Planted tank cycle

[juno26]

Hello all! I’m new to the aquarium hobby and a couple of weeks ago I got my first tank. It’s a 60 litre planted tank. I just want to make sure I’m doing things correctly to cycle it before I add fish.

1. I’ve been adding some fish food and bottled bacteria every other day to cycle as I haven’t been able to find pure ammonia. The food has developed a white hair like bacteria around it. Is this normal?

2. My test results so far show I currently have 3ppm ammonia 0 nitrites and 10 nitrates. I’ve never had a nitrite reading. I tested my tap water and it shows 5ppm nitrate so I’m assuming the nitrates are just directly from my water source and not because of the cycling process. Am I right in thinking my tank is cycled when my ammonia levels lower and I get a nitrite spike and then a nitrate spike?

3. I’ve been adding plant fertiliser twice a week and in particular I’ve noticed my limnophila heterophylla has been growing fast. I’ve been reading about the silent plant cycle and have heard that you know your tank is cycled when you see plant growth. Is this true for my case?

I hope someone can help out as I’m a bit confused with everything.

 

[Essjay]

Firstly can I ask the time scale? How long since you set the tank up; how long since you put the plants in and how many; and how long since you added the food and bacterial supplement?

To take your points:
1) The food is going mouldy. It should be removed regularly and new food added.

2) The food is broken down to ammonia. Plants use ammonia as fertiliser, and bacteria use it as food. Plants do not make nitrite but ammonia eating bacteria do make nitrite. The fact that you still have an ammonia reading suggests that your plants are not taking up the ammonia. It also suggests that the bottled bacteria is either not working at all (some don't) or that it's taking it's time.

3) Yes is is possible to do a silent cycle. There should be enough plants to take up all the ammonia made by a tankful of fish, and the plants should be actively growing. Floating plants are best for this as they have better access than lower down plants to the other things they need - light and carbon dioxide.
Once the plants are all actively growing they should be able to remove all the ammonia from the fish food you've added or later all the ammonia made by the fish; if the plants are not removing all the ammonia either there aren't enough plants or they are not yet growing well enough. When the ammonia level drops to zero, if it's the plants that are removing it they won't turn it into nitrite or nitrate so you shouldn't see a nitrite reading or a nitrate reading higher than your tap water level.
When you finally have a zero ammonia level, you could try buying the first batch of fish that you intend keeping. Test the tank water every day and if you ever see a reading above zero for ammonia or nitrite, do a water change to get them to zero. If they stay at zero without needing water changes, wait a couple of weeks and get the next fish - testing daily after you get them.

 

[juno26]

Firstly can I ask the time scale? How long since you set the tank up; how long since you put the plants in and how many; and how long since you added the food and bacterial supplement?

To take your points:
1) The food is going mouldy. It should be removed regularly and new food added.

2) The food is broken down to ammonia. Plants use ammonia as fertiliser, and bacteria use it as food. Plants do not make nitrite but ammonia eating bacteria do make nitrite. The fact that you still have an ammonia reading suggests that your plants are not taking up the ammonia. It also suggests that the bottled bacteria is either not working at all (some don't) or that it's taking it's time.

3) Yes is is possible to do a silent cycle. There should be enough plants to take up all the ammonia made by a tankful of fish, and the plants should be actively growing. Floating plants are best for this as they have better access than lower down plants to the other things they need - light and carbon dioxide.
Once the plants are all actively growing they should be able to remove all the ammonia from the fish food you've added or later all the ammonia made by the fish; if the plants are not removing all the ammonia either there aren't enough plants or they are not yet growing well enough. When the ammonia level drops to zero, if it's the plants that are removing it they won't turn it into nitrite or nitrate so you shouldn't see a nitrite reading or a nitrate reading higher than your tap water level.
When you finally have a zero ammonia level, you could try buying the first batch of fish that you intend keeping. Test the tank water every day and if you ever see a reading above zero for ammonia or nitrite, do a water change to get them to zero. If they stay at zero without needing water changes, wait a couple of weeks and get the next fish - testing daily after you get them.

