Is My Tank Cycled/ready Yet?

[Ruskull]

UPDATE:

Okay, I turned on my son's 20 gallon and I tested the ammonia & the nitrites and both were at zero. I test with the API Master test kit. I'm going to do a 20-25% water change just for kicks, but first I want to check the levels in the new 36 gallon since the results were a bit weird last night.

 

[Ruskull]

UPDATE PART 2:

I just tested the ammonia in my 36 gallon and it was .25 ppm! That's after a massive 50% water change just last night. I did feed the fish the morning, maybe I should've waited another day...............hindsight is always 20/20

The nitrites are at zero.

I'm going to do a 25% water change and then I'll re-test.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

My personal thoughts on water changes when you have any ammonia or nitrite showing is to do as big a water change as you can. The more water you change, the less ammonia/nitrite remaining in the tank. If you had done a 50% water change and still had 0.25ppm ammonia afterwards, it must have been 0.50ppm before the water change. I would have done a 75-90% water change. Then the ammonia would have been 0.125-0.05ppm. The best way to remove ammonia is with a truly HUGE water change than merely two large ones.

For example: if you have 0.50ppm ammonia, one 90% water change drops the ammonia to 0.05ppm (trace levels really as it won't show up on the color chart. By comparison two 50% water changes would drop it to only 0.125ppm (more than twice as high as the single change). You would actually be removing more water and refilling with more water, but not actually removing as much ammonia/nitrite.

 

[Ruskull]

My personal thoughts on water changes when you have any ammonia or nitrite showing is to do as big a water change as you can. The more water you change, the less ammonia/nitrite remaining in the tank. If you had done a 50% water change and still had 0.25ppm ammonia afterwards, it must have been 0.50ppm before the water change. I would have done a 75-90% water change. Then the ammonia would have been 0.125-0.05ppm. The best way to remove ammonia is with a truly HUGE water change than merely two large ones.

For example: if you have 0.50ppm ammonia, one 90% water change drops the ammonia to 0.05ppm (trace levels really as it won't show up on the color chart. By comparison two 50% water changes would drop it to only 0.125ppm (more than twice as high as the single change). You would actually be removing more water and refilling with more water, but not actually removing as much ammonia/nitrite.

That sounds like common sense logic. The thing is my 36 gal tested .25 ppm BEFORE the change. After the 50% water change it registered zero, or very close to it. Now today it's reading .25 ppm again but just as last night, the nitrites are at zero.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

My personal thoughts on water changes when you have any ammonia or nitrite showing is to do as big a water change as you can. The more water you change, the less ammonia/nitrite remaining in the tank. If you had done a 50% water change and still had 0.25ppm ammonia afterwards, it must have been 0.50ppm before the water change. I would have done a 75-90% water change. Then the ammonia would have been 0.125-0.05ppm. The best way to remove ammonia is with a truly HUGE water change than merely two large ones.

For example: if you have 0.50ppm ammonia, one 90% water change drops the ammonia to 0.05ppm (trace levels really as it won't show up on the color chart. By comparison two 50% water changes would drop it to only 0.125ppm (more than twice as high as the single change). You would actually be removing more water and refilling with more water, but not actually removing as much ammonia/nitrite.

That sounds like common sense logic. The thing is my 36 gal tested .25 ppm BEFORE the change. After the 50% water change it registered zero, or very close to it. Now today it's reading .25 ppm again but just as last night, the nitrites are at zero.

You are still in phase one of three. Your ammonia processing bacteria are not capable of dealing with the ammonia produced by the fish yet. In phase two, the ammonia will start to go down, but the nitrite will rise (commonly called the nitrite spike). In phase three, the nitrite starts to drop but doesn't sit at zeros. Again, the reason for a big water change, is that it will enable you more time between when you need to do water changes. You will probably need to continue to change the water every day for a while. Then you will be able to skip a day. Then eventually you will be able to skip two days. Then you will be able to skip three... and so on until eventually you go a full week with zero ammonia and nitrite the entire time. It is a slow process, but it does get there. Be sure to remain patient, but most important, be sure to test the water and be sure to do a water change whenever the level goes up to 0.25ppm for either. Ultimately, it will happen but it could take 10-12 weeks or longer. Bigger water changes might save you needing to do them every day, but more importantly they will keep the levels lower so that the fish can survive the process. The cycling process is a very dangerous time for the fish. Ammonia can have long term effects on the fish. Life spans can be shortened. Just stay vigilant.

