Cycling question

[enchanted]

Alright. I have been working with two 55G tanks right now. One is running the media from the 30 Long I have which didn't even appear to have started the cycle. The other was running this filter for about 24 hours then I switched it to just the Pengiun 330.

So here is the stitch...

The main tank has the Penguin 330 on it and currently has:
Ammonia .5-.75
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0-5 (somewhere inbetween).

The bottom tank with the old 30 Filter has:
Ammonia .25
Nitrites .25
Nitrates 0

So, I'm really confused here. Is the top tank anywhere near cycled? Are the Nitrates just a fluke?

The bottom tank I'm guessing is well into the cycling process, but is that because of the filter?

Thanks for any information. I read a lot on this, but not until "after" I got off on the wrong foot, so I'm all confused now.

 

[a1wonder]

Are you attemptiong to do a fishless cycle or a cycle with fish? Because it looks as though both of them are just starting. Also if your doing a fishless cycle you need to add ammonia to your tank.

 

[enchanted]

Well, matters just got all messed up today as I had a heater explode during a water change.

It was a fish cycling, but now I'm pulling the fish out to do a fishless cycle because I can't get a stable temp with the heaters I have and no money to buy a new one till next week.

 

[enchanted]

That heater let me figure out what was going on.

I hadn't left the old filter on the top tank long enough so it basically was starting from ground zero.

I learned this because after the heater cracked I moved the fish and the filter to the top tank.

As of this morning I am at
Ammonia .25
Nitrites .25
Nitrates 1.0 ? (test reads 0 then 5 nothing inbetween so that is a rough guess based on color).

How long should it take for the Penguin to become seeded?

Thanks