I've read all the sticky threads about cycling a tank. So here is the thing, I'm doing a fish in cycle. I have 2 divided bettas in the tank. I did a 20% change 2 days ago siphoning out debris in the gravel. the only think I have changed recently was removing the 3g filter. I put the filter medium into the 10g filter that has been running the whole time the tank has been set up. The tank has been set up for a month now. The pic is of the most recent test done today. Is this tank starting to cycle?
Well its hard to say from one water test result. Right now it appears you have 0 across the board, I would think you'd have at least some nitrates. I would just keep testing & doing weekly water changes or one whenever you have ammonia or nitrites. Have you seen any ammo, nitrites or nitrates in the last month?
If you had "live" filter media in the tank for a month, there should be plenty of bacteria in there, and you shouldn't need to worry about a further cycle. The nitrate test is really weird, though. You've had the fish in there for the same month, right? Is your test kit expired?
Well its hard to say from one water test result. Right now it appears you have 0 across the board, I would think you'd have at least some nitrates. I would just keep testing & doing weekly water changes or one whenever you have ammonia or nitrites. Have you seen any ammo, nitrites or nitrates in the last month?
Yes i do see ammonia. I have to do about a 20% change every 3-5 days to keep it below 0.25ppm. I have seen 0 nitrites and nitrates.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tekkguy
If you had "live" filter media in the tank for a month, there should be plenty of bacteria in there, and you shouldn't need to worry about a further cycle. The nitrate test is really weird, though. You've had the fish in there for the same month, right? Is your test kit expired?
Yes, I had one fish in there for 1 week and divided the tank and added the 2nd fish in week 2. I just bought the test kit this week so it is not expired. I can do another test later tonight when i get home from school.
Sorry for the double post but this is a little update. The test results have been exactly the same. Is there something I'm doing wrong? I change the water when the Ammonia gets to 0.25 ppm. Should I wait a little longer before changing the water once the Ammonia gets to this point?
Let the ammonia go up past .25 just a little bit, or don't change the water immediately, and see if it comes back down on its own. Just keep an eye on things!
You might also take a cup of your water to the LFS just to double check that your tests are working.
Let the ammonia go up past .25 just a little bit, or don't change the water immediately, and see if it comes back down on its own. Just keep an eye on things!
You might also take a cup of your water to the LFS just to double check that your tests are working.
I got the tests last month, so they are still new. I'm still using api master test kit. Only LFS I have is petco and they only tell you if the water is safe, they don't give any details.
I got the tests last month, so they are still new. I'm still using api master test kit. Only LFS I have is petco and they only tell you if the water is safe, they don't give any details.
Well, then I'd let the ammonia creep up and see if it goes down on its own.
A moss ball isn't much as far as plants are concerned, but if your only inhabitant is a couple of bettas, there isn't much waste to generate ammonia. It may be that the BB/moss ball is gobbling up the little bit of ammonia/nitrite, and then the moss ball is cleaning up the nitrate and keeping it at 0. You won't know unless you let the ammonia drop on its own without a water change.
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