Cycling..

[Wolf]

Hey all, I'm cycling a tank using some danios. and it's been cycling for 2.5 weeks now. and for the last week. my water parameters haven't changed at all..

Ammonia is 3.5-4
Nirite is 0..

Seems like a long time for it to stay the same? shouldn't the nitrite be kicking in and the ammonia be dropping by now? Just curious..

 

[daisycat]

Our tank recycled when we moved it recently and it stuck at high Ammonia and zero nitrites for about 3 weeks. The nitrite came up pretty suddenly, spiked and went back to 0 within the 4th week (from peak to zero was almost overnight). The ammonia went right down to 0.1 the day before the nitrite hit 0.

Not sure how helpful that is, just to share our experience that it doesn't necessarily follow the textbook pattern.

 

[canarsie11]

How many danios are you cycling with?

 

[canarsie11]

How big is your tank?

 

[Wolf]

40 gallon.. well for 1.5 weeks i was using 4 danios.. 5 days ago. i bought 5 more.. so now i'm cycling with 9.. i just did a waterchange because the ammonia is too high.. it might prolong the cycling but at least it'll be easier on the fish.



Also.. I tested the Nitrate.. and it's 0.
I don't think it's actually started cycling yet.. Not sure where i should go from here..

 

[Wolf]

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[tstenback]

You need more fish. 4 danios will not make much of a dent in a 40 gal tank as far as cycling goes. Normally i place 1 fish per 4-5 gals of water. So in your tank i would use 8-10 danios to cycle with. Also if you can get some gravel or filter material from an established tank it may help with this. HTH

 

[Wolf]

Woo finally. after almost 3 weeks I have a Nitrite of .25.. YAY..

 

[tstenback]

brace yourself you are only starting the longest part of the cycle. Now would be a great time to add that seed bacteria from an established tank. Great to see some progress though, i will bet . It is a long time to look at an empty tank but it is necessary if you want a less stressful environment for your fish. Good luck and keep us posted.