New tank setup... didnt cycle??

[dangerhack]

Set up the 200 gallon. New tank. New everything. All i did was put PFS, 2 sponge filters,
added caves and tested water after 1 week. PH was good. Ammonia was 0. just nitrates and nitrites were slightly high. Added the 2 fx5's yesterday an will put heaters in today. Is it possible that this tank pretty much almost cycle with no fish an no ammonia added? i will test again to see if nitrates came down after heaters are on for few hours or day or so.

 

[Spiritofthesoul]

If you don't introduce fish or ammonia in your tank, obviously ammonia reading will be zero, regardless of whether the tank is cycled or not.

 

[dangerhack]

If you don't introduce fish or ammonia in your tank, obviously ammonia reading will be zero, regardless of whether the tank is cycled or not.

but if nitrates an nitrites come down to 0 it shoudl be safe to add fish no?

 

[Jc1119]

but if nitrates an nitrites come down to 0 it shoudl be safe to add fish no?

As soon as you add fish, ammonia will spike, then nitrites.....you are probably seeing trace nitrates from your water supply or your test kit my be off slightly

just get some Stability and follow the directions. Ive set up my last three with it and its worked perfectly

 

[Spiritofthesoul]

Even if nitrite and nitrate drops, you still lack the bacteria which converts ammonia to nitrite.
So your fish will suffer from ammonia poisoning

 

[Bderick67]

You have to have the bacteria in your tank that consume ammonia. If you have never had ay ammonia in your tank, how would this bacteria be possible?

You need to research the nitrogen cycle as it pertains to aquariums. Without this knowledge you are relying completely on luck for your aquarium's success

 

[boldtogether]

The only way to" get around " cycling is to pre-colinize the media in the filter, the substrate in the tank or both. If you add substrate from an established tank(friend, LFS etc.), it will help speed the process and could save you some fish. The cycling process is very stressful to fish. Get some seasoned media from a LFS or ask them if you could put a bag of media into their system for a week or two.

 

[aclockworkorange]

Your cycle will not begin until you add an ammonia source--either fish or ammonia from a bottle. How could you have ammonia and the subsequent nitrites and nitrates if there's never been anything in the tank to provide it?