I'm Cycling With Fish In A 35 Litre

[jamespond]

I have had my tank for a couple of weeks now (being cycled with 2 Danios) and I have been changing 10% of the water on a daily basis. However, I went away for 4 days last week and when I came back…I checked the water and I have NO ammonia or Nitrite readings. Is this normal? I have a few live plants in there (moss balls) but I would have thought 4 days without a water change would have given me a high ammonia level at least?

I changed 10% of the water anyway and will check again tonight…but I’m slightly confused!

I have a test kit that lets you fill up test tubes then add drops to colour the water and give you a reading.


apart from all this, the fish seem ok and there's no real problems to speak of

 

[Miss Wiggle]

it may be cycled, i'd check your readings on a daily basis. if you get consistent 0 readings then it's cycled.

you don't need to do water changes if you've not got readings of ammonia or nitrite, don't do them indiscriminately you could do more harm than good.

 

[jamespond]

i'll be well happy if it has cycled in just 2 weeks

I'll check the water everyday this week and stop the water changes. If it has cycled, how often should i change the water and how much should i change?

 

[nmonks]

It won't be cycle in two weeks. More like six.

If you put two danios in, your aquarium filter ramps up to cope with ammonia produce by two danio sized fish. Add another danio, and there's a shortfall, and the filter bacteria need to increase in number. With each new fish, your filter has to be matured a little bit more. This happens right up until the filter reaches maximum capacity, at which point there is literally no more room for any more bacteria, so any excess ammonium doesn't get converted and pollutes the aquarium (which is why a too-small filter won't work out).

So while you should be about ready to add some new fish, make them hardy ones and don't add too many at once. Two more danios or a trio of small hardy Corydoras cats like peppers or bronzies would be fine; adding a couple of adult angelfish or a big plec would not be fine.

The art to cycling with fish is understanding the speed at which filters mature and which fishes can be added at any given point. Done properly, it's harmless to the fish and 100% reliable, which is why some people (like me) are happy to use it even where fishless cycling methods exist.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[jamespond]

thanks for the advice Nmonks. I was really worried about how cycling with fish might affect the Danios, but as you've said, its gone through ok and the filter does seemed to have coped well enough. I'll give it a few days without a water change and if the levels are still 0, i'll see about adding a couple more.

 

[goldencomet]

do you know what your nitrate reading is? if this is a number below five it will be cycled but if it is zero it won't be

 

[OohFeeshy]

Urm, no. Most tanks have nitrete- it's present in the tap water. Anything under 100ppm is usually fine for fish, bar very sensitive ones.

 

[jamespond]

do you know what your nitrate reading is? if this is a number below five it will be cycled but if it is zero it won't be

I checked the water last night and my ammonia is very low, byt Nirite and Nitrate readings were all 0...i'm very confused!

 

[DoyouWantsum]

Follow nmonks advise and you'll be fine.

 

[jamespond]

Follow nmonks advise and you'll be fine.

ok i'll check the water again tonight and if its still 0 i'll get 1 or 2 more. Would a Betta be ok? I really want to add one to my tank.

 

[DoyouWantsum]

bump

 

[three-fingers]

Why bump?
I would not recommend a betta for a tank with danios. Some bettas just don't go with community aquariums full stop. The danios would probably rip its fins to shreds.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah betta's are really best kept by themselves not in community tanks.

danio's like to be in groups so increase your 2 danio's to 4/5

 

[jamespond]

i'm still confused

i'm now changing 10% every 2 days (it takes that to get a ammonia reading of 0.25) but i'm still not getting ANY Nitrite or Nitrate readings? Is this normal after 2 weeks?

Or is the filter coping and i need to add 1 or 2 more fish?