Aquarium Cycling.

[Floater]

So I have had my new 400L tank running with 10 tetra for approx. 18 days (it has been filled and contained plants for 22 days). I didn't feed them for the first 3 days and have been feeding lightly 5-6 times a week. I did my first Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate test today and the results were:

Ammonia = 0ppm

Nitrite = 0ppm

Nitrate = 5ppm

I have also dosed the tank twice with the recommended dosage of API leaf zone, and have been dosing 3 times a week with Seachem Flourish Excel. I have also performed three 15% water changes. One on day 3, another on day 10, and the most recent on day 17.

I'm going to assume that the ammonia and nitrite have not spiked yet? Is this the correct assumption to make? Or does the reading of 5ppm for nitrates suggest that the tank has cycled? Where do you think the nitrate has come from if not from the cycling process (leaf zone does not indicate any nitrogen on the bottle)?

Cheers,

Scott

[reptilez]

mysticvampyre knows alot about fish PM her

[N1CK]

if its showing nitrates it means trhe tank has cycled now as you add more fish it will go though mini cycles

[ryanjury]

mysticvampyre knows alot about fish PM her

Sending a pm to someone will defeat the purpose of the forums.. It is best to have all the info out there so others can read and learn from it if all info was given by pm then noone would learn, if mysticvampyre knows alot about fish she will share her wisdom for all to learn from her

Sounds like you are doing everything right At a guess I would say that you have 10 fish in a 400L tank so it is likely that the amount of ammonia they will produce on light feeding with established plants in the tank would be almost undetectable and the tank should be ticking along cycling nicely the presence of nitrates shows that has been happening.

[reptilez]

yeah true sorry :oops:

[Floater]

if its showing nitrates it means trhe tank has cycled now as you add more fish it will go though mini cycles

Sounds like you are doing everything right At a guess I would say that you have 10 fish in a 400L tank so it is likely that the amount of ammonia they will produce on light feeding with established plants in the tank would be almost undetectable and the tank should be ticking along cycling nicely the presence of nitrates shows that has been happening.

These comments are just what I wanted to hear! I suppose I will slowly begin to increase the feedings, allowing the bacteria to build up to larger colonies.

Thanks for the input guys.

[Caryl]

I agree with ryanjury, with those small fish and numbers you would barely notice a spike.

Just make sure you continue to add the rest of the fish slowly so the bacteria in the filter can keep up with the increasing bioload.

[Floater]

I agree with ryanjury, with those small fish and numbers you would barely notice a spike.

Just make sure you continue to add the rest of the fish slowly so the bacteria in the filter can keep up with the increasing bioload.

That's what I plan on. First I'll increase feedings, then when I add fish I'll reduce feedings again. Hopefully this will create a smooth transition for the tank and it's occupants.