shih-tzu mom

Well, this one has to be the fastest i ever heard of lol 3-day's and readings are ammonia-0-nitrite-0-and nitrates-5 so what the heck is going on lol?? i put in a used cycled filter and 2-nylons full of gravel from cycled betta tank and i took the 3-readings to make sure that they were the same. Added 10-drops of pure ammonis for 3-days straight. So what gives lol anyone know?? bella

Nate McFin

3rd times the charm??

Lucy

Way to ge Bella!
I told you that you'd become a pro at cycling. Good job!

jgon_

Check your tap water for nitrates just to be sure you aren't getting a false reading.

shih-tzu mom

No, have checked tap water numerous times and all is well there lol thanks.

Lucy- i feel something is wrong as that is really to quick to cycle a tank lol 20-gallons and it's for my puffer so no room for error-oh well i will wait and test some more and see what happens and if i get the same readings for 3-4-days then i guess i will believe it lol bella

P.S> i also put a lot of artifical plants in from a cycled tank lol ,so a lot of stuff in this tank from cycled tank and not so much in the other one bella

Lucy

Nothings wrong, Bella it's possible to quick cycles a tank in such a short amount of time when you seed it.

Dozey

Not all that big of a mystery. An instant cycle. You took a cycled tank and moved it to a new tank. But I’ll bet an amazing feeling.

cerianthus

Congrat!!!I think I've mentioned on few posting it can be done. Although not exact procedure i would recdommend but it can be done. I used water from well established tank, filter and some gravel and add fish at the same time. Wether will go thru spikes depends on amt of fish added and amt of food given. Just to be safe, should monitor the water after fish is added as it should be done in any tank when new fish are added.
I believe if you have one well established tank, can establish any tanks overnight if done properly and of course if bioload isnt too much w/o going thru any spikes..

I cant be sure if cycled or not but will find out once fish is introduced. if happened to go thru minicycle, just exchange some water from the tank where gravel and filter came from, add some more gravel (In bag and in filter if possible for easy retrieval if different gravel is used) and CUT down on Food until stable.

agabr123

i'd say it was definitely the gravel that you added congrats!!!

shih-tzu mom

Thanks to all- i am diff; monitoring for a few days and will post today's readings as well and deff; no fish added as yet lol-i still want to be sure and safe for my puffer. bella

Toxic

Keep adding the ammonia or the bacteria will dye

shih-tzu mom

Hi: all, just tested again and the test are as follow's ammonia-0-nitrite-0-nitrate-5.0 still thesame will test again tomorrow bella

cerianthus

Instead of adding NH3, if you are still adding, how about natural way since open to trying diffrent methods. Take small amount dirty water (vacuumed Water w/ dtritus from the other tank) and pour it behind the filter cartridge so that detritus will be on filter media which will give enough for colony going.
Even if not supplement with NH3, colony of bacteia will not die off completely since they themselves decays. You will just have less.
When tank that is well established w/fish is left running w/o fish, that tank is not biolocally inactive, its just less active. When fish are removed, colony will begin to diminishes and as it does, they themselves produces NH3. It goes on but with less amt of bacteria(amt of bioload=amt of bacteria).
It is my understanding that you are adding one fish. If this is the case, may not see much spiking, if any, with controlled feeding.

shih-tzu mom

Hi: at this point i am adding NO-Fish lol thanks for your idea bella

Lucy- i think i will leave the large amount of gravel in this time-although the tank sure has lots of things, for the bacteria to grow on lol. And i will not do a water change until i am ready to put puff in lol. I am still adding amonia daily as to not starve the bacteria lol but not so much Lucy; well will test again tomorrow bella- thanks to all that replied.

NUMB3RS

That must be a great feeling to know that your tank is finally cycled!

shih-tzu mom

NUMBERS; Yes, it is but, i am still in a little bit of shock as i was expecting 2-3-weeks at least, as i have been cycling tanks for awhile now-but i guess the fact that the other tank was fully cycled and what Dozey-said it was pretty much an instant cycle. lol thanks bella

Dozey

Don't be too shocked Bella.

