Yeah I do have a some driftwood in the aquarium and their is a plant actually growing on it. The fish a getting fed once each day so I would presume that whatever is not getting eaten is rotting and if their is any ammonia/Nitrite it is been taken up by the plants. Some algea is forming on the leaves of a plant- T5 Light is on for almost 14 hours to help the growth of the plants. Unfortunatly a bi product as I have been told is the quick formation of algae from T5 lighting.
I have the Fresh Lab Deluxe test kit from Red sea- so it is more than adequate for the job. I know what you mean with not being able to distinguish some of the low level colors. I to have the same problem.
I found this article: Courtesy of
http://aquariumboard.com/forums/articles/26-cycling-tank-fw.html
How to Fishy cycle:
This method can be done in several ways, some are fine, others are not. The concept in it’s correct form is to set-up your tank, add a few small hardy fish, monitor ammonia and nitrite levels, do necessary water changes to prevent damage to your fish, and when the cycle is established then you add 1 or two small fish, test numbers for a few days (usually a week), and then add one or two more fish. So on and so forth until the full amount of planned stocking is achieved.
If you have a big enough tank and a small enough fish to start with you will not even see measurable amounts of ammonia and nitrite. The cycle is still starting and growing, but the levels of waste produced are not spiking high enough for detection. This is a good thing and does not delay the process. Eventually nitrates will show up and you will know the bacteria are there - BUT your bacteria colony is established only to handle the bio-load in the tank. So you have to increase bio-load very slowly and carefully to prevent spikes. Add a fish, give it time; add another, give it time. To heavily stock a 55g with smallish community fish can take quite a while. Of course as you get more and more fish you can add quicker. Think of this in percentages. Two tetras in a cycled tank and you add 2 more you have doubled the bio-load, then when you add 2 more again you have added 50% and so on. Don’t get too aggressive though, you will end up harming fish or doing water changes far too often.
Even when doing this in the most conservative manner daily testing is a must to ensure the safety of your fish. In my personal opinion, 0.5 ppm ammonia is the maximum allowable level. 0.25 ppm ammonia should be considered a serious concern. 0.5ppm nitrite is also the maximum for me. So if you cycle with fish plan to test a lot (tedious) and plan to do water changes each and every time the liquid in the test kits changes color. This is the downfall of the fishy cycle; you need to do water changes whenever your tank requires it, not when it fits your schedule. You need to do however much water changing it takes to protect your fish no matter how tired of water changing you become. You need to test a couple of times a day even if you are being conservative.
For those who already own their fish when they find out the bad news, just test and do water changes, endure the chores for 4-6 weeks, and learn from the experience. Some of the better members on these boards started here with an “I just bought 12 fish and four of them died” thread. They did what it took and came out of it with a lot of knowledge experience and information.
Temperature is dictated by the needs of the fish you wish to keep
Lighting: Fishy cycling does tend to result in fewer green water blooms than fishless cycling. The fish bring in the bacteria with them, and the ammonia levels don't go as high as seen in Fishless cycling. However, it still happens often enough to be a concern. Additionally your fish (In most cases) prefer shade and darkness, so its never a bad idea to leave the lights out when cycling via this method. It will help reduce the chance of green water, and additionally the shaded tank will help the fish stay calm in their new environment. As always people like to look at their new fish, and light is helpful in doing this. Just turn the lights on when you want to observe and leave them off otherwise.
I guess most of my questions are answerd here. According to this article it is possible to do the fishy cycle without doing barely any harm to the occupants. In my case I get to enjoy seeing the fish and analising their distinct mannerisms whilst building up the Aquarium to a substantial level.
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