Can I put my fish in yet?

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Zeon

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Nov 10, 2023
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Can I put my American cichlids in my tank yet? The ph and all the chemicals are all good just cloudy water. Been cycling for a week but I have added bacteria from my old tank and bacteria chemicals.
 
It usually takes between 6 and 8 weeks to cycle a tank.
What technique have you been using to cycle?
Adding pure ammonia?
seasoned media?
Bottled bacteria?
How did you add bacteria from the old tank?
I added rock similar to lava rocks, old driftwood, new plants, quick start chemical, and when I move the fish over I’ll be moving the filter and filter media over. Also I added fish food to add ammonia. This was all a week ago, my main constant is the kinda cloudy water.
 
It usually takes between 6 and 8 weeks to cycle a tank.
What technique have you been using to cycle?
Adding pure ammonia?
seasoned media?
Bottled bacteria?
How did you add bacteria from the old tank?
From the videos I’ve watched and the research I’ve done it should be ok to add the fish right? With all the bacteria added over.
 
It doesn't matter what you've added to speed up the cycle. The fact remains that you're only a week in, the water looks like it needs to settle, things don't look right yet.

And usually when people are close to finishing a cycle and adding fish, they post their ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings. Those will point you in the right direction more than anything.

It's obvious you want to get your fish in your tank but just take a deep breath, step back, and make sure things are right first.
 
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I added rock similar to lava rocks, old driftwood, new plants, quick start chemical, and when I move the fish over I’ll be moving the filter and filter media over. Also I added fish food to add ammonia. This was all a week ago, my main constant is the kinda cloudy water.
This does sound suffices to add a few fish at a time.
 
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Most fish could care less about water cloudiness, the important factors are whether or not ammonia and nitrite are are instantly neutralized by the beneficial bacteria biofilm in the tank.
This is water where I collect some of my cichlids and tetras.
IMG_6960.jpeg
What you can see in this pic is not what's important, its what you can't see in this pic, is what's significant,.
It's what the water tests say.
its that there is 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 0 nitrate.
Wherever I collect, I test the water parameters, as you can see below the test results show the parameters mentioned above
IMG_2021.jpegIMG_2020.jpeg4d3f7b49-98a4-4524-b07b-3ceaff607ad2.jpeg
and a pH of 8.2
 
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