As you used established filter media, gravel and décor you could consider (if it were possible) that all you actually replace was the aquarium glass. And that certainly would not cause a mini-cycle, although it would be a really neat trick.

And thank goodness that it is possible to “instantly” cycle a tank using established media or we would have to keep our q-tanks constantly cycled for the occasional times that we need them. It would be awful to have to pay the hydro and feed a q-tank that might not be used for months or years.

shih-tzu mom

Yeah, Dozey- i guess i am what you call a disbielever until i see and do for myself, and i have read it so many times lol. But i guess do to the fact that a puffer will go in this tank- i just want to be cautious as they need pristine water conditions lol. And having lost one Puff already i would rather air on the cautious side. bella

shih-tzu mom

Now-Dozey this is still info on a fast cycle-but most of us don't believe in bacteria addittives lol except TSS- well in a 5-gallon tank i preformed a test and did what they said and my readings were as cycled and are still that way- i don't want to name the product as the newbies maybe not realize that i am only doing a test lol and go and put fish in-But this 5-gallon has been running 3-plus weeks and it is still cycled and i'm still feeing the tank. Dozey-if you want the name just pm me and i will give it to you but the test is still not finished. bella

Dozey

Understandable! I too tend to be cautious to reckless but it this ability to instantly cycle my q-tank that I’ve come to rely on. I’m not sure that I would even have a q-tank if I had to pay to heat, filter and feed it between uses.

shih-tzu mom

Hi; all, test today are A-0-nitrite-0, and nitrate-5 so still holding lol and i think i will add until the 16th when i get my puffer lol. Until then will keep testing every other day. bella

shih-tzu mom

Test still the same and i forgot to mention this tank is brackish. bella

CWO4GUNNER

I'm not experienced enough to determine if your cycle is valid after just 3 days or not, what I can tell you is that for almost the first two weeks with a new tank and 30 fish I thought I was a natural born aquariest because my ammonia/nitrite and nitrate readings were consistently 0 PPM, I was quite the wonder boy I thought. Then suddenly on the 3rd week ammonia suddenly appeared at low levels but no matter how many water changes I did every day it doubled until by the beginning of week four it had reached 8PPM REGARDLESS of water changes. Of course as bacteria covered the surface of the aquarium and filter by week 6 it all subsided. Point is don't be fooled by Darth Ammonia he is a sneaky one.

shih-tzu mom

CWO4GUNNER;FYI- i seeded the tank and with ammonia i have done a tank in 3-weeks and readings are all good lol but anything is possible , that's why you keep testing lol bella

shih-tzu mom

Dozey; if your'e on pm me as i have some news that may be interesting to you. bella

DPmom26

I am just as suprised as you are, my DP tank is pretty much cycled too, it amazes me 3 days and all is well. I stuck some filter media from my 55 gal in to help it along and have been using TSS .

shih-tzu mom

Hi: Fishmom26- this my puffer tank as well that is why i was shocked lol But i used a lot of gravel, media, and artifical plants as well as some extra sponges from a cycled tank-but i am still watching the numbers lol as it is getting close to puffy time for us both yeah, i did not use TSS as we can't get it here lol and i am still adding a little ammonia until i get him. bella

shih-tzu mom

Well- Reading today amonia-0.25-nitrate-5.0 and nitrite-0- so i think it is still on the way-just a little too much amonia i forgot to cut back lol bella

shih-tzu mom

Reading still holding ammonia-0.25-nitrite-0-and nitrates-5 lol and still holding. No ammonia added for the last 3-days bella

Dozey

Hi Bella,

Something doesn’t sound right IMO. If you haven’t added ammonia for 3 days and your ammonia reading is still 0.25ppm something isn’t right. The fact that you have nitrates suggest that you must have bacteria established in your tank but then you shouldn’t have ammonia after 3 days of not adding it. I’m wondering about the accuracy of your ammonia test kit.