Is My Tank Cycled?

[lon1000]

Hi guys,
i've been fishless cycling my tank for around 19 days now.. i've been putting 10ml of 9.5% amonia in my 55 gallon tank each morning and its gone within 12 hours. when i test the nitrites in the evening, the chemical instantly goes deep purple then after the 5 minutes your supposed to leave it it goes back to light blue (its an API master test kit), which should mean 0 nitrites...

got LOTS of brown algea if that makes any difference..

thanks
chris

 

[Dark Wolf]

I don't have the API test kit, but i'm pretty sure, that if it goes deep purple straight away, then it isn't ready yet

Edit: Yep just checked, your nitrites are still off the scale. If your ammonia is going in 12 hours though, it shouldn't be much longer until it is ready

 

[**sarahp**]

Hi

I think you have the same thing going on as I did - read this and you'll see what I mean

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=205210&hl=

unless the 'pale blue' is an EXACT match for the colour card I would be very surprised if its cycled.

One way to maybe check - test your tap water if that is zero nitItes put 5ml of tap water and 1 DROP of tank water into a test tube and test it - I think you'll find it'll go deep purple - thats what mine did. Its cos the nitrItes are so high they confuse the testing chemicals IYSWIM

 

[rdd1952]

If it is immediately going deep purple, you still have nitrite prsent. Because the nitrites are so high, the test turns strange colors after a period of time. Green is the color I've most often heard. It shouldn't belong now though.

 

[lon1000]

hi guys,
thanks for the reply.. thats what i thought you'd say.. ah well..

i've got lots of brown algea in the tank as you'd expect.. when the tank is cycled whats the best procedure to go through before adding fish?

clean algea off tank, vac the sand to get the brown algea off that, try to clean the plants?

then a 70% water change?

thanks
chris

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Yeah clean stuff off if you like. Just so you know though...70% water change may or may not be enough... cycling leaves a huge buildup of nitrates in the water, so the reason for the big water change at the end is to drop that nitrate level as low as possible.

 

[Jonno]

just started my cycling today... ammonia went in just a few hours ago...

how bad does the brown algae get? i have a textured polystyrene like backdrop in my tank and i don't fancy cleaning it off all the nuts and crannys at the end of it!

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

You can leave it if you like...some people think it gives a more natural look anyway. An unused toothbrush works well for cleaning uneven surfaces if you decide you'd like to.

 

[rdd1952]

The brown algae will eventually go away on it's own once you have the lights on for a significant amount of time. As for the water change, I generally do almost a 100% water change just to make sure all the nitrates are gone.

 

[Dark Wolf]

And also there won't necessarily be a build up of algae, i've nearly finished cycling my second tank and haven't had any algae.

 

[pandacichlid]

API kit tests show yellow to have 0 ammonia and green to have ammonia. Blue indicates 0 nirtrites and purple indicates nitrites. I wouldn't add fish if they aren't blue and yellow! it take about eight weeks for it to be fully cycled I think. Add food once in a while to help the bacteria.

And also there won't necessarily be a build up of algae, i've nearly finished cycling my second tank and haven't had any algae.

yeah, mine never had any algae either, it still doesn't have any and I've had it running for a few months now. I do clean the glass though

 

[lon1000]

hi guys,
still going, but thats fine.. just concerned about the amount of brown algea.. its seriously bad.. covering plants and all over the sand.. have my lights on about 12 hours a day..

any ideas? its killing some of the plants i think because they can't get enough light as they are covered.. the water is going a little murky also.. i've got lots of plants in there at the moment..

would it be an ideas todo a big water change? don't want to mess up my cycling though..

rgds
chris

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Brown algae is actually tiny organisms called Diatoms. They use silicates that leach from new tank glass and from tap water to build little crystal shells around themselves. If you have a big problem with them it may be due to the level of phosphates in your tap water. Phosphates won't harm fish, but they can cause algae blooms.

Do you know what the wattage is for your hood lights? For example...leaving a 15w bulb on 12 hours a day for a 30 gallon tank isn't really going to do much. Watts Per Gallon (WPG) is one of the rough guides used to determine light levels in a tank... and it's (flouresent) watts divided by gallons, so 15w / 30G = .5 wpg Anything <=1 wpg is considered "low light".

 

[rdd1952]

The silicates are the key. Every new glass tank I've cycled has had the brown algae while acrylic ones don't seem to have the build up.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Actually...my glass betta tank hasn't gotten brown algae yet, (only soft green), but it was started off with a CF light and fast growing plants.