Is my aquarium cycled??

[Galabar]

On 7/4/2023 at 8:20 PM, Dork Fish said:

@Galabar Very interesting, is there a reason that you waited for the ammonia to drop to zero (step 6) before adding more ammonia to bring it back up (step 7)?

Not really.  I was just waiting for the nitrite to drop.  Once that happened, I wanted to "make sure" that the tank could process ammonia.  So, I added it again to make sure that everything would quickly drop back down to zero.

[Dork Fish]

@Galabar That makes sense 🙂

[NickD]

So if my 29 gallon has plants in it and I’ve noticed growth in “good algae” and in the plants, is my tank ready for low stock fish?

[nabokovfan87]

Yes and no....

You have a glass box with water and plants.  I have zero context for the time that it's been setup.  Think of this like making bread, you're resting the dough right now.  Honestly, the longer you let things gel, the better off you are long term.  For some seriously delicate plants that could be up to a month for the carpeting plants to take hold!  More reasonably though, I would get yourself a test kit and then proceed through verifying what your water parameters are.  If you haven't been doing normal water changes, go ahead and make sure you're treating this like any normal aquarium and doing all the maintenance you would normally do.  Planted substrates as well, you'd be doing water changes more often.

What is the first inhabitant you wish to add, how many?

[Peaceful Fish]

If you aren’t using an aqua soil, you probably have it cycled if it’s growing algae. If you are using an aqua soil, I would definitely get test kit and make sure you are testing for ammonia and other water parameters before adding fish. 

[NickD]

@nabokovfan87i watched a video about stock ideas and it seems like small cichlids unlike angelfish are my go to, I still have to see if my store has them though.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/5/2023 at 7:09 PM, NickD said:

@nabokovfan87i watched a video about stock ideas and it seems like small cichlids unlike angelfish are my go to, I still have to see if my store has them though.

Yeah, you're at the fun part of the tank setup.  Research!

Anything you can stock in a 20H or 20L you can stock into a 29G without issues.  A 29G does give you a little bit more vertical space, which is helpful.  Depending on which cichlids you're interested in, that's a good place to enter the hobby, but the main thing is compatibility, what's available, and what you want to try out.  Be sure to check out a ton of fish and ask lots of questions.  There is always the "what should I put into my tank" and I often respond with that question by asking about favorite colors. 

Hopefully your local shops have some great, interesting things available.  Looking forward to seeing the tank when you're ready to show it.

[NickD]

Yes I will gladly put a post up on here once it’s all finished😁

[lefty o]

you very likely have an established bacteria colony. i would start stocking.

[Lennie]

I personally would not stock until I read all ammonia reading go to nitrite to nitrate.

How long has the tank even been set up the tank and you started the cycle? You have been asking how to cycle a tank 2 days ago 🤔

 

Your tank can be full of slow growers, a new tank is unbalanced, if you are ghostfeeding decaying food release stuff to water column, you might be using too high light maybe for too long period, new plants cant perform good growth until they settle so they cant utilise lots of nutrition etc. New tank = diatoms.There is many stuff that may trigger algae or may confuse you as algae growth expected over time.

To me, algae growth is not a sign of a tank being cycled directly. In fact, I have 20+ tanks cycled yet only like 2 of them has noticable algae. I always see plants as a support for the system and have plants in every tank of mine except 2, but that's just it.

[Andy's Fish Den]

I would go ahead and add some fish. As long as you don't add like 30 fish to the tank right away you will be fine. If you just add a few smaller fish initially and let them get established then you can add more. If you don't have anything to test your water parameters yet, go ahead and buy some test strips or a kit while at the store so you can keep an eye on your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. 

[FishRKool28]

Listen to these experienced fish keepers, get a test kit of some kind or you’re basically guessing. Would sure be a major letdown if you stock your tank and your water parameters weren’t right and your fish die. Patience is key, I’m on the tail end of my tank being cycled. Ammonia is at .25ppm as of yesterday and Nitrites are 5.0 ppm and Nitrates at 5.0ppm, hoping today when I get home from work that my ammonia is gone and nitrites have dropped as well 🙏🏻.  I use Stability daily

[NickD]

@Lennie all these questions is for me to be prepared when I start this whole thing, I have all the supplies except plants, fish, and hardscape. So my tank has not been setup but once I got the store and get the rest then I will start.

also quick question, what should be the ppm for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate when the tank is close to being done cycling? 

Edited July 6, 2023 by NickD

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Initially, you should see an ammonia spike. Then, ammonia should start going down, and nitrite will start going up. Continue testing, and you should see ammonia continue to come down, nitrite will peak, and eventually will start falling as well. When nitrites start falling you will eventually read nitrAtes and see those start going up. 
 

