cycling

mdcordeiro

AC Members
Oct 2, 2005
43
0
0
64
Massachusetts
yesterday morning my readings were 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and 20 or so nitrate so i guessed i was cycled so i went out last night and purchased 2 pearl gourammis 1 male 1 female so before i put them in the tank figured id check my levels one more time. ammonia had gone up to maybe .25-.5 the nitrites were still 0 and the nitrates had gone up to maybe 30 (test kits r so hard to read ) but deffinetally higher than day before is this normal ?
 
Actually yes--if that was the first time that you'd seen ammonia and nitrite at 0. The bacteria colonies are robust once established, but any increase in ammonia can overwhelm them initially. I encourage people to have ammonia and nitrites at 0 for a day or two before adding fish on a fishless cycle, and with any fish cycle, a week at least.
 
Just do water changes everyday or every other day for a little while, keeping an eye on the numbers, it shouldn't be too big of a problem to keep under control
 
AquariaCentral.com