Cycle finished?

[Kirsty]

It's been 15 days now and i have been cycling my 63 litre tank with 5 zebra danios. My readings are as follows:
pH: 7.4
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
Can my tank be cycled after only 15 days?

 

[happyadd]

The thing to look for is a Nitrite spike, have you seen your readings rise and fall yet?

If not it hasn't cycled. Don't worry though, I know it can take up to 6 weeks to cycle. It is a good sign that your ammonia reading is 0.00.

A sign that it has cycled would be high nitrate readings 60+ppm. Although, if you have recently done a water change the nitrate would be far lower.

Wish I had a nitrate reading like yours though, although my tank has been cycled for over a month now, my nitrate stays quiet high!

Looking good though, hold back on any more fish till 3-4weeks!

 

[Kirsty]

I have seen both the ammonia and nitrite spikes, and the nitrate went up to 20 but has come back down again.

 

[rdd1952]

I'm not real familiar with the process of cycling with fish but my understanding is that you will only build up enough bacteria to support the waste of the fish you have. Then when you add more, you will have another mini cycle to accomodate them. I don't think you're ever completely cycled until all the fish are in the tank.

 

[gadazobe]

Yes, your tank has cycled. Add your fish slowly, one or two every couple of weeks to enable the biological filter to catch up with the extra waste.

 

[Pysgodyn]

I reckon you're ok too...I'm new to all this, and did everything that seemed sensible (thanks to this site..e.g. added some plants & gravel & water from an older tank) and it cycled just as quickly as yours, which was a pleasant surprise
I did my initial cycle with 3 dalmatian mollies, and now I've put 3 guppies in. The ammonia and nitrates spiked and now they seem fine, and the readings are as follows :

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20
pH - 7.4

Now, personally, I THINK it's doing just fine (!)...I'm yet to be proven wrong...someone will tell me soon I guess!

Anyone have any suggestions as to what I should add next week?!