mitch126

Hi I have just done a second water test the ammonia level has gone up a bit from 0.25 to 0.50 in a week is this ok there are no fish in the tank yet . Peter

atmmachine816

Yes I understand you are cycling your tank, your ammonia will go up, then will fall down and your nitrites will then go up and then they also will fall down and then your nitrates may go up a bit. This is why you cycle a tank so you get the "bad" levels of your tank down and your "good" nitrate levels up. You just don't want your nitrates above 40 perferably under 20. So your ammonia will keep rising and eventually fall then your nitrites will do the same. Good luck

COBettaCouple

How often are you 'feeding' the tank? We drop in fish flakes every 12 hours and test every 2 days. The rise sounds good.

mitch126

Hi FLBettacouple I haven't put any thing in the water as yet but will take your advice and get some flakes today and start tonight thank you Peter

mitch126

to atmmachine thanks for your help the nitrite and niterate have stayed the same since the last test will check again in a few days , Peter

Butterfly

If you are cycling fishless then you have to have an ammonia source to build ammonia and then Nitrites and then Nitrates. Many people use fish food others use pure ammonia. What ever you use is ok. If you are going fishless you don't need to do water changes.
carol

mitch126

Hi Butterfly I have been and bought some fish food today to add to the tank ,I hope it will be ok to get some fish at the weekend it will be two weeks then since I put the water in what do you think ? I am not sure what fish to start with any ideas ??

Butterfly

You might want to wait a bit about getting fish. It usually takes about 6-8 weeks for a tank to fully cycle.
Carol

mitch126

O.K Carol I will try and wait as long as I can but will be difficult ,is it just after dinner where you are looking at the times on the post its 9.45 pm here almost bed time !! Peter

armadillo

10.45pm here (Belgium)