Okay so my timeline is a bit messed up because I had a few problems in the beginning. I have 4 different types of plants split up into about 10 around the tank. I had problems with the filter I had so I replaced it with a new one. I’m sure this has kind of restarted the cycle right?

Here is a rough timeline.

14.01.20 - Set up the tank with plants
15.01.20 - Added bacteria and fish food
22.01.20 - Replaced filter, added fish food
23.01.20 - Added bacteria
25.01.20 - Added more fish food and bacteria

I’m going to get more plants this week. So basically I should wait until the ammonia gets to 0 and it’s likely I won’t get a nitrite/higher nitrate reading because of the plants?

 

[Essjay]

That's right. The plants have only been in for 12 days; once they start to grow well, provided you don't add too many fish in one go they should take care of the ammonia made by the fish. They turn ammonia into protein not nitrite.

 

[juno26]

That's right. The plants have only been in for 12 days; once they start to grow well, provided you don't add too many fish in one go they should take care of the ammonia made by the fish. They turn ammonia into protein not nitrite.

Ah okay. I'm thinking of 3 guppies to start with. Would that be ok?

 

[Byron]

Ah okay. I'm thinking of 3 guppies to start with. Would that be ok?

Before we can suggest fish, we need to know your water parameters. "Parameters" refers to four things, GH (general or total hardness), KH (carbonate hardness also called alkalinity), pH, and temperature. Here we are most concerned with the GH and pH of your tap water.

Other water quality conditions ("conditions" as opposed to "parameters") are ammonia, nitrite, nitrate basically.

As for your ammonia, do you have chloramine added to your tap water by your water authority? Chloramine can be part of the "ammonia" issue.

 

[juno26]

I did a test on my tap water a while back and these were the results:

GH: > 16°d
KH: 20°d
pH: 8.4

and my tank water test from yesterday had the following results.

Ammonia: 3.0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
GH: 10°d
KH: 6°d
PH: 7.2

I'm not sure about the chloramine. I've had a look online and can't find any record of it for my area. Should I test my tap water for ammonia?

 

[Retired Viking]

chloramine should be taken care of when you treated your tank for chlorine with water conditioner

 

[Byron]

Yes, test the tap water for all three...ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. It is good to know if none are present (or if one is, how much).

The issue with chloramine is that conditioners separate it into chlorine and ammonia, and the ammonia can turn up in tests even if non-toxic. Though this is usually less than the 3 ppm here. I've no idea if Spanish water authorities might regularly use chloramine or not.

 

[juno26]

Yes, test the tap water for all three...ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. It is good to know if none are present (or if one is, how much).

The issue with chloramine is that conditioners separate it into chlorine and ammonia, and the ammonia can turn up in tests even if non-toxic. Though this is usually less than the 3 ppm here. I've no idea if Spanish water authorities might regularly use chloramine or not.

Sorry I should have mentioned in my last post that in my tap water test I got 10 nitrate and 0 nitrite. I will test for ammonia tomorrow.

Based on the results could you tell me if I should get fish that prefer hard or soft water?

 

[Byron]

Sorry I should have mentioned in my last post that in my tap water test I got 10 nitrate and 0 nitrite. I will test for ammonia tomorrow.

Based on the results could you tell me if I should get fish that prefer hard or soft water?

You have fairly hard water with a high basic pH so hard water species will be suitable. Livebearers, rift lake cichlids, and some of the rainbowfish (not together, obviously, these are just generic groupings). There are a few others.

 

[seangee]

Please can you double check the hardness? The drop between your tap water readings and your tank does not sound right

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I concur, I was thinking that same thing.

 

[Byron]

Yes, I missed that too. Also, the pH for the tap water should be confirmed, and are you aware that you need to out-gas any CO2 in tap water before testing pH? Let a glass of tap water sit 24 hours, then test pH. This is only needed with tap water for pH, not tank water, and not for other parameterts like GH.

 

[juno26]

Yeah I never actually thought about the difference. Thanks for letting me know. I’m gonna leave a glass of water for 24 hours and then use my test strips and see what I get.