 

[Ruskull]

My personal thoughts on water changes when you have any ammonia or nitrite showing is to do as big a water change as you can. The more water you change, the less ammonia/nitrite remaining in the tank. If you had done a 50% water change and still had 0.25ppm ammonia afterwards, it must have been 0.50ppm before the water change. I would have done a 75-90% water change. Then the ammonia would have been 0.125-0.05ppm. The best way to remove ammonia is with a truly HUGE water change than merely two large ones.

For example: if you have 0.50ppm ammonia, one 90% water change drops the ammonia to 0.05ppm (trace levels really as it won't show up on the color chart. By comparison two 50% water changes would drop it to only 0.125ppm (more than twice as high as the single change). You would actually be removing more water and refilling with more water, but not actually removing as much ammonia/nitrite.

That sounds like common sense logic. The thing is my 36 gal tested .25 ppm BEFORE the change. After the 50% water change it registered zero, or very close to it. Now today it's reading .25 ppm again but just as last night, the nitrites are at zero.

You are still in phase one of three. Your ammonia processing bacteria are not capable of dealing with the ammonia produced by the fish yet. In phase two, the ammonia will start to go down, but the nitrite will rise (commonly called the nitrite spike). In phase three, the nitrite starts to drop but doesn't sit at zeros. Again, the reason for a big water change, is that it will enable you more time between when you need to do water changes. You will probably need to continue to change the water every day for a while. Then you will be able to skip a day. Then eventually you will be able to skip two days. Then you will be able to skip three... and so on until eventually you go a full week with zero ammonia and nitrite the entire time. It is a slow process, but it does get there. Be sure to remain patient, but most important, be sure to test the water and be sure to do a water change whenever the level goes up to 0.25ppm for either. Ultimately, it will happen but it could take 10-12 weeks or longer. Bigger water changes might save you needing to do them every day, but more importantly they will keep the levels lower so that the fish can survive the process. The cycling process is a very dangerous time for the fish. Ammonia can have long term effects on the fish. Life spans can be shortened. Just stay vigilant.

Y'know I never had anyone explain it to me quite like that. Thanks. I feel like I really understand it now.

I did a 50% water change with my brand new, but leaks anyway, pump siphon. It took 3 spackle buckets full, just like last night.

Testing now.............

 

[Ruskull]

I tested the ammonia immediately after changing 50% of the water in the 36 gal & it came back zero. I'll be sure to check for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates as soon as I get home from work. I didn't feed them this morning either, just as a precaution.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Fish require far less food than most aquarists actually provide. Ultimately, the key factor to remember is that more food = more waste and more waste = more ammonia. Limit your feeding and fast them at least once a week. Don't feed more than they can eat in 90 seconds or less. Watch them during feeding time to check for disease, that each are getting some food, and that they are swimming fine, etc.

 

[Ruskull]

Thanks again, Eagle.

That sounds like good advice. I usually only feed flakes once a day, and sometimes frozen brine shrimp, algae wafers of bottom feeder pellets later the same day. They eat all the food almost immediately.

 

[Ruskull]

UPDATE:

I came home, turned on the tank & tested for ammonia. The test reads between the yellow of zero & the lime green of .25 ppm. If anything it's more toward the yellow side indicating an ammonia reading of .1 to .13 or so. I'm planning on a 50% water change.

I did stop by the local Petco and they gave me a huge filter pad that looks all pretty nasty. It's about 12 inches by 16 inches or so.

How do I get the bacteria off the big pillow looking filter to add to my filter?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Hopefully the donated media been kept wet since this post was so long ago...


Just cut it up and put as much of it as you can into your filter. Don't stuff the filter so full that water can't pass through, but fill any gaps in the filter with some of this stuff - fluffed up a bit. The water coming in the tank should hit this material first, and any bacteria that might get washed off will get caught by your new material.


