Worried About My Cycling Tank

[smitt_graham]

I have a new 240ltr tank up and running for a week. I have used filtered media to kick start it. I have used from my old cycled tank
X 2 sponges a few stones and some sand in a pair of tights. At the moment im showing 0 ammonia and 0.3 nitrites and 0 nitrates.
Im worried because people are saying i should be showing ammonia and nitrites readings which i havent been. Is it going ok because im not sure now. Im doing daily water testing with liquid testing kits. And i done my 20% water change at weekend. People are saying they are worried because there are no signs of ammonia and nitrites and the filter media isnt working. Can some one help me and shed some light on how they think it was going.
Cheers smitt_graham

Just so no one worries i was running with three sponges five weeks before i took one out to the new tank and changed the second one this weekend to add to new filter. Have been doing the daily water testing on old tank as well to make sure its ok and thankfully it is.

 

[Colin_T]

are you adding ammonia to the new tank?

normally if you add a filter sponge from an established filter you can add some fish straight away. The fish food and waste feed the bacteria on the old sponge and over time the bacteria spread from it to the new filter materials.

 

[smitt_graham]

are you adding ammonia to the new tank?

normally if you add a filter sponge from an established filter you can add some fish straight away. The fish food and waste feed the bacteria on the old sponge and over time the bacteria spread from it to the new filter materials.

Yeah i have fish in the tank and im feeding them as normal. So do you think it is still going ok

 

[smitt_graham]

are you adding ammonia to the new tank?

normally if you add a filter sponge from an established filter you can add some fish straight away. The fish food and waste feed the bacteria on the old sponge and over time the bacteria spread from it to the new filter materials.

Yeah i have fish in the tank and im feeding them as normal. So do you think it is still going ok

please someone reply aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhh

 

[Colin_T]

looks like it is going along fine. There is some nitrite so that means the ammonia is being broken down and converted into nitrite.
The nitrates will go up when the nitrites get broken down and converted into them.
The reason you don't have an ammonia reading is because the filter material you put in the tank had enough good bacteria on it to break the ammonia down.
Just keep doing what your doing and in a week or two it should be settled.

 

[smitt_graham]

looks like it is going along fine. There is some nitrite so that means the ammonia is being broken down and converted into nitrite.
The nitrates will go up when the nitrites get broken down and converted into them.
The reason you don't have an ammonia reading is because the filter material you put in the tank had enough good bacteria on it to break the ammonia down.
Just keep doing what your doing and in a week or two it should be settled.

Thanks i was on another forum and they were saying it wasnt looking good. Made me panic a bit, But the fish i have in there at the moment have never looked happier, my emporer tetras look great there colouring looks amazing, i no its earley so im not getting to carried away. But thanks for your help i will sleep easier tonight.

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Smitt,

I agree with Colin, everything seems to be ok. Ideally, you don't want to see ammonia or nitrite at all, but not to worry if you do.

If either ammonia or nitrite gets above 0.25ppm, do a 50% water change to lower it again. It sounds like your mature media is doing a good job so that is a bonus.

Focus on keeping both ammonia and nitrite as low as possible with water changes, and once you notice that you don't have to do water changes any more because ammonia and nitrite stay at 0 on their own, your cycle is finished.

Good luck with the cycle.

BTT

 

[smitt_graham]

Hi Smitt,

I agree with Colin, everything seems to be ok. Ideally, you don't want to see ammonia or nitrite at all, but not to worry if you do.

If either ammonia or nitrite gets above 0.25ppm, do a 50% water change to lower it again. It sounds like your mature media is doing a good job so that is a bonus.

Focus on keeping both ammonia and nitrite as low as possible with water changes, and once you notice that you don't have to do water changes any more because ammonia and nitrite stay at 0 on their own, your cycle is finished.

Good luck with the cycle.

BTT

Phew thanks for the reply, when they started saying it wasnt working i thought it was strange. I know im new to fish keeping but i thought that if you put in filtered media your readings would be low as they have been cycled and bacteria had been formed so for the fish and waste in my tank the filtered media would be able to cope with the few fish and little waste i have in my tank. Its good to get reassurance because its my third tank and the first one i didnt have a clue and put in fish in after a week second tank fishless cycle and now the third kick started with filtered media so its a bit of a learning curve.But still loving it and thanks for the help