Is My Tank Cycled This Fast?

[lozzah79]

hi all.

im relatively new to fish keeping and looking for a little info from more knowledable people than myself

a couple of months ago i set up a 27 litre tank, waited a few days then added a few goldfish as advised by my local pet store. needless to say they died i knew nothing about cycling. the tank is now cycled with tropical fish and doing well.

on wednesday i was given a 125 litre jewel aquariam, a quick log,

WED EVE set up tank with stress coat + and stress zyme +
THURS EVE added one platie
FRI MORN added one apple snail, ammonia reading 0
FRI AFTERNOON added 200ml of tetra safe start
SAT MORN took readings : ammonia between 0 and 0.25, nitrite 0 and nitrate 0.5

i have the jist of cycling but not totally sure what these results mean and do not want to lose any more fish.

any advise greatly appreciated

thanks in advance

 

[dannybgoode]

Have you done a fish less cycle first? If not, no your tank is not cycled and you'll have to keep a close eye on water stats and be ready for lots of water changes as it is likely the ammonia will start rising rapidly.

Cheers

Danny B

 

[RossC]

No it won't be cycled that quickly, it will be all the chemicals you've added along with the very small amount of stock. For now don't add any more fish and keep taking ammonia readings. If you don't see any increase within 2 weeks add a couple more a test again. If you get an ammonia reading of 0.25ppm or more do a huge water change.

 

[lozzah79]

Have you done a fish less cycle first? If not, no your tank is not cycled and you'll have to keep a close eye on water stats and be ready for lots of water changes as it is likely the ammonia will start rising rapidly.

Cheers

Danny B

hi
thanks for youre reply.

no i have not done a fishless cycle.
i bought the tetra safestart and was told it is safe to cycle the tank with fish this way and not to change the water for 10 days after adding it. although this does seem a little extensive.
my nitrate is 5, just realised i wrote 0.5 in previous post. i wasnt expecting to see nitrates just yet. does this mean my cycling process as begun.
i am prepared to do water changes lots to keep my fish healty

 

[mossonthemoon]

Is the original tank still running? I would swap some filter media from it to your new one. It will have to be a small amount compared to what your new tank can hold, but it will help a lot. I am not sure exactly how much you can take from the old tank, but if it is indeed full cycled, then 1/4 or maybe even 1/3 should be fine. It won't take long for the new bit of media to recolonise in the older tank, and the bigger tank will have a head start.

 

[dannybgoode]

Tap water usually contains nitrAtes so this is probably what you are seeing. With the low stock you have in quite a large tank you hopefully won't see quick changes in stats but you'll have to be
very vigilant and keep close eye on things.

Can you move the fish a snail to your smaller tank as a temporary measure and do a proper fish less cycle on the new one. Just be mindful if you do this you need to be ready to pretty much stock the tank in one go once it's ready.

Cheers

Danny B

 

[lozzah79]

Is the original tank still running? I would swap some filter media from it to your new one. It will have to be a small amount compared to what your new tank can hold, but it will help a lot. I am not sure exactly how much you can take from the old tank, but if it is indeed full cycled, then 1/4 or maybe even 1/3 should be fine. It won't take long for the new bit of media to recolonise in the older tank, and the bigger tank will have a head start.

hi,

thanks for the idea,
my 27 litre as a fluval mini wich just as one relatively small sponge and a marina i25 filter in there which arent sponges, its a slim cartridge.
should i take the sponge out of the fluval mini and squeeze it in the new tank filter. the filter in new tank is a bioflow 3.0 and is filled with several different coloured square sponges in 2 seperate cartridges.

also would this not have a negative effect on my 27litre as unfortunately im overstocked in this tank, again due to bad advise from fish shop. i have only just managed to get this tank to perfect readings but still have to do weekly water changes.

sorry for all the questions, when i got my first fish tank i just thought you put fish in and away you go, how wrong i was ha.

 

[mossonthemoon]

Hmm... I am not familiar with those filters, but a squeeze of the sponge should help. It won't be as effective as a cut, but it is a start. If it is possible to cut a small amount that would be even better. I had a tiny filter in the hospital tank I was using, and noticed a huge difference when I swapped a small amount. I think it was about 0.5 inches cubed. Maybe a little more, perhaps 1" x 0.5". It was obviously still slower than if I had been able to get a large amount, but it did help. There will be a huge amount of bacteria on even a small part, and it multiplies quickly, as long as it is fed.

A fishless cycle would be much easier for you, by the way. You should read into it and decide if this would be better for you. The only other thing I can think of is if you are overstocked in your other tank and have a small filter, it is possible that some bacteria have colonised on the tank decorations/substrate, so putting a little in the new tank could help. It wouldn't hurt. If you change anything from the small tank though, I would keep readings of its ammonia level as well to be safe.

 

[lozzah79]

Tap water usually contains nitrAtes so this is probably what you are seeing. With the low stock you have in quite a large tank you hopefully won't see quick changes in stats but you'll have to be
very vigilant and keep close eye on things.

Can you move the fish a snail to your smaller tank as a temporary measure and do a proper fish less cycle on the new one. Just be mindful if you do this you need to be ready to pretty much stock the tank in one go once it's ready.

Cheers

Danny B

my tap water doesnt have nitrates, i tested them .

i have just took the snail out of a 3 gallon tank with 10 platie fry, thats another story lol.

my fish hobby as been quite interesting so far, i bought a platy fish, put it in my 27 litre and it developed ich within a week, i took it out and bought a 3 gallon hospital tank. one day i looked in and over 40 babies were swimming around. the platy mum died and 10 fry survived.
they are doing really well. almost 4 weeks and growing nicely. i put the snail in to eat up the excess crushed food however within a week or so it heavily polluted my tank with poop and i had an ammonia spike so i have put it in the new tank. i cant put it in my 27litre as i am overstocked.

this is too complicated for me lol.

