Fish Guy

I'm not really sure but my tank seems ready for fish so I'll post the stats

Ammonia .3
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
temperature 75F
ph 7.2
Hardness about 200
It's a 20g tank but I set it up last thursday

0morrokh

Welcome to Fishlore!!!

Have you been adding something to the tank to cycle it? Fishless cycling works quickly, but not that quickly. You still have ammonia so the tank is not done cycling. If you don't know about the nitrogen cycle and how to cycle fishless, read this article http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm Please do not add any fish to the tank until it has finished cycling.

Fish Guy

No I haven't added any fish, but my brother used to work at pet smart and he told me to add this to my tank.http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2754936

How do I know if my tank is done cycleling?
Is freeze Dried food the best?

Lucy

Cycle contains the wrong kind of bacteria, you'd have to add it weekly and you'd never have a true cycle.

Briefly, this is the nitrogen cycle:

First you'll see ammonia levels rise. A few weeks later your nitrite levels will rise and the ammonia levels will drop. After a few more weeks you should see the nitrate levels rise and the nitrite levels dropping. When ammonia and nitrites drop to 0 and you have some nitrates showing, your tank will be cycled.

Good luck.

Fish Guy

Thanks Lucy for explaining the nitrogen cycle in a more simple way

Lucy

Your welcome. You'll get there, best of luck to you.

0morrokh

Unfortunately if you're only adding Cycle you aren't making any progress. First of all, like Lucy said Cycle is a useless product. Second of all any bacteria will just die right away if you aren't feeding them with anything. Did you read the article I gave you a link to? You could skim down to the part that explains how to do a fishless cycle. You need to "feed" the tank until ammonia & nitrite are both down to 0, then do a huge water change and add your fish. Don't keep adding the Cycle; it's just a waste of your money,

Fish Guy

Yeah I did read it the problem is my brother used to work at petsmart and thinks he knows everything so he wont listen to me about the nitrogen cycle.

MissMTS

If you can get some bio-spira it will instantly cycle your tank for you I like using it, but its a bit expensive. You can get it online at: www.doctersfosterandsmith.com

Fish Guy

Thanks but I dont think your link worked.

Lucy

Here's the link MissMTS tried to give you. I searched for Bio Spira on the site, but couldn't find it.....then again, I'm not the best searcher. lol

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/

fishbum

The thing about ordering Bio Spira online is that because it has to be kept cold,the only way to ship it is overnight.So you can probably add $30 to whatever the cost of the product is.I have used it with good results.There is a LFS that is close to me so it was no problem getting it.I found it still took a week for the tank to fully cycle after I added it,although it says you can immediately add fish.Patience is really the best way to cycle.As long as there is ammonia in the tank it will cycle.Just keep checking your levels,and just let things sit for awhile since you are doing a fishless cycle.What are you using for ammonia,btw?

0morrokh

Are you setting up the tank together? Maybe you could show him the article. If you put fish into the tank without cycling it first, you're going to have to do 50% daily water changes, and put the fish's lives at risk, so do whatever you can to convince your brother that Cycle doesn't work.

Fish Guy

Lucy I couldn't find biospira either and I couldn't even find a Marine land product luckaly I found two LFS near me.

fishbum I have ammonia in my tap water but I might need to buy ammonia

0morrokh Were not setting the tank up together I was the one that had to carry the tank out of my shed while he was saying stuff like you'll never beable to carry it. I also did show him that article.

fishbum

I would buy pure ammonia or just feed the tank with fish food.For the cycle to really get going,you will need to have an ammonia spike,and the only way to do this would be to add some source of ammonia yourself. A piece of raw fish or shrimp will also work.Tie it up in a media bag or cut up some panty hose,toss it in and check your water parameters once or twice a week until it finishes.