Eventually, ammonia will reach 0, nitrite will reach 0, and all you should see is nitrAtes. Once you’re at 0,0, and then reading nitrAtes you’re considered cycled and safe to add fish 

[Lennie]

On 7/6/2023 at 7:25 PM, NickD said:

@Lennie all these questions is for me to be prepared when I start this whole thing, I have all the supplies except plants, fish, and hardscape. So my tank has not been setup but once I got the store and get the rest then I will start.

also quick question, what should be the ppm for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate when the tank is close to being done cycling? 

Hey Nick,

I see how it is. Don’t get me wrong asking that please. I was just wondering. 

For your question, usually ammonia sources for aquarium cycling suggest 2ppm ammonia to cycle.

If you ask how I do it myself, I ghost feed slowly and when I see 1ppm ammonia, I stop. I don’t add more fish food and at that point I look closely for the parameters to see ammonia going nitrite to nitrate. I have never cycled with 2 ppm ammonia in my life. I think cycling with higher ppm can be handy for the tanks you need to directly overstock or add many fish at once to make it work. Like some cichlid tanks or female betta sororities for example, to make sure they can handle the overstocking at first better. These sort of tanks usually require you to add many fish at once in order to make sure they don’t get territorial with slow stocking.

 

If you will keep a normal community tank, then I believe it should be fine yo go with 1ppm ammonia and stop feeding. After ghostfeeding for couple days at first, wait for ammonia and then add bottled bacteria if you will use any. I know you dont have access to established filter so I pass on that one. Then after that all you gotta do is being patient and watching closely.

When all ammonia and nitrite clears, with meanwhile your plants are settling and growing, then you can start stocking slowly over the weeks.

Edited July 6, 2023 by Lennie

[NickD]

If my comment had a negative attitude toward it, sorry that wasn’t meant to happen. But I appreciate all the advice you have gave me, I suppose I shall keep y’all updated! 🙂

[NickD]

So… 

When beginning my tank, should I just add the water and substrate first (no plants) and let that settle for a couple days?

or as in all the utube vids I have seen just add the plants, water, substrate, and hardscape, and just start cycling?

[Janoš Bećar Pecaroš]

My recommendation is to add the substrate, add your hard scape and plants and let it cycle by adding some food or by adding ammonia directly. Test the water often. As soon as ammonia and nitrite read 0 you can add fish.

[FishRKool28]

On 7/6/2023 at 11:54 AM, Lennie said:

Hey Nick,

I see how it is. Don’t get me wrong asking that please. I was just wondering. 

For your question, usually ammonia sources for aquarium cycling suggest 2ppm ammonia to cycle.

If you ask how I do it myself, I ghost feed slowly and when I see 1ppm ammonia, I stop. I don’t add more fish food and at that point I look closely for the parameters to see ammonia going nitrite to nitrate. I have never cycled with 2 ppm ammonia in my life. I think cycling with higher ppm can be handy for the tanks you need to directly overstock or add many fish at once to make it work. Like some cichlid tanks or female betta sororities for example, to make sure they can handle the overstocking at first better. These sort of tanks usually require you to add many fish at once in order to make sure they don’t get territorial with slow stocking.

 

If you will keep a normal community tank, then I believe it should be fine yo go with 1ppm ammonia and stop feeding. After ghostfeeding for couple days at first, wait for ammonia and then add bottled bacteria if you will use any. I know you dont have access to established filter so I pass on that one. Then after that all you gotta do is being patient and watching closely.

When all ammonia and nitrite clears, with meanwhile your plants are settling and growing, then you can start stocking slowly over the weeks.

Lennie has been great with offering me advice and signing on to this forum has really helped me out. Sounds like you have a good base to start, I would recommend getting live plants that require low light, good starting point. I recommend Seachem Stability as well for beneficial bacteria, would like To see pics once you have it all setup. Good luck to you 

[NickD]

@FishRKool28oh yes pics will definitely be here soon!

[Guppysnail]

@NickD I have again merged your threads. Starting 5-6 threads regarding starting the same tank folks are not able to help very well. 
Feel free to change the title to something like

Help starting my first tank I have many questions. 
 

please refrain from making multiple new topics regarding this each day.  

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/6/2023 at 9:25 AM, NickD said:

also quick question, what should be the ppm for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate when the tank is close to being done cycling? 

Ammonia - 0

Nitrite - 0

Nitrate - anywhere from 5-20 ppm (I tend to keep mine under 20.  If I can start near 0 and it slowly roses through the week of feeding)

[NickD]

@nabokovfan87ok so I added in the substrate and filled the tank with water, should I wait a couple days to drain and add plants?

Edited July 8, 2023 by NickD

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/7/2023 at 6:00 PM, NickD said:

@nabokovfan87ok so I added in the substrate and filled the tank with water, should I wait a couple days to drain and add plants?

you can drop the plants in to let them start acclimating.  They can sit in pots and stuff if need be. 

You can plant them whenever you're ready to do so.

[NickD]

@nabokovfan87@LennieDay 1 of setup!

Edited July 8, 2023 by NickD