Is My Sisters Tank Done Cycling? How Do I Know?

[tropicallover]

How do i know if my tank is done cycling? My sisters tank has been up and running since January 28 2012 and its now March 3 so its been well over a month. Is it done? How do i know?

 

[Fishy friend2]

there should be a reading of nitrates, and the ammonia should be going down fast from the amount you added in 12-24 hours

 

[Flubberlump]

Did you do a fishless cycle with ammonia? Or did you just set it up and leave it?

 

[tropicallover]

We used Nutrafin cycle.

 

[Fishy friend2]

are you getting a reading of nitrAtes

 

[balajake]

if you set it up and left it then you havent got a cycled tank at all. to cycle your tank doing a fishless cycle you need a bottle of household ammonia and an api freshwater master testing kit.

please read this.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/113861-fishless-cycling/


you need to feed ammonia in your tank until your filter builds up enough bacteria to neutralise the waste that your fish produce. we do this artificially by using household ammonia instead of fish because the cycling process is potentially deadly to them. it takes about 4 weeks but is well worth the effort.

nutrafin cycle wont cycle your tank, the cycle only begins when ammonia is introduced into your tank

 

[tropicallover]

We used Api Water Sticks and did a fish-in cycle

 

[Hoveringpie]

Test strips don't give a accurate reading pal. Get a api or tetra masterkit liquid type. Check for ammonia nitrite and nitrate. Your ammonia should be 0 so should your nitrite. You will probebly have a nitrate reading as the only way to get rid of it is through water changes. If you have fish in the tank and ammonia and nitrite is 0 then I would say you are getting there!