Is my tank fully cycled?

[Wulfonce]

Im doing a fishless cycle in my 90gal. Its been about 2 weeks now and the bacteria can bring 9ppm of ammonia down to 0ppm in 36 hours. After 36 hours the nitrite is 0ppm and the nitrate is 80ppm. Seems good to me, right? All that'l be going into the 90 is 5 to 7 clown loaches and a red tiger oscar.

Also:

A betta found its way into my home and he already blew his oppertunity to live in a nice big 20gal tank. He couldn't seem to get along with my male sailfin molly so I had to move him elsewhere. Rather then returning him to his shotglass-like home, I figured id let him live in my 90 for awhile all by himself. I feel its about 89 more gallons then he deserves but whatever.

What is a safe nitrate range for him to be living in? The nitrate in the 90gal is 80ppm. I figure I might need to do a water change befor relocating him to the 90.

Your thoughts.

 

[jdmkid]

i would try to get the nitrate down to under 40ppm but it also depends on what the nitrate is comming out of the faucet

 

[Wulfonce]

Its not coming out of the faucet. Actually I've never heard of such a thing.

 

[HarleyK]

Its not coming out of the faucet. Actually I've never heard of such a thing.

Depending on the region, there can be substantial nitrate levels in tap water. The EPA level for drinking water is 10 mg/L nitrate as nitrogen = 44 ppm = 44 mg/L (does not apply to well water).

Lower your nitrates by water changes and slowly introduce fish (not all at once, and the oscar last).

HarleyK

 

[Rockydog]

One of the main reasons to do a fishless cycle is that you can add all your stock at once. If your bacteria can uptake 9 ppm of ammonia in 36 hours and not show any nitrites then you could stock far more than 6 loaches and 1 oscar. Do at least a 50% water change to get the nitrates down and add all the fish you want at this time. I cycled a 180g at 4 ppm and added 45 fish ranging from 3 to 7 inches with no mini cycle.

 

[Ullopincrate]

My nitrates out of the faucet is 20 mg/L... It sucks.