Another Fishless Cycling Question?

[rpgmomma8404]

Jeez, I know you people are probably getting sick of these, lol. Anyway, I got my tank on Monday. So far so good, I guess. Couple days later after moving decorations around and having to replace the air bubble strip thingy ma bob (first one I bought was faulty), the tank got cloudy. So, I ended up taking about 3 gallons out of the tank and putting new water in. It helped for a little bit but the tank was still cloudy. Then I thought I should take out more water. Well, I sadly kept forgetting about it. Was going to do it sometime today but then power went out. It was out for almost 6-7 hours. Now the tank is clearing up. I've been told by one person to do a water change for the cloudy water then another person told me to leave it alone. Now that the power was out for so long I am kind of wondering if the cycling process got messed up. I don’t have a testing kit right now because well I just can’t afford it currently (will have to wait for the money to come in). The tank doesn't have a heater either right now. Should this be something I should be concerned about or not worry about it? I've also been adding tiny pinches of food the last couple of days too, to help the process. 

 

[Blondielovesfish]

If you don't have a test kit then how do you know how much ppm the ammonia is?
The cloudy water is probably just a bacterial bloom, perfectly normal in newly set up tanks. You can either remove it by water change or you can just leave it and it will clear up on it's own.
The power cut shouldn't have (hopefully) affected the bacteria too much, some may of died or gone dormant if the media wasn't kept wet. They should hopefully bounce back when they have a source of ammonia again.
Not having a heater may mean that the cycling process lasts a bit longer but as long as you have lots of patience that shouldn't be too bad.
 
Try to get a heater and a liquid test kit as soon as you can.

 

[rpgmomma8404]

If you don't have a test kit then how do you know how much ppm the ammonia is?
The cloudy water is probably just a bacterial bloom, perfectly normal in newly set up tanks. You can either remove it by water change or you can just leave it and it will clear up on it's own.
The power cut shouldn't have (hopefully) affected the bacteria too much, some may of died or gone dormant if the media wasn't kept wet. They should hopefully bounce back when they have a source of ammonia again.
Not having a heater may mean that the cycling process lasts a bit longer but as long as you have lots of patience that shouldn't be too bad.
 
Try to get a heater and a liquid test kit as soon as you can.

I have no idea. I was going to take water up to the pet store but it sounds like they can't be trusted. I'm going to try to get this stuff ASAP. Are there any cheaper but also reliable water testing kits out there like the api water test kit? or where would be the best place to get it cheaper. So, far the cheapest I have found is online but I don't know what can be trusted. I was told amazon. 

 

[Blondielovesfish]

API is the cheapest I could find. I've heard of many people getting the API kit for about $25 on eBay, so that may be your best option. Amazon would also be a good option.