Silent Cycle

[Chilled Babe]

Hi

I am nearly into week 5 of cycling my tank. I have a 100 litre tank which includes

2 Platies and their 12 4 week old babies! and more on the way!!

Bogwood, rock, pea gravel, Aquarclear 3 Filter, heater, 12 live plants and a few snails (acquired).

My Ammonia is 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0 and Ph 7.4. The tank also has a large amount of light at one side although not direct sunlight (by the way I can see my tank from both sides).

My question is:

I have been told that my tank is going through a "silent cycle" and that this is not a good thing for a beginner ?? why. Am I right to say that I shall not see a spike in the Ammonia and Nitrite and that I will have to just wait for the Nitrate to start to rise. Does anyone know how long I will have to wait! Does a silent cycle take longer? I know I have to be patient but I would love to add some more fish, even just a few and at a weekly pace.

Please help me.

Thanks

 

[Alien Anna]

I'd just keep an eye on your water parameters and treat accordingly. If you read my article in my sig it should explain the background to cycling and also contains a section on what to do if you are cycling with fish (i.e. if you get ammonia or nitrite in your tank).

 

[Chilled Babe]

Thanks Anna that was very informative. I guess I will just have to wait...wait...wait...

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

Can anyone tell me what a silent cycle is, never heard of it before?

 

[Sapper]

im no expert but i think a silent cycle is where plants use up the ammonia quicker than the bacteria in the filter can break it down to nirites.

 

[Chilled Babe]

I was told that a silent cycle is when you set up a new tank and heavilly plant it with good light and CO2 (the plants feed straight away) so any fish or amonia you put in the tank is used straight away by the plants not bacteria!

Don't know if this is right or not.

 

[Alien Anna]

I was told that a silent cycle is when you set up a new tank and heavilly plant it with good light and CO2 (the plants feed straight away) so any fish or amonia you put in the tank is used straight away by the plants not bacteria!

Don't know if this is right or not.

Yes, that's right. The danger is a sudden nitrite spike, since there is very little ammonia in the tank to grow the bacteria that turn ammonia into nitrite. Plants can't use nitrite directly so you then have a long wait until the bacteria develop to turn that nitrite into nitrate, which the plants can use. It's ironically the same problem as you have with those ammonia-locking chemicals.

Patience and observation is the real solution and be ready to do a water change if and when the nitrite spike appears.

 

[Ive]

My tank took more than 7 weeks to cycle. I get tired of testing the water, because it always gave negative for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Then, one day the cycle suddenly start and the only sign I had was the pink gills of some fishes and a listless little cory. I checked the parameters and the nitrite and nitrate were by the sky. ) After that, I really look like a dement, because of the daily water changes I did to the tank. Now my tank is fully cycled and my fishes safe. So, please, keep an eye on the water parameters, because I think you are very near to see changes.

 

[pmoyniha]

I just hit the nitrate spike. Until two days ago I had no idea about cycling and as such my aquarium is in all sorts of trouble. But I think I had that silent cycle for a bit as all my fish (Head and Tail Light Tetras and Harlequins) seemed happy and flitting about, then 4 of the Harlequins died one after the other. I tested the water and oh my was the Nitrate high. Now I am changing 25-30% of the water every couple days in hopes to save the rest of the fish.

 

[Alien Anna]

I just hit the nitrate spike. Until two days ago I had no idea about cycling and as such my aquarium is in all sorts of trouble. But I think I had that silent cycle for a bit as all my fish (Head and Tail Light Tetras and Harlequins) seemed happy and flitting about, then 4 of the Harlequins died one after the other. I tested the water and oh my was the Nitrate high. Now I am changing 25-30% of the water every couple days in hopes to save the rest of the fish.

Do you mean nitrate (with an 'a' ) or do you actually mean nitrite (with an 'i' ). Spelling is vital in this case.

If its nitrite, you need to do daily water changes. Follow the link in my sig for further information.

 

[Chilled Babe]

I must admit I was also getting a bit lazy and only checking levels every 2nd day as I felt nothing was happening and the fish look so happy. After reading all these replies, I think you could be right that I am getting close to cycling. I will therefore check my levels every day and hopefully, real soon, I will be fully cycled. I can't wait.

I had read the books for a year and finally felt I was ready to get my aquarium. Off I went, set it up and a week later got my 2 platies, 3 days later the 12 babies appeared. I did get really worked up about it as firstly I found a creepy crawly, something like a centipede in the tank which freaked me out (I found it again last night and got it out) and then I got snails and then I found a small worm type thing in the tank and then one of the fish decided he would get a slight case of white spot just before I went away on holiday for the weekend - talk about panicking! At last now I do feel a bit more relaxed - this was the reason I got fish in the first place!! relaxing! ha ha! I have now chilled a bit and I am looking forward to adding my fish - don't worry I will do it gradually.

I was thinking of getting;

Siamese Fighter x 1
Cardinal Tetras x 5
Glowlight Tetras x 5
Spotted Cory x 2
Ram x 1

Does this sound ok for compatibility?

Thanks again for all the replies - it's just the things I needed to read.

 

[pmoyniha]

You would think that being a Biochemist I would write the correct word. I did mean Nitrite Anna. Thanks