Cycling End?

[bolinao]

Hi i read that it takes between 4-6 weeks for a tank to cycle,but how can i tell when this process is finished please,also when i bought my tank a week ago,the lfs chick gave me some liquid to lower the amonia level and come back in a few days so that she can take a reading and buy some fish,well i went back 4 days later with a water sample ,she ran a test and said the water is ready for some fish,she suggested i buy up to 8 fish the first week and if i wanted buy some more if everything went well after that.I bought 8 fish (this was 2 days ago),but 2 have since died ,is 6 fish too many to cycle a tank(80 litres),i read only about 3 fish is enough any more and it will cause problems,I bought some test kits and the readings are amonia lvel is 0, nitrite level is 0,ph is 7.2.so PLEASE what do i do now.

 

[juicebox]

you probably shouldn't use the ammonia lowering liquid because it'll slow down the cycling process. you can tell if your tank has cycled by using test kits. if it's cycled, ammonia and nitrite should read 0.

what type of fish are they? i'm sorry two of your fish died. six seems a bit much to cycle a tank with.

i'd stop using the liquid you bought at the store and test your water after a day or two.

 

[bolinao]

i'd stop using the liquid you bought at the store and test your water after a day or two.

Yes i only used it once and will not be using it again.The fish i bought were 2x pink kisser,2x moonlight gourami and 1xangel fish and a orange shark type fish,sorry dont know the name of this fish,but the lfs said these were good starting fish.So if 6 is too many then i should remove some is that correct???...thanks

 

[juicebox]

it seems to me yours is already cycled, but it's hard to believe that has happened only after two days. either the ammonia blocking liquid is somehow still working or you tested your water incorrectly.

 

[Liam]

The tank can’t be cycled yet. I am afraid that you got bad advice from the lfs. The fish you have all grow quite large for the size of tank you have. I haven’t done the stocking maths for your tank but there are pinned articles you could read on the site. Basically the ammonia has to build up so that the bacteria can turn it into nitrite then when nitrites build up another bacteria needs to build up to turn it into nitrate. I don’t know about the readings maybe the ammonia blocker is giving you a reading of zero. I don’t know anything about ammonia blocker products. It would be normal to have a zero nitrite reading after a week.

I am not sure what you should do, if you knew anyone with a cycled tank and could get some cycled filter media from them, that could save your fish. The lfs might give you some, they should after such bad advice. That many fish wont survive a cycling 80l tank. If it were me I would give the lfs back the fish and do a fishless cycle. Or at least give some of them back. They will probably die otherwise. Not your fault, its reasonable to expect the lfs to give decent advice but all too often they don’t. Read the pinned article on cycling. Hope you find a solution.
Good luck.