An ammonia reading of 0.1 to 0.13 ppm isn't a huge deal. Doing a water change in this case is a good idea, but it isn't worthy. That type of reading is considered "good" during a fish-in cycle. If it gets higher than that, like 0.25ppm then it is more like , but 0.1 is more of a .

Just do the water change and wait another 24 hours. If the material you got from the LFS has been kept wet, you may find yourself "cycled". If that is the case, you will find nothing but double zeros from here on out. If it is, leave the old stuff in the filter. I would slowly take little bits of it out of the filter each month. Just a little at a time, until 6 months from now it is all out. The bacteria will have colonized your filter media and then you are good to go. You can use the scraps you are pulling out to give to friends who are starting tanks, or just toss them. Eventually you will need to change over your media as well. (Not for quite a period of time though... talking about years here, not weeks like the filter makers will tell you.) You would want to follow a similar formula when doing that. Take out the old media and keep it wet in a bucket. Put in the new material. Cut up the old and put it back into the filter. The bacteria will colonize the new from the old. You won't have a new cycle, because you will have a fully functional biofilter the entire time.

 

[Ruskull]

Hopefully the donated media been kept wet since this post was so long ago...


Just cut it up and put as much of it as you can into your filter. Don't stuff the filter so full that water can't pass through, but fill any gaps in the filter with some of this stuff - fluffed up a bit. The water coming in the tank should hit this material first, and any bacteria that might get washed off will get caught by your new material.


An ammonia reading of 0.1 to 0.13 ppm isn't a huge deal. Doing a water change in this case is a good idea, but it isn't worthy. That type of reading is considered "good" during a fish-in cycle. If it gets higher than that, like 0.25ppm then it is more like , but 0.1 is more of a .

Just do the water change and wait another 24 hours. If the material you got from the LFS has been kept wet, you may find yourself "cycled". If that is the case, you will find nothing but double zeros from here on out. If it is, leave the old stuff in the filter. I would slowly take little bits of it out of the filter each month. Just a little at a time, until 6 months from now it is all out. The bacteria will have colonized your filter media and then you are good to go. You can use the scraps you are pulling out to give to friends who are starting tanks, or just toss them. Eventually you will need to change over your media as well. (Not for quite a period of time though... talking about years here, not weeks like the filter makers will tell you.) You would want to follow a similar formula when doing that. Take out the old media and keep it wet in a bucket. Put in the new material. Cut up the old and put it back into the filter. The bacteria will colonize the new from the old. You won't have a new cycle, because you will have a fully functional biofilter the entire time.

Thanks again Eagle, that's precisely what I did last night. The fish store gave me the old filter cartridge right out of their filter & he stuffed it in a plastic bag with a little tank water. When I got home I started cuting up strips of the darkest looking parts & I loosely rolled the strips up & put them in the new filter in every imaginable place. The water is still moving through & the biowheel is spinning and starting to darken in color. I also added some Top Fin Bacteria Supplement since I already had it. I didn't do any more testing and I skipped the water change. Tonight I'll re test ammonia, nitrite & nitrate.

On the good side, my son's tank still shows absolute zero for ammonia & nitrite. I'll check his nitrates and pH tonight.
Once again, thank you for your help.

 

[orandas]

'matured & diseasefree' seed material rocks! Never realised how precious that stuff was,until i put it in my cycle

 

[Ruskull]

UPDATE:

I tested for ammonia and it was even more yellow than yesterday! Yippeee!! I mean it is ever so slightly toward the lime green/yellow of .25 ppm but I'd def. say it's closer to the full on yellow of zero for ammonia. Even more so than last night, probably would read about.05-.1 with better testing than the API master kit.

The nitrites are at zero, just as they were last night, and they've always been since I started this tank up.

The nitrates are steady at .5 ppm which still seems a bit low to me. That's the part that leads me to believe the tank isn't fully cycled. Am I wrong?

I'll check the pH shortly................I'm just so excited that I don't have to do a water change.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

You are using the nitrate test from API, correct? That test is notoriously tricky. Shake the crap out of bottle #2, bang it on the table, etc. for the full time x2. Then shake the test tube for the full time, and don't skimp on how hard you shake it. It is a tricky test. You could be getting a false low for nitrates. You may be more cycled than you think, especially with the addition of the mature media.

Test again when you get a chance and really shake it.