 

[elmo666]

I think a few things need clarifying. You say your 27l tank is overstocked, so am wondering why you haven't rectified this? Also, you seem to think weekly water changes are excessive, they are not, this is normal and are required to water down nitrate and put back some base minerals. Equilibrium is key to maintaining a healthy tank. You can't rush the cycling process. In the early stages don't look for nitrate, it's gonna be there from tapwter and may cloud your judgement. What you are looking for is a slow rise in ammonia, then ideally it will plateau and you will begin to see a positive nitrite reading, with the possibilty of a spike, especially with a fish in cycle. Then, after a few wks, it's hard to be precise, you will see nitrites drop and nitrates increase. There is plenty of info on the forum in the beginners resource pages. Seeding your new tank with exsiting media always helps, but please don't jeopourdise your other tank in dong so.

 

[lozzah79]

Hmm... I am not familiar with those filters, but a squeeze of the sponge should help. It won't be as effective as a cut, but it is a start. If it is possible to cut a small amount that would be even better. I had a tiny filter in the hospital tank I was using, and noticed a huge difference when I swapped a small amount. I think it was about 0.5 inches cubed. Maybe a little more, perhaps 1" x 0.5". It was obviously still slower than if I had been able to get a large amount, but it did help. There will be a huge amount of bacteria on even a small part, and it multiplies quickly, as long as it is fed.

A fishless cycle would be much easier for you, by the way. You should read into it and decide if this would be better for you. The only other thing I can think of is if you are overstocked in your other tank and have a small filter, it is possible that some bacteria have colonised on the tank decorations/substrate, so putting a little in the new tank could help. It wouldn't hurt. If you change anything from the small tank though, I would keep readings of its ammonia level as well to be safe.

i do have a 3gallon hospital tank up and running with 10 platy fry in. it as a bottle like air pump with a blue sponge inside it and stones in the bottom bit. i could try open it up and cut some of that out. thanks for the idea

i think i will stick with the fish in cycle now i have already put the platie, snail and tetra safe start in. i will just put in the necassary work to keep them healthy. tetra safe start says that it is safe to cycle with fish when using this product. i believed this meant that it would speed up the cycling process and keep ammonia at bay. have i got confused with this.

thanks again for the advise.

 

[lozzah79]

I think a few things need clarifying. You say your 27l tank is overstocked, so am wondering why you haven't rectified this? Also, you seem to think weekly water changes are excessive, they are not, this is normal and are required to water down nitrate and put back some base minerals. Equilibrium is key to maintaining a healthy tank. You can't rush the cycling process. In the early stages don't look for nitrate, it's gonna be there from tapwter and may cloud your judgement. What you are looking for is a slow rise in ammonia, then ideally it will plateau and you will begin to see a positive nitrite reading, with the possibilty of a spike, especially with a fish in cycle. Then, after a few wks, it's hard to be precise, you will see nitrites drop and nitrates increase. There is plenty of info on the forum in the beginners resource pages. Seeding your new tank with exsiting media always helps, but please don't jeopourdise your other tank in dong so.

my 27 litre is overstocked dut to bad advise. im in the process of rectifying this by getting the bigger tank and when it is cycled i will take a few out and put them in the bigger tank.
dont get me wrong i do not mind weekly water changes at all and on a number of occasions have done several changes within a week. i just thought that because i am needing to do weekly water changes ( i change the water when ammonia is 0.25 ) that this means im overstocked. i thought normal was say once every coule of weeks but again i am pretty new to fish keeping.
i have the api liquid test kits for ammonia, nitrie and nitrate so i will continue to monitor and do the water changes when necassary.
thanks.

 

[elmo666]

Weekly changes are normal practice, some occasions you need to do more. The best way to think of it is we look after the water, the fishes environment, the fish pretty much look after themselves with a little feeding. If I was in your situation I would shift all stock and filters from the smaller tank into your new one. Your existing filters can cope with the bio-load. Put a small amount of old media into the new filters. This will allow you by-pass a fish in cycle.

 

[lozzah79]

Weekly changes are normal practice, some occasions you need to do more. The best way to think of it is we look after the water, the fishes environment, the fish pretty much look after themselves with a little feeding. If I was in your situation I would shift all stock and filters from the smaller tank into your new one. Your existing filters can cope with the bio-load. Put a small amount of old media into the new filters. This will allow you by-pass a fish in cycle.

hmm youve just give me an idea. my smaller tank as 2 filters in it. it as 6 neon tetras, 2 small albino cory cats and one guppy. could i move one of the filters into the the big tank with say half my stock. would this work. that way i can keep my 27 litre up and running, i love this tank. i could also take a small amount of media from my 3 gallon hospital tank and put it in my filter for the big tank.

could this work

 

[elmo666]

It could work, yes. The only difficulty is in guaging what filter is best to move. The bacterial colony can't be judged by media size alone, the filters flow rate would come into play as this dtermine how much "food" passes through the media. I would move the larger of the 2 filters and the stock you suggest. Keep a close eye of water parameters, hopefully all will go well. The main area for concern tho is the smaller tank. You are going disturb the balance in there so this needs to be monitored very closely. Are you intending to keep the smaller tank going? If not just shift all your stock and filters, as you are only adding a snail and a molly to the load. It's quite safe, if you don't intend using the smaller filters, to simply put all the mature media from them into your new filters