More fish for cycling?

[davidtcb1]

Hi:

Have had 6 red eye tetras and six blue longfin danios in my new 75 gallon tank for a month now, and the cycle has not appeared to have begun. Would adding a few more fish be a good idea to help elevate the ammonia levels?

Thanks

 

[TKOS]

The levels of ammonia were probably very low and diluted in that tank and it is probably cycled for the amount of fish that are in there. Do you register any nitrates?

 

[davidtcb1]

nitrates below 0.3 since the fish were added. pH at about 7.5.

thanks

 

[Siouxish]

Having same issue...

I've got a 55 gallon tank that has been setup for 3 1/2 weeks now with no apparent cycle going on as well. I've got:

3 Mollies
2 Platys
3 Guppies
1 Swordtail

Filtration is a Fluval 304 and two Penguin 170's on the back.

I've checked my ammonia levels and they were up slightly over 1 1/2 weeks ago, but now they are registering a steady .5 ppm with no Nitrites and no Nitrates.

I ran a test with my ammonia tester and tested my tap water. It also tests out to .5 ppm. What do you all make of this? Inaccurate test kit, tank already cycled and I missed it, or not yet begun to cycle?

 

[TKOS]

It sounds liek the ammonia test might be at fault. Take it to a LFS and have them test it. Also do you have chlorine or chloramine added to your tap water and what do you use to get rid of it.

As for the original question if nitrates are present then the cycle is complete (assuming no nitrites or ammonia). If that is the case then adding more fish is fine. Add them slowly and you won't have any big spikes and the cycle will be gentle and easy on the fish. No more than a few small fish a week, with good water changes, and all should go smoothly.

 

[SDRANGER619]

...do you have chlorine or chloramine added to your tap water and what do you use to get rid of it.

Would using water de-chlorinator kill the ammonia and mess up the cycle process? I did a partial water change on my cycling tank and added de-chlorinator to the tap water. Hopefully i didn't mess things up...

 

[TKOS]

No but if you have chloramines in your water then most dechlorinators turn it into chlorine (which gets made safe) and ammonia (in some form) and this can mess up certain test kits.

 

[chunksofpoooo]

cycling

im getting a 20g and a african butterfly or two. ive heard about adding ammonia (like from a hardware store) to jumpstart the cycle (before adding any fish). i was told to get a 5g bucket and fill it and let it sit for 24 hours to help the cycle too. if im to add ammonia to the water before i put the fish in to start the cycle, how much?

any advice?

 

[TKOS]

Go to the newbie forum and read the sticky on Fishless cycling. It will explain all about it. Letting water sit for 24 hours does nothing to a cycle. It does help evaporate some chlorine and may help to stabilize the water's pH.