steenbergen

Hello,
I am new, and i have some questions on cycling an aquarium. I have set up my 112 gallon aquarium and it has been set up for 6 days and i have tested water everyday and has come up 0 for ammonia and 0 nitrate, so on the sixth day of the cycle i added 3 tiger barbs and i tested again and still nothing changed is this suppose to happen and help would be good thank you.

sgould

During those 6 days, what were you doing to introduce ammonia into the tank? Ammonia drops? If you just filled the tank and waited 6 days, then the cycle has not even started as there needs to be an ammonia source to get things rolling. Now that you have fish in the tank, for better or worse, THEY are your ammonia source and your tank will now begin to cycle. With 3 small fish in a tank that size, it may take a little time for the ammonia to begin showing up on your tests. Be patient, it will happen. Are you also testing for nitrite? Sometime after your ammonia peaks, it will begin to come back down again as bacteria grows and converts it to nitrite. You will need to monitor the nitrite until it too is converted into nitrate by another form of bacteria. Then you will be left with ammonia and nitrite readings of 0, and some level of nitrate, which will indicate your tank is cycled and you can begin slowly adding fish. All of this could take several weeks, or even a couple of months. Now that fish are in the tank, you will need to test frequently and walk a fine line between allowing enough ammonia in the tank for the bacteria to thrive and grow, but not allowing so much that it kills the fish. Tiger barbs are fairly hardy and will be able to survive the ammonia better than some fish, but you will still want to do sufficient water changes to keep the ammonia from climbing above 1.0.

Hope that helps!

Gunnie

Welcome to FishLore! Please click on the link in my signature titled "FishLore Articles for Beginners" to get more of a handle on cycling. Were you planning on having tiger barbs in your tank anyway? If not, see if you can return them to the store for credit, and cycle your tank without fish. It's more humane, and I think only 3 tiger barbs in that size tank would take a really long time to cycle it. I would think at least 6 of them would be needed, possibly more, but I don't like recommending adding fish to an uncycled tank. Sgould and Jim are correct in that your tank didn't even start growing bacteria until the fish were added. Not only do they produce ammonia in their poop and pee, but also when they breathe out of their gills. Please tell us what fish you are planning on putting in that tank, and what types of tests are you using (strips, liquid, etc.) It's great to have you with us!

steenbergen

I am using liquid test and i only put the tiger barbs in there because they were doing very bad in my 10gal because it was very overstocked after i took down my 75 gallon and put all my fish in my 10 gallon. I also put them in because i was getting now results with adding fish food to the aquarium. If you could tell me how much food I should add to cycle my 112 gallon aquarium that would be greatly appreciated. thanks

BiG BeTtA

Well, i fed my fish the same I always fed em'. And I went fine cycling it.