Cycled or Not Cycled 🤔

[alcidmr]

4 hours ago, Georgiapeach88 said:

@alcidmrit took a while but yes all 3 tanks I have are getting some nitrate readings. Started the 5 gal and 36 gal back in April and took till May to get my ph up enough to get the ammonia levels to rise and finally start seeing nitrite & nitrate. I do add more beneficial bacteria every water change I’ve done thus far. Probably not really necessary but helps my ocd 🤣 

Oh good and yeah I'm dumping beneficial bacteria also lol, yeah I have weird readings I have 0ppm ammonia - 0.25ppm nitrite - 22ppm nitrate so I'm like am I cycled or what gosh I'm so confused lol

[alcidmr]

I thought it was cycled once nitrate starts showing so I got had 0 reading ammonia 0 nitrite and 10 nitrate so I added fish now I have nitrite and 20 nitrate but everyone keeps telling me I'm not cycled yet I been cycling since the beginning of March I dont get it lol.

[laritheloud]

3 minutes ago, alcidmr said:

I thought it was cycled once nitrate starts showing so I got had 0 reading ammonia 0 nitrite and 10 nitrate so I added fish now I have nitrite and 20 nitrate but everyone keeps telling me I'm not cycled yet I been cycling since the beginning of March I dont get it lol.

do you use fertilizers in your tank?

[alcidmr]

Naw 

[alcidmr]

I just added a plant that's growing like crazy I'm noticing the nitrite going down that's the only change I have done besides changing water 

[KBOzzie59]

27 minutes ago, alcidmr said:

I thought it was cycled once nitrate starts showing so I got had 0 reading ammonia 0 nitrite and 10 nitrate so I added fish now I have nitrite and 20 nitrate but everyone keeps telling me I'm not cycled yet I been cycling since the beginning of March I dont get it lol.

How many fish did you add?  What is the size of the tank?

[alcidmr]

4 albino Corydoras 

[alcidmr]

Oh and 2 race nirete snails 

[KBOzzie59]

Just now, alcidmr said:

4 albino Corydoras 

Well that was not a huge bio-load.  Depending on many factors it can take "several" months to fully cycle a tank.  What were you feeding the bacteria before you added the fish?

[alcidmr]

Fish food 

[laritheloud]

The nerites don't really add to the bioload, and 4 corydoras in a 20 gallon is not tremendous at all. Did you measure how many PPM of ammonia it climbed to throughout the cycle? If the fish food was not producing enough ammonia to accommodate the bioload, a mini-cycle will still occur. If you're changing water very frequently and adding a dechlorinator like Prime, it could stall the cycle a bit. 

[alcidmr]

I'm going in my 9th week so I thought I was fully cycled but my nitrite is at 0.25 now since I added some this plant this growing like crazy 

[laritheloud]

That's a good sign that your plant is growing! Floating plants are great for that. I'm sorry about how long your cycle is taking, it sounds so exhausting to manage. I would just let the tank be for now and stick with weekly water changes so long as nitrites don't climb above 1 ppm. I know you said you were adding bottled bacteria to help.

[alcidmr]

0.50 then went down they all went down the go 10 ppm nitrate so I thought I was cycled completely 

[alcidmr]

Yea fritz zyme 7 and 

[sudofish]

I had good luck with seachem stability and pure ammonia from ACE hardware. Of course I had a lot of plants too.

[Isaac M]

Aquariums are considered cycled when you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and nitrates are increasing. Fast growing plants definitely do help with that as they can eat up the ammonia and thus reducing the strain on your beneficial bacteria. 

However I will warn ahead of time that even once your aquarium has reached the 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and nitrates increasing stage. Adding fish or increasing the ammonia input into your aquarium may still cause a mini cycle to occur as your bacteria catches up to the new demand. 

I hope that helps clear things up a bit! 

[alcidmr]

@Isaac M ok got it So I'm almost done I hope lol thanks.

[alcidmr]

30 minutes ago, laritheloud said:

That's a good sign that your plant is growing! Floating plants are great for that. I'm sorry about how long your cycle is taking, it sounds so exhausting to manage. I would just let the tank be for now and stick with weekly water changes so long as nitrites don't climb above 1 ppm. I know you said you were adding bottled bacteria to help.

Thanks for your helpful thoughts 

[KBOzzie59]

26 minutes ago, Isaac M said:

Fast growing plants definitely do help with that as they can eat up the ammonia and thus reducing the strain on your beneficial bacteria. 

Can also cause a slower cycle because the bacteria are competing for food.

[Isaac M]

@KBOzzie59 I see the thought process but if there is less but still constant food for the bacteria (plants also often bring beneficial bacteria with them further helping seed the aquarium), it just means that they have less work to do which would speed things up (the bacteria colony would not need to be as large). 

But the plants seeding the aquarium plus helping remove potentially toxic elements from the water makes them a great addition to a cycling and/or cycled aquarium. 

I would even say that plant (& algae for that matter) growth in your aquarium is a sign that your aquarium is capable of providing a healthy living environment. 

That is a great point to bring up however @KBOzzie59! 

[Fish Folk]

Good feedback on this thread! Thanks to everyone.

As I understand it, bacteria colonize over time to match / deal with the ammonia present.

So, let’s say that to kick off a cycle, you dump in a bunch of dead shrimp or something. The tiny amount of barely present bacteria is not able to handle the ammonia spike efficiently. Ammonia will break the scales.

On the other hand, if you never feed your aquarium any ammonia producing source, the bacteria colony will be unable to grow beyond a certain  threshold.

This is why a slow, deliberate cycle — with the measurement anomalies you’ve seen here (i.e. spikes, regressions, etc.) is the normal process working out.

Now for a confession: I’m very impatient! So... 

Here’s our method for cycling:

(1) Use a biologically activated substrate like Eco Complete — or, transfer substrate from a cycled tank.

(2) Use Wood or Hardscape from inside a cycled tank. We buy wet wood from our LFS.

(3) Use a primed sponge filter already full of bio.

(4) Use tank water from a cycled tank.

(5) Buy tons of live plants. They bring in bio.

(6) Dump in Dr. Tim’s bio starter fluid.

Then wait a day. Test water. Wait until Nitrates are increasing. Add fish. 

[alcidmr]

24 minutes ago, KBOzzie59 said:

Can also cause a slower cycle because the bacteria are competing for food.

@KBOzzie59Oh ok so should I start trimming it pull it out?

[KBOzzie59]

6 minutes ago, alcidmr said:

Oh ok so should I start trimming it pull it out?

I'd leave it, just expect the cycle to take a little longer.  The bacteria colony will only grow to a size that the food source will support.  That colony needs to produce nitrites for the second colony to consume and produce nitrates.  If the first colony is competing for food it will slow nitrite production thus slowing the "completion" of the cycle.  For this reason planted tanks usually take longer to cycle.

edit:  In my observations...

Edited May 26, 2021 by KBOzzie59

[KBOzzie59]

17 minutes ago, Fish Folk said:

(5) Buy tons of live plants. They bring in bio.

Only if they are grown submerged.