New Tank Already Cycled?

HI everybody!
My husband and I just got our son (and us) a brand new, first ever 10 gallon aquarium. We set it up on Friday evening and added the appropriate amounts of Stress Zyme and Stress Coat and let the pump and heater run until Sunday afternoon when we got our first new occupants!
We got two Dalmation Mollies (that we just realized are male and female, AH!), a black snail (I'm not exactly sure what type he/she is) and a Rubber Lipped Pleco.
Everyone is getting along swimmingly (pun intended) and seem to be doing well. (Feeding them high quality tropical flakes and algae pellets for the Pleco.)
My question is, I tested our pH/Amonia yesterday.. The Ammonia was between high and low (in the safe zone), but our nitrates and nitrites were both showing 0. Is it possible that the tank has already cycled in this short period of time?? I've heard it can take weeks, so I'm concerned that our test strips may be faulty?

Any advice is most welcome!!!

More info: I just tested again, same results. Ammonia is between 0.5 and 1.0. Should I do a partial water change? I've heard you shouldn't mess with it while it's cycling... But I'm a 100% newbie, so please, educate me!

 

HI everybody!
My husband and I just got our son (and us) a brand new, first ever 10 gallon aquarium. We set it up on Friday evening and added the appropriate amounts of Stress Zyme and Stress Coat and let the pump and heater run until Sunday afternoon when we got our first new occupants!
We got two Dalmation Mollies (that we just realized are male and female, AH!), a black snail (I'm not exactly sure what type he/she is) and a Rubber Lipped Pleco.
Everyone is getting along swimmingly (pun intended) and seem to be doing well. (Feeding them high quality tropical flakes and algae pellets for the Pleco.)
My question is, I tested our pH/Amonia yesterday.. The Ammonia was between high and low (in the safe zone), but our nitrates and nitrites were both showing 0. Is it possible that the tank has already cycled in this short period of time?? I've heard it can take weeks, so I'm concerned that our test strips may be faulty?

Any advice is most welcome!!!

Ammonia is best kept at 0ppm, although you can't really expect it to go down to that so soon. It is possible that the tank it cycled , but tests strips are not as accurate as liquid tests kits. The kind that you get a bottle of solution to test it with.

Welcome to Fishlore!

More info: I just tested again, same results. Ammonia is between 0.5 and 1.0. Should I do a partial water change? I've heard you shouldn't mess with it while it's cycling... But I'm a 100% newbie, so please, educate me!

You are supposed to treat the water that is cycling exactly the same as if it was already cycled. It's not recommended to add fish, especially so many before knowing for sure that the tank is cycled.

So to answer your question, it's just fine to do water changes while the tank is cycling, although right now you don't really need to.

It's really helpful to read up information on cycling tanks, so you can type in "how to cycle an aquarium" and get a lot of really useful info.

 

No your tank is not cycled. Read up on the nitrogen cycle, click it it's a link.

1. Test strips aren't accurate. I and just about everyone else on here would recommend you get API Freshwater Master Test Kit
2. I have no idea what a "safe zone" means on a test strip. You need to keep ammonia and nitrite under 0.5 ppm to protect the health of your fish.
3. You bought too many fish for a fish-in cycle in such a small tank. You are likely going to get a huge ammonia spike.
4. The pleco needs a bigger tank than 10g. I probably wouldn't do less than a 29 gallon tank. Many, including myself, would say the mollies need a bigger tank as well.
5. If you want to do a fish-in cycle, I would get a bacterial supplement, I recommend Tetra SafeStart+, but I hear Stability by Seachem is good too.

Welcome to FishLore!

 

I do agree with DavoleBomb about the tank being over stocked and pleco's needing a bigger tank,

I used Ammonia detoxifier by Seachem for my tank and it worked very well.

thanks for posting the link about the nitrogen cycle, I couldn't figure out the key words that where linked when I looked.

 

Thank you all so much for the info! We were just going by the 1" per gallon rule; the Pleco we got was listed as getting to 4" max size, so we thought it would be fine and even thought we had some wiggle room. I may do a 20% water change to try and get the ammonia down a little bit. Thanks again!!

