Confused about the current cycle of my new 50 gallon...?

Question

Okay… *confused*


Could I get some expert's take on this one?



So, I had my 50 gallon running for about a week… I kept putting fish food in it, to try and start getting ammonia up so bacteria could grow… then I rinsed the one of the filters in my 29 gallon out, and dumped the bucket of water with the filter rinse into the aquarium.

The next day, I went out and tried to buy some refrigerated bacteria culture that the pet store gave me when I started my 29 last year… they stopped carrying it, and instead, my mom bought me “Tetra SafeStart” (http://www.tetra-fish.com/sites/tetrafish/catalog/productdetail.aspx?id=1276&cid=3582 ) . It’s supposed to have live bacteria and such, and you’re supposed to just dump the entire bottle into the tank and then add your fish to get your aquarium started. Well, this, I did. I dumped the bottle in it, and then put a pair of pearl gouramis in it. I also vacuumed my 29 and put two buckets of dirty water into the 50 gallon tank to try and help feed the new bacteria.



Well, I tested the water today, and I got pH 6.8, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates just below 10ppm…



It just seems… off… I never even ever saw any nitrites or ammonia… do you think it’s safe to add other fish? I plan on shuffling the 3 silver dollars in my 29 into the 50… should I do that now, or wait a week or two?

Answer 1

I would take a cautious approch and wait another week.



It may be that your filter washings and the 'safe start' have in fact worked and you have some cycle in there now. As you only have 2 fish there will not be a huge ammonia buildup and the cycle may start without the ammonia ever being measureable.



The idea of washing out the old filter was to dump some live cycle bacteria into the tank. If you get enough in there, you have an instant cycle



Be aware it may only be working at a low level right now (enough for 2 gourami). You still need to add fish in stages to build up to a full bacteria population to match the fish numbers.



But it appears things are working as planned.



Ian

Answer 2

i've got had betta fish for years, and that i believe the above solutions. I even saved mine in my college dormitory. Petsmart and puppy Co have filtered tanks for twenty funds and up. Thats what i offered, and the filters are relatively decrease priced to replace.

Answer 3

Dumping water in from your other tank is totally pointless, stop that.



You only do it if your transferring fish.





Its the filter mud your looking for not the garbage stuck in the filter.



Your better off putting some of the bio-media in your new filter to seed it.



A 50 gallon tank has enough water that you can safely add the 2 fish and the tetra stuff and be on your way.



Just add fish slowly, I would wait at least 2 weeks before attempting the silver dollars.



If the silver dollars really depend on each other and won't do well transferring one every 3-4 days then put them in at once just don;t feed them for at least a day or 2.



No food means no ammonia from them and therefore no tank shock.



Then feed a little then more then regular meals...



10 gallons from nice water from your 29 to the 50 will help the siler dollars as well as there used to the chemistry of the water in that tank.







good luck!!!!

Answer 4

*ouch*



Unfortunately those bottled bugs can actually hinder the actual cycle and make it longer. You should actually be seeing the numbers going with the end result having actual nitrate of some amount showing.



I think your right to suspect that something is not going well here. So I'd definitely wait before moving and try GAB, they have a excellent rep and track record for helping folks along. There's a article there on fishless cycling also...

Answer 5

I would wait for a week or two , but a ph of 6.8 is not that bad at all