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I set up my 10 gal just last week, all the riggings being brand new from the store. Two days afterwards, I started a live fish/shrimp cycling. (I'm running a penguin, btw) The day after, I added plants. Today, I brought a sample of my water to two different lfs for a checkup, and they both stated that my ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels were nearly perfect. Now, I did add used gravel as well as hornwort, (no bio-spira, etc)a completed in 6 days? Are these readings wrong?

What tests did you use and what were the numbers?

Kim

Well a tank being fully cycled in 6 days is impossibl;e in my opinion but there may be an explanation for the information you were given at the LFS.

First of all, "nearly perfect" is way too subjective and is by no means an accurate description of the amount of Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate in your tank. Always ask for numbers, write them down, and even better: buy a master test kit. It seems like a lot to pay but in the end it's really worth it. The employees may not know as much as they like you to think, or they could mean that your numbers are right where they should be for your place in the cycle. After 6 days, IME you should have some ammonia showing up on your test kits, followed shortly by some nitrites.

Secondly it's also possible that the tank has a low bioload and that most of your ammonia is being consumed by nitrogen-loving plants like hornwort.

To get a more accurate picture of what's going on, I would suggest going back to get some real numbers, not just some guy's opinion. Let us know how that works out in your next post with a list of fish you're cycling with and the plants in your tank.

Also, if you hadn't been using it, New Improved Cycle and biospira are two great products that can really help speed up the cycle. HTH

First of all, "nearly perfect" is way too subjective and is by no means an accurate description of the amount of Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate in your tank.

Yup, you have to ask for the numbers .

now hold on. Used gravel can be a direct source of bacteria. You may be cycled. It is not impossible IMO and IME. I have done stuff like this with my tanks with no prob. Did you use some water from another tank too? Plants are also a big help when cycling. I'm sure they can harvest bacteria just as well as filter media can.

Good chance your cycled.

Things I have done to help cycle a tank:
- run the filter you plan to use on an already established tank for about a week.

- Adding filter media from already cycled tank.

- Using gravel from already cycled tank.

- adding plants from already cycled tank.

- keeping bio-load minimal while first cycling.

- Using NIC.


I have changed out filter media in my filter before and cleaned my filter out. This was like starting with a new filter. My tank stayed cycle. Bacteria lives in much more areas than in your filter. I had a well stocked (maybe even over-stocked) tank.

I would still ask for #'s.

Ammonia and trates were both at zero, trites were, I believe, 10 ppm's.

Sounds like you're in phase two. Yourammonia may have already peaked. Your nitrites should continue to rise. The only way you can tell if it's cycled is to do nitrate tests. When the nitrites start falling and you get rising nitrates, you're cycled.

Kim

I always thought it was NH3-NO3-NO2. Nitrates go before nitrite, doesn't it?

Ammonia -] Nit[font color="#BF791F"]rite[/font] -] Nit[font color="#008000"]rate[/font]

Check out this graph:
http://www.fishprofiles.net/faq/n-cycle.gif

]

[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-07-06 10:44][/span]

Ah. That explains it, then. Thanks.