Funky test results. Is this normal???

[MikefromNH]

First of all, I just set my 90 gal tank up 14 days ago. It was in storage for 10 years after my last move. I cleaned out all the hard water stains and misc crud with Bar-Keepers Friend. Yes I rinsed it out extremely thoroughly. For filtration I'm using a Magnum 350. My substrate is Tahitian Moon sand and I have SeaGarden plants (silk).

I filled it with tap water from a filtered well , ran it for a day then put 4 fish in, 2 platies and 2 angelfish. I tested it on the next day(day 3) using Jungle 5-in-1 dip strips.

Nitrate 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
pH 6.8
Hardness 25 ppm

I used the strips daily with pretty much the same results....not much of anything. I added fish each day for 10 or 11 days. 14 days later I now have:

2 Swordtails
5 Angelfish
4 Platies
2 Colombian Sharks or Shark Catfish
2 Serpae
2 Dwarf Neon Blue Gourami
2 Opaline Gourami
2 Pearl Gourami
4 Head/Taillight Tetras
2 Rainbow Sharks

I tested with the strips again tonight with the same results except the pH was a little higher. I figured something was wrong with the strips so I picked up an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals master kit, here are the results:

Ammonia 1 ppm
pH 7.6
Nitrate 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm

Are these results normal? At first I thought it was caused by too few fish in too large a tank. Now there are 27 fish and still no signs of anything bad. Has this tank cycled already? The only thing that could have possibly accellerated that would be all the established water from all the fish bags, say 2 or 3 gallons total. The water is still a bit cloudy, I think. Like I said, I haven't kept fish in 10 years and may have lost my reference as to how clear the water should get. There is black sand and a black background so the water clarity is really easy to notice, BUT, with my lights (3 48" 18K bulbs) the water kind of glows and I'm not sure if it because it is a bit cloudy or it lust looks that way because of the characteristic of that color temp bulb. No water changes yet, either.

Whats the deal here?

Heres a pic from a week ago. In person it looks slightly less clear.

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[caseopia]

I bought those 5-in-1 strips, then I brought them back to the store (minus a strip) after I got bogus test results... I wouldn't trust them

 

[snafu]

The only thing that could have possibly accellerated that would be all the established water from all the fish bags, say 2 or 3 gallons total.

The water would have little or no effect on the cycling as it has very little bacteria and would introduce all the disease from the tanks the fish came from. It would be safer to net the fish and dump the water from the bags and not add it to your tank.
What would help more than anything is get an old filter pad from a known disease free tank and drop it in yours for a week or so. When it is cycled your ammonia will read zero and the water will get clearer, unless it is a filtration problem. 350GPH/90=3.88 - you may want to add another filter to get up around 5-6 X turnover rate per hour for super clear water, and use charcoal in the filters if you are not already. Hope this helps...
Nice tank BTW

 

[MikefromNH]

Thanks, snafu.

I have heard elsewhere that another filter wouldn't hurt. When I had it set up before I had 6 5" Tinfoil Barbs, 4 5" Oscars and a few other smaller fish that didn't grow at the same rate...guess where they ended up . I had the same setup and the water became crystal clear after about a month. I only fed, and still feed, once a day.

The tank has a very good circular current, so not much stagnation occurs, plus, it's nice and quiet. If it dosen't clear up in a month I'll look into getting another.

If I pick up a few more fish I'll definately net them out of the bag...good point.

Shouldn't the levels be higher than what they are, given the amount of fish and the length of time they've been in there?

 

[victimizati0n]

wait, your still cycling this tank?

If you dont do something fast(like tale all fish out, but the swordtails) expect your ammonia to rise, and all of your fish to die.

 

[N8DOGG]

or do large water changes to keep the ammonia down........any signs of it do water changes.

 

[happychem]

Agreed, your tank is only starting to cycle. Over the next while your ammonia will rise until NH3-nitrifiers take over, then NO2 rises, and so forth.

Be prepared to start doing at least 2 50% changes per day to keep NH3 at or below 1ppm. The kit results look like what would be expected.

edit (I'm a dunce): If you can get ahold of some filter media from an established, disease free tank, this will help immensely. If you do know someone with such a tank, go help him/her clean it out, vacuum the gravel good and deep and get all the mulm you can. Steal as much filter media as you can, better yet, buy your friend some replacement media to sit in his tank for a week or two, take the old stuff and leave the new. Add old media to your filter along with some of your media downstream. Defitnitely add another filter, it never hurts to have extra, plus the water movement will do you good.

 

[MikefromNH]

Thanks. The general concensus here seems to be that the tank is just starting to cycle, same with the LFS. I will do a partial WC and continue to test the water daily. I picked up a Python at W*M so water changes will be easy. I'm gonna' see if the LFS will let me snag a bit of filter media to speed things up. I guess I was expecting at least some build up in the last 2 weeks. I was starting to think I had a magical-no need to cycle-aquarium.

It's probably a hard question to answer but how long til' the completion of the cycle?...1 wk, 2 wks,....more.

The water is considerably clearer than it was last night or even this morning!!??? What's up with that? Dosen't the cycle have to be complete before clarity improves?

Thanks again, folks.

 

[happychem]

Water clarity has nothing to do with cycling, it just means that the bacteria in your water column have stopped reproducing like crazy. Or that the substrate that you didn't rinse well enough have settled

Can't say how long it'll take, depends on your source of bacteria. Don't let them talk you down to tank water or gravel, you want the media.

 

[MikefromNH]

The Tahian Moon sand was a PITA to rinse but I do believe it was rinsed thoroughly. I prolly used 90 gallons just to get the job done!

I did a 1/3 tonight. Ammonia before, 1 ppm. After, .5 ppm. I know it dosen't add up but judging the colors is open to interpretation.

My Python didn't exactly siphon that great IMO. I may use the old suck start method next time, then put the hose out the window. Hey, it works with gasoline.....and probably tastes better too!