chance to build up. With no nitrates showing yet, it is not really indicating a cycled condition. Once cycled, the nitrates will climb as ammonia and nitrites get converted. If you have a lot of plants growing in the tank you may never see any build from only 2 mollies. 56 gallons is a lot of water for 2 medium/small fish to pollute when they are competing with plants.

 

[kris2112]

i have the 2 mollies and also 4 danios
i have no live plants thats y i am so curious as 2 y im getting now levels from what ifo i can gather that should be more than enough in a 56g

 

[OldMan47]

Even with 4 danios, your tank's biological load is fairly low. I would keep man eye on the tank's chemistry and only take the actions dictated by actual tank readings that you get. Your fish-in cycle may well go easier than many others because you have kept the biological load so low. What a blessing that would be for you.

 

[kris2112]

okay so heres the latest

my brother in law very generously took my son out for the day on saturday and decided to take him to the fish shop
he came back with 6 danios and 4 mollies

i had told him to get either 3 danios or 2 mollies to go with the others already

going of the fact i havent had any readings since thursday morning when i did the water change.

i have been keeping a very close eye on them because i was afraid that was to many fish to put in in 1 go and that i would end up seing a big spike
especially while my tank has only started its cycle last saturday.

everyday i have tested usually in the morning and evening no water changes since last thursday and
still ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and nitrate 0.

any ideas people

i know in theory this is exactly what i am aiming for but all seems to be going to straight forward.
which is never the case/