hello again. The 55g f/w tank has been setup and running a little over a week. It took 3 days to gradually lower the ph to midrange and then I added 10 harty small fish. (blacktail tetras and zebra danios) I didn't use any startup products and wanted to try the old fashioned way of using a few fish. They have been doing well for a week and today I started testing or ammonia and nitrites. Both read zero and my question is.. is it too soon after only a week of fish to detect ammonia levels or did the freshly removed gravel I used from another tank cause an immediate cycle?
are we there yet?
- Thread starter iamslotman
- Start date
It was probably jump-started by the bacteria on the gravel you added. Just to be safe, wait another few days and test again.
If you had a big cichlid in there and didn't have ammonia levels after a week I would say it's cycled, but you have a low stock level so I don't know.
Like mentioned in the other reply I would also test again after a couple of days.
Like mentioned in the other reply I would also test again after a couple of days.
It could definatley be that the bacteria on the gravel is enough to support the bioload of the small fish. I always use this method when setting up a tank, it speeds up the cycle alot, I usually get a bloom in 2 days, and thats only when I use a little gravel.