is my tank cycled??

[fishygeezer]

set tank up a week ago and added hagens cycle to get things moving,tested today for ammonia=0 nitrite =0 nitrates =appx 30 mg/litre is the tank cycled??
Also the ph in the tank is high at about 8.5 staraight from the tap ita about 7.5 i'm guessing the sand must be causing the higher ph in the tank??
Thinking of getting 4 mollies for a month then adding a spotted congo puffer if the puffer is aggressive i will remove the mollies.
I have a 36*15*17 (40 gallon) tank running a fluval 202 for filtration with a power head for circulation should it be able to handle 5-6 fish???

 

[tttnjfttt]

assuming you added ammonia to your fishless cycle, then it should be! Congratulations.

As for the puffer, they really should be in a species specific tank, as they are very agressive.

 

[fishygeezer]

nope no ammonia just the hagens cycle

 

[tttnjfttt]

Ok, I'm not sure if this is the product i'm thinking of, but is it the "Cycle" sold on store shelfs, no refrigeration, no expiration date, in a white bottle? If that is, many people here consider it worthless. I have heard a few decent stories at the LPS, supposedly personal stories, but could also be sales pitches. I did try adding it to fix a mini-cycle, and it did nothing.

(I tried google, but didn't find anything)

That beign said, i would DEFINATELY NOT buy a puffer. They require pristine water, which there is no gaurentee you will have at this moment. If you want to check to see if the stuff worked, add in some pure ammonia to a concentration of 5 ppm (checking with your test kit). If the tank is cycled, there should be no ammonia left after 24 hours. If not, then go ahead and start a fishless cycle. Here is a link to that.
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=73365

 

[rdd1952]

Your tank is definitely NOT cycled. The only way to cycle a tank is to add pure ammonia and then wait OR add fish (so their waste can produce ammonia) and do constant checks of the ammonia and nitrites until they drop to zero. Cycle, IMO, is pretty much useless. The only product that works is Bio Spira and even then you have to add the fish when you add the Bio Spira and it must have been constantly refrigerated to keep the bacteria alive in the bottle..

 

[ncjharris]

When cycling, the best thing to do is to test the water daily. That way you can see the ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte spikes, and you'll know when your tank is cycled.

For my opinion, I don't think your tank is cycled too - if you want to test it, add some fish flakes, and test daily for two/three days after.
You should not see any ammonia/nitrIte readings.

 

[sinistral]

set tank up a week ago and added hagens cycle to get things moving,tested today for ammonia=0 nitrite =0 nitrates =appx 30 mg/litre is the tank cycled??

It would be important to figure out (after conducting the test that tttnjfttt or ncjharris suggested) where the nitrates came from, if your tank is not cycled. Are there nitrates in your tap water?

Also, there are many potential causes of pH elevation in an aquarium. What kind of sand do you have that makes you believe it might be causing a pH rise? You might also want to test your KH as well.

 

[fishygeezer]

The sand used in the tank is playpit sand apart from that the tank is empty,thought it might be to good to be true that my tank had cycled so quickly i will pickup some ammonia tommorow.
where the nitrates are from i have no idea??i will test tap water out of intrest

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

How many gallons does the tank hold and did you wash the playsand before putting it in the tank?

 

[sardine]

My tank cycled really quick with the cycle product. It cuts the time in half. It contains bacteria that works to convert the ammonia to nitrate. In the bottle it stays in a dormant state but once in the tank it becomes alive. I had my water tested after 3 weeks. I used danios and cycle to cycle my tank. I brought back the danios to Petco, had my water tested, and brought back 3 platies.

 

[fishygeezer]

The tank holds appx 40 uk gallons and i washed/rinsed the sand plenty.

 

[fishygeezer]

I've borrowed some gravel from a friends goldfish bowl which was setup a couple of weeks ago,the ammonia level was high due to him over feeding i reckon and maybe at a spike.i've left the netted bag of gravel (appx large glass full) in front of my powerhead to hopefuly spread ammonia everywhere also after stirring up the goldfishs gravel i kept appx pint of the dirty water which i've added aswell.
put a pinch of flake food in for good measure will test for ammonia daily now

 

[rdd1952]

I've borrowed some gravel from a friends goldfish bowl which was setup a couple of weeks ago,the ammonia level was high due to him over feeding i reckon and maybe at a spike.i've left the netted bag of gravel (appx large glass full) in front of my powerhead to hopefuly spread ammonia everywhere also after stirring up the goldfishs gravel i kept appx pint of the dirty water which i've added aswell.
put a pinch of flake food in for good measure will test for ammonia daily now

I don't know that the gravel from the goldfish bowl will do any good. It isn't likely to have any benificial bacteria present in it and there won't be enough ammonia to do you any good. You will have to use either pure ammonia or fish food. As a general rule, the water won't help with cycling but I guess what you have would have ammonia in it so it will add a little more.

 

[Fish 'R' Fun]

Just to be on the safe side i would cycle with ammonia concentrates