teknofilechik

So I just set up a new 35 gallon tank this morning, new water new gravel etc... and didn't get a chance to take the readings this morning. I came home from work and did my ammonia/nitrate/nitrite readings

Ammonia: <0.25, almost 0 (account for human error, probably zero)
Nitrite: <0.25, almost 0 (ditto above)
Nitrate: approximately 5.0

Is it possible for the water to already be cycled, straight from the faucet? (i will be running tests throughout the weekend, regardless)

As a side-note, I used one of the auxiliary filters from my 20-gallon in the new tank (i love to overfilter).

Shawnie

could be depending on your tap water readings and what test kit your using

teknofilechik

API test kits . Cleaning out the tubes now so I can test the tap water.

Alessa

there might be traces of the elements in the water... but that does not mean the tank is cycled.

are you cycling fishless? with ammonia drops?

Shawnie

also, the filter you used was it seeded already? that might be some of the reason also

teknofilechik

I'm using a filter that was running in the old tank. I have not changed the filter cartridge or the filter media. I thought maybe that would help jump-start the cycle



edit: 0 ammonia, nitrites, and looks to be almost 0 nitrates in the tap water (same faucet). Could my nitrate reading have come from the water and bacteria that were still in the filter when I moved it to the new tank?

nitz

Hi teknofilechik. The initial ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings could have come over when you moved your filter from the old tank to the new one. Which method are you using to cycle your tank?

Using the old filter with the media will definitely speed up the cycling process so that was a good decision there. If you haven't added ammonia or anything to provide ammonia, your bacteria will soon die and you'll be back to a regular cycle.

teknofilechik

I've added fish food to the water, but I'm still not sure about that decision because I read somewhere that it increases the phosphate level in the water.


edit: if you were asking whether or not it's a fishless cycle, it is ^_^. I want to do things the right way.

nitz

Congrats on going fishless!! I think one of the problems with cycling with fish food is, as you said, the build up of phosphate. As far as I know, that can lead to an algae bloom in the tank. It isn't the wrong way of doing it but using ammonia would be better and more controllable. You don't know exactly how much ammonia you're going to get with a pinch of fish food. Also, ammonia solutions are pretty cheap and shouldn't be too hard to find. Check a grocery store in the cleaning aisle or a hardware store. Don't ask at a pharmacy cuz they'll look at you like you're weird.

If you do keep going with the fish food way, keep the light off in the tank and try to keep sunlight off it to try to avoid the algae.

teknofilechik

Have you tried asking the pharmacists?
Just curious...
There's so much stuff going on! New tank cycling, running to the store for this and that, thunder and lightning out...
and didja hear they supposedly found a bigfoot? I have people at work who are calling me and asking me what's going on with that.
I'm not too worried about a big algae bloom, I'm usually very meticulous about cleaning the algae off of my tank. I've just heard that the phosphates can kill your fish.

nitz

Ya I've asked a pharmacist. Got this really weird look so I walked away.

We've been having tons of thunder storms in Toronto this summer. Already had the most precipitation (including snow of course) in a calendar year and we're only in August!!

I saw one little thing on bigfoot. Pretty funny stuff. Maybe he really doesn't exist?? haha

I don't know of the phosphates killing your fish but you could be right. You're going to be doing a huge water change once you're done the cycle to get rid of the nitrate so the phosphate will go with it. The ammonia solutions are pretty cheap. I bought a 1L bottle (at least I think it was 1L) for less than $3. It just lets you control the amount of ammonia you put in the tank at a time. Could be a little more efficient than the fish food way.

teknofilechik

How much should I put in?

Yeah, apparently they have his corpse in a freezer somewhere. Lol.

nitz

Whoa. That's serious stuff. Did they have to kill him?? haha

Well I'd say aroudn 2-3 PPM since you've already got the ammonia-to-nitrite and nitrite-to-nitrate bacteria in there. I know you hear 5ppm ammonia but then you cut it in half once you're getting nitrite readings. You've basically cut your cycling time in half if not a lot more by using the filter off your old tank. I'd say go up to 3ppm ammonia just to be sure that the bacteria can handle your fish and you're sure there won't be any unexpected spikes.

teknofilechik

Apparently there's a press conference going on about the so-called 'corpse' right now. I'm a big cryptozoology fan, but a known bigfoot-hoaxer is involved, and it's just going to make everyone look at cryptozoology fans and believers as even more crazy than they did before.
Part of me hopes it's real though. It would be the biggest discovery since the giant squid!

nitz

I'm a little skeptical of the whole thing. This reminds me of that show in the 80s or early 90s. I don't remember the name but it was a family and they had a bigfoot or some hairy creature living with them. Don't remember much cuz I was really young when it was on.

I hope it's real too. If they catch the loch ness monster next, I'm never going in a lake ever again!! haha

Darlene

teknofilechik: Good luck on your cycle, looks like you are on your way already.

Nitz: the movie you are talking about is Harry and The Henderson's I belive

nitz

Ooooooooh riiiiight!!! Thanks Darlene!!

Darlene

No problem