cycling..when to see changes?

kerrid

kerrid

AC Members
Mar 10, 2007
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Boston
ive been fishy cycling a 20g for about 3 weeks now. i usually test the water in the morning and at night. the ammonia is mostly at 0 all the time. its only been up to .25 no more than 6 times (unless im colorblind and cant match up the colors correctly! :dance2: ) when should i expect to see some changes?

also, i have a "rescued" betta in a 10g and while inspecting the tank today i noticed a dead spider partially hidden by some gravel. could this be bad for mr.betta?
 
How big of a bio load is in the 20 gal? I would just keep doing what you are doing with water changes whenever ammonia or nitrites hit .25
 
the nitrate and nitrite have both never been over 0, but its easier to tell because 0 is one color and anything else is a completely different color. for the ammonia, its kind of hard to tell between the yellow (for 0) and the light greenish (for .25) but whenever i test i always have other people look at it too.
there's 4 little danios in there and i feed once a day. i have a whisper power filter and a sponge filter.
 
You have a fairly low load. Whenever in doubt on the color, do a water change. If done frequently enough, you may never see substantial levels. In any case do at least one a week if your tests show no reason to do one for ammonia or nitrites.
 
thanks! if nothing ever shows, how will i know when the cycle is done and the tank is safe for new fish? im aware that fishy cycling can take quite a while but i just dont want to put new fish in too soon.
 
kerrid said:
thanks! if nothing ever shows, how will i know when the cycle is done and the tank is safe for new fish? im aware that fishy cycling can take quite a while but i just dont want to put new fish in too soon.
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when you read Nitrates your cycle is done.

your ammonia and nitrites should also be zero at that point because it has been converted to harmless nitrates.
 
Kerrid.. my 10 gallon with 2-platys and 2- Molly's showed 0-0-0 for four weeks, then the ammonia jumped from 0 to 0.5 to 1.0 in a couple days. My Nitrite jumped from 0 to .25 to .50 in the same time. Then, with 35% PWC's over the next few days the ammonia and nitrites started dropping and I started showing nitrates. Sometimes, depending on the bio load it can take up to 6 weeks to cycle a new tank... ___ John
 
Personally I have been dealing with high nitrites for more than 2 weeks now. I have had nitrate for 1 1/2 weeks, always within the safe range (except one day), and barely, if any, ammonia ever (with test strip and mix kit). I've been doing 50% water changes every 1-2 days. Today everything is normal except my nitrites are at 0.5. I haven't had a 0 reading in what feels like eternity, despite normal level of nitrate.
 
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