Tank Cycling On Its Own? Plus Moving Fish To An Uncycled Tank

[trianglekitty]

So I have this twenty gallon tank that was set up with used filter media, gravel, and water. After two weeks I wasn't getting any nitrate readings and realized I needed to do a full fishless cycle. I got the ammonia to start it, but haven't had a chance to actually use it yet.

I tested the water today and got the following readings:

Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrites .25ppm
Nitrates 10pp

This indicates to me that the cycling process had started on its own despite the fact I haven't added anything to the tank. My question is where do I go from here? I'm nervous that adding ammonia could disrupt something.

Also, my company is moving earlier than planned, and I need to get my fish out of there this week. I could bring their small tank home, but I'm thinking of moving them to the bigger tank even though the cycle hasn't finished. The five gallon they are currently in constantly tests high for nitrites and ammonia. I do 50% water changes almost every day just to keep the fish alive. The tank has been set up for over 3 months, but the water conditions never get any better and I'm not sure why. So I'm thinking moving them might be better, even if the big tank hasn't finished the cycle yet.

Would it be safe to move them provided I test daily and do water changes whenever the ammonia and nitrites hits over .25?

 

[Curiosity101]

Your tank is probably cycling as there will have been some organic material mixed in with the used gravel. This then breaks down and gives of ammonia.

Depending on how many fish there are in the 5 gallon, perhaps there are too many that the filter can't cope (ie. not enough space for the neccesary number or bacteria, or water flow isn't fast enough to cycle the water to the bacteria).
Edit: Just too add... if too many fish were added in one go then the ammonia will have sky rocketed. In this situation you don't get the right colony of ammonia bacs growing so the true cycle actually lags. Add that to the fact that to fully cycle a tank can take anywhere from 6-8 weeks and actually you can see why it might not be fully cycled.

I would suggest bagging them all up, also bag up the filter media in some water. Bring them all home and put everything into the tank. (Making sure to put all the filter media from the 5 gal at work into the big tanks filter.
If you could do a large 80% ish water change on the tank at home beforehand then that'd be even better. Eitherways, bringing them to the bigger tank, where they can have daily maintenance and observation is going to be better.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with C101. Nice analysis. WD

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with C101. Nice analysis. WD

 

[waterdrop]

(sorry, double posted at the 11pm server pause)

 

[trianglekitty]

Your tank is probably cycling as there will have been some organic material mixed in with the used gravel. This then breaks down and gives of ammonia.

Depending on how many fish there are in the 5 gallon, perhaps there are too many that the filter can't cope (ie. not enough space for the neccesary number or bacteria, or water flow isn't fast enough to cycle the water to the bacteria).
Edit: Just too add... if too many fish were added in one go then the ammonia will have sky rocketed. In this situation you don't get the right colony of ammonia bacs growing so the true cycle actually lags. Add that to the fact that to fully cycle a tank can take anywhere from 6-8 weeks and actually you can see why it might not be fully cycled.

I would suggest bagging them all up, also bag up the filter media in some water. Bring them all home and put everything into the tank. (Making sure to put all the filter media from the 5 gal at work into the big tanks filter.
If you could do a large 80% ish water change on the tank at home beforehand then that'd be even better. Eitherways, bringing them to the bigger tank, where they can have daily maintenance and observation is going to be better.

The 5 gallon has a dwarf gourami and 2 small male Endler type guppies- I don't think it is overstocked. I have a feeling the problem is my habit of overfeeding them. They get micropellets twice a day and the gourmai gets a bloodworm or two once a day as a treat (he'll eat from my hand). I think I give them too much at each feeding and I'm working on cutting it way back.

Based on your advice, I moved them home and they've been in the tank for two days. So far they seem fine, and the guppies are behaving more normally- they were showing signs of stress in the smaller tank. I did a water change as suggested before moving them, but today the stats are testing exactly the same as in my first post. Part of this is just the tap water- it tests at .25 for ammonia. I'm going to do a smaller water change today (25%) and probably will continue to do so everyday until the tank fully cycles- does this sound like a good plan?

My one concern at this point is stocking the tank later on- my gourami had proven he'd aggressive toward new fish. I had planned to move him last to avoid this issue. I'm hoping if I move plants and things everytime I add new fish it might help with this issue.

Thanks so much for the advice! I feel much better having them out of that tiny tank. If I do put any future fish in that tank it would probably be a betta and I'd be much more careful with the feeding.

 

[waterdrop]

If the Dwarf Gourami has been rehomed to and will stay in your new 20G then why not just find him two females. That should keep him quite busy (extra floating plants will help too.) I know some say it's hard to find females but hopefully if you made it a bit of a project.. perhaps even a tank breeder person could be found who supplies one of your LFSs.

You are doing the right thing with the water changes. When you have ammonia coming in then making the changes smaller and more frequent is the way to go.

~~waterdrop~~