What to do now?

[PlantsPlantsandmorePlants]

Hey everyone,

Things have changed a lot since I last posted here. Plants are in the tank -- some are melting, and others have already started growing. I added 3.5 ppm ammonia two days ago. 18 hours later it was down to 0.5ppm, and nitrites were more than 5ppm. Today, nitrites are zero, ammonia is zero, and nitrates are at 30-40ppm. Is the tank fully cycled? I was concerned considering nitrites took almost 2 days, but there was conflicting information online, and I did add quite a bit of ammonia. Could I start transitioning fish from my old tank in a couple days? Or should I wait for the nitrite cycle to get a bit faster?

 

[NannaLou]

I thought that the tank needed to be able to clear 2ppm of ammonia in 24 hours …

 

[PlantsPlantsandmorePlants]

I thought that the tank needed to be able to clear 2ppm of ammonia in 24 hours …

Ok, in that case, then I should be good, as it did 3ppm in 18 hours and cleared (3.5ppm of ammonia) worth of nitrite in 1 and 3/4 days. That last sentence is kind of confusingly worded, hopefully it got the point across. I'll let it sit for a little bit longer, and then run another test for 24 hours with exactly 2ppm to make sure everything is all good.

 

[itiwhetu]

If you are having a planted tank, add about 30-50% of its volume in plants wait until the plants start growing add fish a few at a time. You need to have a balance of plants in your tank, some fast growing, some slow. Cycling a tank is never complete, it is always cycling. There is no need to add ammonia into your tank.

 

[PlantsPlantsandmorePlants]

If you are having a planted tank, add about 30-50% of its volume in plants wait until the plants start growing add fish a few at a time. You need to have a balance of plants in your tank, some fast growing, some slow. Cycling a tank is never complete, it is always cycling. There is no need to add ammonia into your tank.

Ok, I've been adding ammonia following a fishless cycle so far. I'm not planning to buy a ton of plants (I got 8 species and will propagate them as needed to help my budget out), so I was using a fishless cycle. I can add more plants from my old tank before I transfer the fish, as there are a few established plants there too. One issue is that my tank is a 29 high, so it's hard to fill up the volume because the footprint is relatively small. Thanks for the advice.

 

[itiwhetu]

Ok, I've been adding ammonia following a fishless cycle so far. I'm not planning to buy a ton of plants (I got 8 species and will propagate them as needed to help my budget out), so I was using a fishless cycle. I can add more plants from my old tank before I transfer the fish, as there are a few established plants there too. One issue is that my tank is a 29 high, so it's hard to fill up the volume because the footprint is relatively small. Thanks for the advice.

Try plants like, Vallisneria, Ambulia, Cabomba, Hygrophila. These all-suit high tanks.