No bio load

[Ted H]

Ive had my tank set up for almost 3 weeks now, with the tank and fish listed as below.
I test my water almost every day but as yet I've not had any indications of anything ammonia , etc. .. I would have maybe expected Nitrite to rise if anything but still showing zero..... My test kits are all new and the lfs has confirmed my readings.
I started my tank with about 2 pounds of gravel from the lfs tanks and have added some live plants, usualy I added a plant when I added some fish. The filter I have is a 3 stage Fluval which by my recconing and according to the user book should filter all the water in the tank every 15 mins. (small tank.. big filter )
Should I be worried, is something going drasticaly wrong that I've missed, or am I lucky and getting my tank to cycle right from the start ? I'm still carrying out 25% water changes weekly ....

 

[Fresh_Start]

Don't jinx it.

 

[FMZ]

I think 2 lbs of gravel from lfs tank has something to do with it. Maybe its done with cycling. Hopefully other members can help you out more. I know that used gravels helps alot though.

 

[sinistral]

I reckon you got a healthy bacterial culture or two (or hundreds of thousands) with the 2 pounds of LFS gravel. I don't know the rate at which you added fish (hopefully not all at once), but it sounds like the colonies you had rapidly seeded the filter and remainder of the tank. I wonder if the plants helped as well by consuming nitrates. I don't know if Le Chatelier's principle applies to bacterial systems, but I don't know that it doesn't. Having said that, I do think you are pretty fortunate not to have *ever* seen a nitrogen spike or any sort.

I'd keep up with the regular testing for a couple more weeks, and of course the water changes, and let us know how things go It's a testament to pre-culturing tanks with bacterial colonies.

 

[Ted H]

Thanks for the words of encouragement and reassurance guys... Guess I just got lucky ,and adding only a few small fish at a time must have worked.....Patience is a virtue I guess.......Just hope it doesnt all go terribly wrong ..

 

[tstenback]

Do you have a niTRATE reading? If so then perhaps the seeding and slow addition of fish did it for you. Lucky You

 

[Ted H]

No at the moment i have no nitrate reading .....as I say I would have at least expected those to rise

 

[tstenback]

I agree that you should be seeing nitrates if the tank has cycled as these are the by product of the cycle. With 15 fish in a 12 gal tank there should be something going on. Did you cycle with or without fish? Have you had anyone else(lfs friend) recheck your levels with a different kit as you may have a bad nitrate test.

 

[Ted H]

I cycled with fish , and my test kits are all new, I've also had the Lfs check them . I wonder if the size of the filter and the plants have something to do with it.. also the fish are quite small.... the 5 neons only came a few days ago

 

[jams.alaskan]

You are lucky! AND the gravel you got just might keep you ahead of the big cycle! Good for you.

ALASKA