Cas
Welcome to the tank, but the biggest thing i can say and someone should have said first reply to this post... Read read read... these forums are by far the best source of information, we will answer all and any questions that are asked, but 98% of questions asked are already answered in a fun to read and easily accessable FAQ for beginners. You have access to the net as you have kept good eyes on the topic which is good, reading these forums builds knowledge and that is good thing. For future reference... Never ever add 12 fish at one time even if a tank is cycled... always buy one type at a time and no more than 4-6 fish per adding. If you add too many types at once could get aggression or illness from rapid change for them. There are exceptions i.e. ghost shrimp and stuff. We even have profiles of freshwater fish to give you picture of fish and description of their behavior so you know before walking into stores. Once again i say read the stickeys they will save you many questions that are already answered. Use the search box to find topics that are already active or completed for your question as well.
About the cycle until you get the nitrate test you can't prove or disprove that the cycle is complete, if they all read 0's it is not started if nitrates are above 5 ppm and others are 0 it is possible cycle complete. I would keep fish you have for about another month before adding more fish and test accordingly.
Welcome to the tank, but the biggest thing i can say and someone should have said first reply to this post... Read read read... these forums are by far the best source of information, we will answer all and any questions that are asked, but 98% of questions asked are already answered in a fun to read and easily accessable FAQ for beginners. You have access to the net as you have kept good eyes on the topic which is good, reading these forums builds knowledge and that is good thing. For future reference... Never ever add 12 fish at one time even if a tank is cycled... always buy one type at a time and no more than 4-6 fish per adding. If you add too many types at once could get aggression or illness from rapid change for them. There are exceptions i.e. ghost shrimp and stuff. We even have profiles of freshwater fish to give you picture of fish and description of their behavior so you know before walking into stores. Once again i say read the stickeys they will save you many questions that are already answered. Use the search box to find topics that are already active or completed for your question as well.
About the cycle until you get the nitrate test you can't prove or disprove that the cycle is complete, if they all read 0's it is not started if nitrates are above 5 ppm and others are 0 it is possible cycle complete. I would keep fish you have for about another month before adding more fish and test accordingly.
