tank cycled?

[floridalove]

i had a 20gal tank with 4 mollys 4 feeder goldfish, and a little frog and plastic plants. came home from work 1 night heard the filter sucking air, went over to the tank there was a crack in the glass it was across the entire front panel. only had 1/4 water left when i came home. quickly rushed the remaining fish to my 55gal (which has 7 zebra danios and a 1.5inch common pleco with high nitrites(not yet cycled). unfortunatley the 4 mollies died cause of the nitrites, the frog and feeder fish survived. the 20gal was fully cycled. the tank had rocks so i put it in the bathtup with water left in the tank that did not drain out. the water left covered over the rocks and i put the filter in there. bought a new tank and put the rocks in (did not wash them)& the filter (which i did not clean either)put new water & the frog and the common pleco in. had em in for bout a week, no ammonia no nitrites, ph at 7.2 water at 212 for hardness but thats just our water. is this tank cycled or is there not enough things in the tank to start the process yet thanks.

 

[kgrehm]

I would wait a couple days or even a week and test it again. Leaving the filter and the rocks in the aquarium water was a good idea, because it helps keep the bacteria alive that was already there. The tests might go up a little because you did still add new water. But right when you put the fish in the cycle will start. So just test again a little later and post back to see how its going. HTH

 

[jams.alaskan]

If you continued to use the filter in the tank water with the substrate and it ran without fish for a day or two you may be just fine. With the loss of the 4 mollies down on the bioload that that tank had whatever bacteria that you lost may not be enough to send you into another cycle. You've no idea how long the filter was dry? Was it still wet inside?

ALASKA

 

[Nina7777]

you didn't mention if you had any nitrate.......chances are like alaska said with the 4 mollies gone and saving the filter and gravel you shouldn't even have a mini cycle. but still keep testing it to make sure

 

[floridalove]

in the 20gal the rocks sat for about 2-3days untill i could get to the store to buy a new tank, then the filter itself was still wet but there was no water in it . just the sponge and cartridge was still moist, just tested nitrates looking at 10ppm so to me its lookin pretty good. the reason i kept the original water in with the rocks is because i read a lot on this board about the bacteria and places it likes to hang out. i know its looking pretty good cause my 55gallon is still cloudy after 3weeks got a bloom and now its cloudy as hell. the 20gal is crystal clear.


thanks again