 

Your tank will be cycled when your ammonia and nitrites are consistently at zero and you have some nitrates.

A dechlorinator that also neutralizes ammonia is handy while cycling — many here would recommend Seachem Prime.

 

I would up that to a 50% water change. I would recommend Seachem Stability and Seachem Prime as a paired option for making your tank cycle faster. You will be cycled when you have 0 ammonia, 0nitrites and >0 nitrates with fish on the tank. Right now you are at 1.0/0/0... So no not cycled. Part of the challenge with your fish is they are all Heavy waste producers, so they will have a big bio load to cycle. Be prepared for Lots of 50% water changes for the next couple of months unless you return some portion of your current fish. Welcome to fish lore! Good for you for asking questions! This is a great family hobby!

 

I would up that to a 50% water change. I would recommend Seachem Stability and Seachem Prime as a paired option for making your tank cycle faster. You will be cycled when you have 0 ammonia, 0nitrites and >0 nitrates with fish on the tank. Right now you are at 1.0/0/0... So no not cycled. Part of the challenge with your fish is they are all Heavy waste producers, so they will have a big bio load to cycle. Be prepared for Lots of 50% water changes for the next couple of months unless you return some portion of your current fish. Welcome to fish lore! Good for you for asking questions! This is a great family hobby!

Perfect! Thank you so much! Luckily, we've prepared for frequent water changes. We just did about a 40% water change accidentally because the gravel vacuum we got went a little faster than we thought! So a happy accident, I would say! Thank you so much for the input! Hopefully the fish do well... We should've done a little more research before getting so many I think. Thanks again! We've got a lot to learn

 

Just wanted to mention that the gallon per ' rule is very controversial and not always accurate. Some fish have very large bio loads (as mentioned above) and some have very small loads. Also, here on fishlore we highly recommend researching a certain fish BEFORE buying it. Often pet stores do not have the most accurate information on fish, and so research is priceless.

 

Just wanted to mention that the gallon per ' rule is very controversial and not always accurate. Some fish have very large bio loads (as mentioned above) and some have very small loads. Also, here on fishlore we highly recommend researching a certain fish BEFORE buying it. Often pet stores do not have the most accurate information on fish, and so research is priceless.

Thank you! I didn't realize how much space they actually needed! Would you recommend getting a 2nd tank and splitting them? Or another course? Love all of the feedback! Like I said, we are TOTAL beginners, so this is a great learning experience!

 

You many want to consider upgrading your tank to a 20 gallon. The mollies and pelco are not the kind of fish for a 10 gallon because plecos are known to get really big (like a foot long!) and mollies need a 20 gallon minimum. If you get the 20 gallon you could use the 10 gallon as a fry tank because mollies reproduce like crazy . Or alternatively you could return your current fish, do a fishless cycle and then get fancy guppies! Just a suggestion.

 

You'll likely get mixed opinions on tank size for the mollies and the pleco. For clarification, the pleco will get to 7" in length.
I kept a bristlenose pleco (a bit smaller variety) that was only 1.5" in a 20 gallon temporarily and my nitrates doubled. They produce a LOT of waste . S/he is now in a 75.

 

Thank you! I didn't realize how much space they actually needed! Would you recommend getting a 2nd tank and splitting them? Or another course? Love all of the feedback! Like I said, we are TOTAL beginners, so this is a great learning experience!

I agree with GoldieBubbles, I would also recommend returning the fish and cycling the tank fishless, and then adding new fish, after doing research on them. This will seriously save you a TON of headache.

 

Welcome to Fishlore

I would say you need a 30 gallon minimum for those fish as they are extremely huge waste producers as you'll soon find out. I think if you can't upgrade to a bigger tank now, I would return those fish and either do a fishless cycle as others have suggested or do a fish-in cycle with fish more appropriate for your current tank.

Here are some links that may help:

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/stocking-list-for-10-gallons.207629/

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/ammonia-instructions-for-a-fishless-cycle.19627/