Cycling tank issues. Very confused!???

[Juwl]

Hi
So I bought a brand new 20g tank 4 days ago. I set it up right away. I put 3 fake plants and some medium size rocks from my old tank into it. I also added a couple gallons of water from my old healthy tank into this new one hoping it would speed up the cycling process. It also has a new filter in it.
I left it to run the first day with no fish. The second day I added 2 fish to help.
I tested each day for ammonia, pH, Nitrites, Nitrates, General Hardness (GH), and Carbonate Hardness (KH)
The Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates have stayed at 0 ppm all 4 days.
The GH, and KH are really high GH being 180 ppm and KH being 180- 240
The pH had also been really high but is the only thing that has fluctuated between 8-9. (when it should be at 7 or less)

I had a light cloudiness in my tank on day 2 and 3 and it had just cleared up today, now the water is clear again.
I know how the Cycling of a tank normally works... but I am very confused on my readings.
Is my tank cycled or no were near starting???

My thoughts are that is might be done.. I mean I have had 2 fish producing waist for 3 days now.. along with everything I put into the tank so .. yeah I really don't know.

 

[se-r altima]

Cycling a tank the fast way!

It takes up to 2 months for a tank to cycle. 3 weeks for bacteria to build up numbers to process ammonia and 3 weeks to process Nitrite.

With that being said; the fastest way to cycle a tank is to take some of the gravel from an established aquarium and seed the new tank with the gravel. That is where most of the colonies of bacteria live in the micro pores of the gravel. Some do live on the filter material however everytime you change the cotton the bacteria would be removed and ammonia would spike. This is not what happens because the bacteria that does most of the work really lives in the gravel or substrate. I have a 10 gallon hex that is new and this method is working well. I just tested for Amonia and it is zero with 2 fish and feeding everyday.

The ammonia spike will be minimized and the nitrite spike is minimal. The tank is 8 days running and I have added 1 plant in rockwool (bacteria live in this material and it is easy for them to colonize) pot and 10 other plants. They are doing great so far. With 24 years of keeping fish and researching the nitrogen cycle this method is far more successful than any over the counter product that does not use an ammonia spike to kick start the bacteria to life. This is what I recommend to anyone starting a new tank.

1. Seed the aquarium with gravel from an established tank.
2. Add fish in groups of 2-5 depending on size of aquarium. (ones that do well in bad conditions. ie zebra danios ect)
3. Do a 10% water change after 7-8 days and keep an eye on the ammonia levels.
4. after week 4 look at nitrite levels.
5. do a 10% water change again.
6. Your tank should be established and could accept more fish. Add them in small groups only to give the bacteria a chance to build their populations
7. keep good maintence practices and change that filter media and material every 2 months. Partial water changes every 3-4 weeks. etc.
Some tanks might need more matenance depending on fish waste produced. (ie. oscars and larger fish)
Oh and I am cycling the new tank with cardinals just to show it can be done.
Here's the pictures:

Note the black gravel on top of the black sand as seed gravel from established tank!

On a final note, the ph being high is not as big a concern as long as it is stable. Adding ro water or distilled water will help lower the ph but do it over time to not shock your fish. My ph is around 8 and both tanks seem to be fine. Even with species that like softer water and lower ph. Get through the cycle first before trying to change the hardness and ph. Oh and adding water from your established tank does nothing. Remember it is the gravel where the bacteria live, not the actual water.
Hope that helps!

 

[Juwl]

It takes up to 2 months for a tank to cycle. 3 weeks for bacteria to build up numbers to process ammonia and 3 weeks to process Nitrite.

With that being said; the fastest way to cycle a tank is to take some of the gravel from an established aquarium and seed the new tank with the gravel. That is where most of the colonies of bacteria live in the micro pores of the gravel. Some do live on the filter material however everytime you change the cotton the bacteria would be removed and ammonia would spike. This is not what happens because the bacteria that does most of the work really lives in the gravel or substrate. I have a 10 gallon hex that is new and this method is working well. I just tested for Amonia and it is zero with 2 fish and feeding everyday.

The ammonia spike will be minimized and the nitrite spike is minimal. The tank is 8 days running and I have added 1 plant in rockwool (bacteria live in this material and it is easy for them to colonize) pot and 10 other plants. They are doing great so far. With 24 years of keeping fish and researching the nitrogen cycle this method is far more successful than any over the counter product that does not use an ammonia spike to kick start the bacteria to life. This is what I recommend to anyone starting a new tank.

1. Seed the aquarium with gravel from an established tank.
2. Add fish in groups of 2-5 depending on size of aquarium. (ones that do well in bad conditions. ie zebra danios ect)
3. Do a 10% water change after 7-8 days and keep an eye on the ammonia levels.
4. after week 4 look at nitrite levels.
5. do a 10% water change again.
6. Your tank should be established and could accept more fish. Add them in small groups only to give the bacteria a chance to build their populations
7. keep good maintence practices and change that filter media and material every 2 months. Partial water changes every 3-4 weeks. etc.
Some tanks might need more matenance depending on fish waste produced. (ie. oscars and larger fish)
Oh and I am cycling the new tank with cardinals just to show it can be done.
Here's the pictures:

Note the black gravel on top of the black sand as seed gravel from established tank!

