Is it cycling or not??

[Cher]

Okay, I am sort of confused here.  I've read all the info about cycling and thought I understood how it works but it doesn't seem like my tank is going through the normal process.  A little background: last Sunday I set up my new 55 gallon tank which I got to move my fancy goldfish to.. I'm using a Proquatics 1600 canister filter and a Penquin 330 bio-wheel filter.  I added Cycle to start the process as well as some gravel and water from the old tank and was looking around for some pure ammonia to start a fishless cycle when I realized I had lost control of the ammonia situation in the 12 gallon tank my goldfish were in at the time.  I had done 2 major water changes in 2 days as well as adding in some Amquel but the ammonia was still way too high and I was worried my fish were gonna suffer.  So, I decided to go ahead and transfer my fish to the new tank.  I did that this past Wednesday.  

I have 3 fancy goldfish - each are about 3 to 5 inches, including tail fins.  Now I know that 55 gallons is a lot of water, but I was expecting that by now I would have started seeing ammonia when doing tests for it, but so far, the ammonia test is coming up zero.  So is the nitrite test.   My fish seem happy and healthy, no signs of stress.  In fact, just the opposite..  They seem to love all the space they have now.  

So, here I sit, completely confuzzled about whether or not my tank is cycling or has cycled or what?!!?

Ironically, since I've been maintaining the 12 gallon tank since I moved the fish out, I've been able to get the levels in it down, so I'm gonna try planting it and putting in some small fish over the next couple of weeks.

Anyways, anyone out there got any ideas as to what could be going on with my 55 gallon tank?

Thanks!!

~Cher   *twirlysmiley*

 

[dattack]

I don't know how much gravel you used from the 12 G to the 55 G, but it is my guess that it probably does a good job in terms of keeping you ammonia/nitrates down.  However, that doesn't necessarily mean it has done cycling.  

In a 55 G, 3 small goldfish might not make a big dent yet in terms of the ammonia levels.  With the large volume, you might see a small ammonia spike then nitrites/nitrates etc.

If you add Amquel to the main 55 gallon tank, it might lock the ammonia and won't allow the tank to naturally cycle.  I haven't used Amquel before but it's a possibility.  Don't add anymore fish yet and be patient for a few more weeks before adding more fish.

 

[colesea]

Yeah, agree with above....

Just continue to monitor your ammonia/nitrites. If you have Excel (the bestest graphing program in the whole world), plot the values you see when you test them, that way you can monitor them over time, and make a cool graph, and visualize the spike.

From what all the professional goldfish literature out there has been telling me, a 55 gallon tank is going to be home to only three fancy goldfish anyway, given that they need lots of O2 in their water supplied by the large volume, and the fact that they grow to be the size of softballs. Let them grow into their environment, and don't panic about it. Test kits and monitoring is great. The only thing for certain is that the cycle isn't isntant.
~~Colesea