is my tank cycled?

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zspidel

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Feb 21, 2010
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hey guys,

i just bought a 120g tank. i purchased a rena filstar xp4to go with it. i just set the tank up sun 2 /28. i had the rena running in my established 55g for about a wk and a half prior to setting up the 120. i filled the 120 up w about 16g from my 55 and 10g from a friend that has established tanks. the rest of the water was treated tap water and what water left i had in the xp4. all my tests are normal. is this normal? or am i missing something. could that have been enough to get this tank up? im not brand new to fish keeping but always did my cycling with just adding a few fish, made sure they lived and added more and did water changes, but at the same time, im by far no expert. all your input will be greatly appreciated. thanks so much
 
zspidel;3942328; said:
hey guys,

i just bought a 120g tank. i purchased a rena filstar xp4to go with it. i just set the tank up sun 2 /28. i had the rena running in my established 55g for about a wk and a half prior to setting up the 120. i filled the 120 up w about 16g from my 55 and 10g from a friend that has established tanks. the rest of the water was treated tap water and what water left i had in the xp4. all my tests are normal. is this normal? or am i missing something. could that have been enough to get this tank up? im not brand new to fish keeping but always did my cycling with just adding a few fish, made sure they lived and added more and did water changes, but at the same time, im by far no expert. all your input will be greatly appreciated. thanks so much
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Ok,running the Rena on an established tank was a good start.The bacteria does not live in the water column,so using used tank water is really just adding nitrates to your new tank.

How long has the 120 been up and is there fish in it?You need to keep feeding the bacteria that has hopefully started to grow in your new filter.So either add some fish soon,or start adding ammonia in some way.

All your tests are going to read 0ppm unless there has been something in the 120 to produce ammonia.Are your nitrates at 0ppm too?If they are,I would say your cycle has not even started.
 
fishbum;3942451; said:
Ok,running the Rena on an established tank was a good start.The bacteria does not live in the water column,so using used tank water is really just adding nitrates to your new tank.

How long has the 120 been up and is there fish in it?You need to keep feeding the bacteria that has hopefully started to grow in your new filter.So either add some fish soon,or start adding ammonia in some way.

All your tests are going to read 0ppm unless there has been something in the 120 to produce ammonia.Are your nitrates at 0ppm too?If they are,I would say your cycle has not even started.
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no, my nitrates are at either 10ppm or 5ppm (just did the test and cant remember lol) thats sort of what puzzled me. im headed out tonight to buy somethin to put in it.
 
fishbum;3942482; said:
That is probably from adding the water form the other tanks.
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i bought some nutrafin cycle from a lfs that was goin outta business. ive done some research and heard it was crap. looks like ill just add some fish and build it up that way. thanks for your help
 
I would think running the filter on another established tank will help speed things up.Just don't add a butt load of expensive fish,and see where you are at in a week or so. Tetra Safe Start and Seachem Stability seem to have good results from people here if you want to add some bacteria in a bottle too.
 
Running the new canister filter on the established tank was a great move… As bacteria can be sucked into the new filter where it will colonize…
　
As mentioned, bacteria colonizes on surfaces, not in the water column. So adding ‘old tank water’ didn’t’ really help (or hurt) anything…
　
You will want to get fish in the new tank as soon as possible. Any bacteria you colonized in the new filter will need to be ‘fed’ as soon as possible.
　
You are technically “cycled” when you have enough bacteria to process the full ammonia load your fish are producing. Since you don’t have fish yet you really can’t say you are cycled. But chances are you do have a little bit of each form of bacteria you require. So add a light stock of fish and monitor the water conditions. If/when you see ammonia or nitrites, do a water change. In time that little bit of bacteria will grow to accommodate your initial stock.
　
Then when your ammonia & nitrites stay at zero for a week straight and your nitrates are slowly increasing, you are safe to add a couple more fish… and so on and so on…
　
When in doubt, do a water change…
 
ok guys, thanks for all the help. i really appreciate it. if i do one thing good, its water changes. any fish you would recommend? i want a couple oscars and a bicher or 2. but my main concern is my gator gar (til he outgrows it). think if i bought 1 oscar to start it would be a good move?
 
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