Cycling

[Kasakato]

Having 0.25ppm or 20ppm of anything wont change anything. The same amount of bacteria is always there, and is always working at the same speed. So no water changes will not slow down anything.

What will slow down the cycle is touching the filter media.

 

[threejjj]

OK so i went out and bought a ammonia test kit. My Nitrates and Nitrites are at 0 and my ammonia is at .25 , does that mean that my tank has cycled? Or does ammonia have to drop to zero? With .25 i dont have to do a water change, right?
Thanks

 

[Harlock]

OK so i went out and bought a ammonia test kit. My Nitrates and Nitrites are at 0 and my ammonia is at .25 , does that mean that my tank has cycled? Or does ammonia have to drop to zero? With .25 i dont have to do a water change, right?
Thanks

Your tank is uncycled. Ammonia, Nitrites need o be 0 and nitrates should be showing up. Please clean the gravel and change the water. Changing the wate will not set back your cycle. The bacteria are not in the water column so you remove none of them by changing your water. If you don;t change your water, the fish die and your tank ends up cycling for fewer fish, so it only sets back your cycle if you lose the ammonia source, which are your fish.

The Quarantine tank is a good suggestion if you have one set up and ready to roll with cycled media, if not, daily 50% water changes are in order.

 

[threejjj]

Could the nitrates not be showing up because it is a very heavily planted aquarium. I thought that maybe the plants were absorbing the nitrates.

 

[Boohoo]

Two weeks is not enough time for your tank to be fully cycled. You said you are doing a fishy cycle. There is no magic answer how long that it will take but it just took me 7 weeks to cycle my tanks with fish. If your cycle was finished you would have no ammonia.

 

[Liz]

I have a mini penn plax filter... the whole filter is supposed to be replaced every 2-4 weeks... this will be a problem for cycling, no? Could I just rinse out the sponge part with the aquarium water to remove the little bits?

 

[Boohoo]

Just rinse your sponge in tank water when you do a water change once a week. They don't need to be replaced that often.

 

[Liz]

Thanks. I've been doing like 10-20% water changes every day or every other day, I think someone on here suggested it because I am doing a fished cycle. My nitrites are super high as I found out yesterday, so it's probably not a bad idea. There are also lots of tiny tiny little bubbles in the tank that make it look cloudy. Is that normal?

 

[Kasakato]

Air bubles- No. Any air pumps?
If its not air then chances are it is bacteria. This is normaly. It is just the bacteri growing and settling some where in the tank.

Yes, you want to do 25-50% water changes everyday. This will not hurt anything. You want to keep your ammoina and nitrites below 0.25ppm, that is your goal of a fishy cycle.