Jesskb

I've been cycling my tank for about a week and a half ( I know that's not long) and I've used a lot of seeding material. My ammonia is sitting steady at what I think is less than .25 My Nitrites are 0 and my Nitrates are between 5 and 10. The thing is that my ammonia has been at the same level for like 5 days now. I'm using the API master kit. I tested a tube of bottled water, and that was barely more yellow than what I have in my tank. Is that normal? It's frustrating. If the tube is sitting on the table, it looks yellow. If I hold it up to the card in good light, it seems to be at .25 but lighter. Help please?

jprime84

Do you have any fish in the tank? What are you doing to add an ammonia source?

The highest my ammonia levels got while cycling was about .5 PPM. I used no additives until about 2 weeks in and then used Seachem Stability. My nitrites got up to 3ppm at one point.

Jesskb

I'm using a piece of shrimp and some fishfood. No fish in the tank.

Shawnie

its coming along great then! just be patient..something you will learn in this hobby

crank your heater up as far as it can go..warmer water will cycle faster

mommybaby295

Awesome tip, Shawnie! I don't remember reading that before.

Beth1965

Hang in there! The time is right aroung the corner

Jesskb

Thanks guys!! I'm hoping to hit 0.0 by Friday. After I do hit 0.0 should I wait a few days before purchasing fish? Just to make sure everything will stay balanced? Also I was wondering how many I could add at a time. I plan on eventually getting two DPs and 3 Oto cats. Would it be safe to get the DPs at the same time and then add the three Otos a week later?

Shawnie

I dont think you will be done that fast....have you tested your water source for nitrates? and make sure you really bang that number 2 bottle hard on a counter to mix up the crystals..you could be getting a false positive reading on the nitrates if its not mixed up correctly.....ottos dont do well in newly cycled tanks..id wait a couple months before adding them....I have no experience with dps but maybe other members will ...good luck!

TedsTank

Every time I start a filter or loose a cycle the .25 reading on ammonia seems to hang around!!!. Once it hits .25 I continue on with the tank but am more diligent on checking the parameters (daily) and water changes. Probably considered a bit risky, but has worked for me.

A week and a half isn't much time in the cycle process and you must be sure all other parameters are good and stable. I use no other additives except rinsing another of my filters floss into my setup filter, which complicates it if you don't have another filter that is cycled.....then only patience really works..lol