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we set up our tank last weekend, tested water and ph, temp etc was ok. added 6 zebra danios on tues night. seem more than happy so far, very friendly and hungry! bless.anyway tested levels and everything seems ok. ammonia is still at 0. my question is when should be expect to see it start going up, and what is the average it will spike at? many thanks.
p.s have read all the articles, but find it much easier asking specific questions.

6 zebra danios in a 70 gallon isnt' likely to cycle the tank. Normal stocking for a cycling tank is 1/3 of the stocking level.
Have you added any bacterial additives?

^_^



[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

Wendy Darling (finding Neverland) - I have just gone through the process of cycling my 55g with zebra danios (I also have an established 45g) - I can't stress this enough - have patience - your ammonia levels will rise - then fall off - while your nitrite levels rise - then the nitrite levels will fall off - the length of time this takes really depends - it took about four to five weeks for my tank to fully cycle - it took a while for the nitrite levels to come down - again have patience - if you rush the process you will have a lot of dead fish and we'll be looking to buy your setup on e-bay within a year - good luck

Peter Pan

we added interpet filter start before the fish went in. should be get more then? what would you suggest. thanks for the help

The thing is you need enough ammonia to get the process started. I'm not familar with theproduct you mentioned, maybe someone from the UK knows better. The best bacterial starter out there really seems to be bio spira however its a tad more expensive and not as easily found as Cycle.
One week should be long enough to see the ammonia starting to build, however with @max 12" of fish in a 70 gallon tank you might just not have enough of a bioload to get enough ammonia to produce enough of a cycle. I hate adding fish once a cycle has started, but the way I see it it's do that or start overfeeding. The latter of which is a bad habit to get into and one I don't really like to suggest .

^_^
[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

ok we have added 6 gold danios will keep very close eye on water quality. just need an idea for cycling the 15 g tank now