On a final note, the ph being high is not as big a concern as long as it is stable. Adding ro water or distilled water will help lower the ph but do it over time to not shock your fish. My ph is around 8 and both tanks seem to be fine. Even with species that like softer water and lower ph. Get through the cycle first before trying to change the hardness and ph. Oh and adding water from your established tank does nothing. Remember it is the gravel where the bacteria live, not the actual water.
Hope that helps!

... yeah that doesn't really help me much. I already know how a typical cycle works, but my problem is there is no ammonia in the tank and it seems like it has cycled already. I have looked at a few links to support my thinking on what happened.
4 Ways To Cycle A Freshwater Aquarium | Aquariums Life - this one makes sense to me.

 

[Juwl]

I have no real plants in my tank, but I am thinking of getting one. I have 3 fake plants in my new tank that I had taken out of my old one.

 

[OrangeCones]

When you moved decorations (the fake plants and rocks) over, you brought over beneficial bacteria that may be consuming the fishes' output of ammonia but not showing yet as appreciable nitrate.

I would just continue to monitor your tank for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. You should see measurable nitrate in a few days if the bacteria is able to keep up with the bioload of the fish you've added. You may have done an 'instant cycle.'

 

[Kiara1125]

Just butting in really quick. I only use instant cycles now. They're so much easier and quicker, without having to worry about fish deaths. You can also run the filter in an established tank to help stock it with fish immediantly. I cycled my 10g filter in my previous 10g, and stocked it with half as many fish as my original tank had all in one day. I never had a single death.

 

[Juwl]

When you moved decorations (the fake plants and rocks) over, you brought over beneficial bacteria that may be consuming the fishes' output of ammonia but not showing yet as appreciable nitrate.

I would just continue to monitor your tank for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. You should see measurable nitrate in a few days if the bacteria is able to keep up with the bioload of the fish you've added. You may have done an 'instant cycle.'

okie dokie

 

[Juwl]

Just butting in really quick. I only use instant cycles now. They're so much easier and quicker, without having to worry about fish deaths. You can also run the filter in an established tank to help stock it with fish immediantly. I cycled my 10g filter in my previous 10g, and stocked it with half as many fish as my original tank had all in one day. I never had a single death.

That's what I think has happened, is an instant cycle. But i just want to be sure.

 

[Juwl]

It's day 5. and the pH has dropped to about 8-8.5, along with GH and KH just a little bit. The Ammonia , Nitrites, and Nitrate are still at 0.

 

[KcMopar]

If is been 5 days i would assume that you are going to (re-)cycle the tank as the bacteria may have died if you are not showing any nitrate at all. Just a guess and something to keep a look out for. If you start to show ammonia before nitrate that would indicate a cycle in the tank is emanate.
As far as the pH, GH, and KH goes those should be just fine as long as they do not change a lot during a water change.

 

[Thyra]

To put it as briefly as possible, your tank is not cycled until you show 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, but some nitrate - like 10 - 20ppm. Even is you think you are doing an instant cycle, you really don't know if it worked until you actually check the water parameters.

 

[Juwl]

To put it as briefly as possible, your tank is not cycled until you show 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, but some nitrate - like 10 - 20ppm. Even is you think you are doing an instant cycle, you really don't know if it worked until you actually check the water parameters.

Yeah that's why i'm not sure yet what is going on in the tank. But i'll just keep testing the water daily just to keep a close eye on things.

 

[Juwl]

If is been 5 days i would assume that you are going to (re-)cycle the tank as the bacteria may have died if you are not showing any nitrate at all. Just a guess and something to keep a look out for. If you start to show ammonia before nitrate that would indicate a cycle in the tank is emanate.
As far as the pH, GH, and KH goes those should be just fine as long as they do not change a lot during a water change.

yeah I'm just going to keep a close eye on it and keep testing it daily.

 

[Juwl]

So it's been 9 days now. The pH had dropped to 7.5-8, the Ammonia is still 0, the Nitrite is still 0, and the Nitrate is still 0. However, I am going to pick up a liquid bottle test kit to get a more accurate reading... I have been using the test strips. I think the Nitrate is rising a tiny bit(like between 0-10) but its hard to tell with a test strip as they are not accurate enough. If all goes well I can get my fish soon! YAY!

 

[Dan Steveo]

From experience test strips are really bad, Deffo get the liquid tests...

Water from the other tank would hold very little bacteria if any, ornaments etc would hold many, but if the temperature was different during changeover or if they were left out of water too long etc it would kill some/all of the bacteria, Ph differences aswell.

I would grab some filter media from the other (already cycled) tank, and put in the new tank, shake around a little, then put in the filter of the new tank, this will spread bacteria inside the tank and the filter where the majority of the bacteria will live.

Then perhaps add a few more fish to keep enough waste to feed the bacteria,
THen leave for a week or two and test.