cycle question

[saltyESQ]

It has been 14 days so far and no trace of ammonia.

although I did not test until the 10th day, when it read 0ppm
and I have retested and it came to 0.

it is a 24q aqua pod, I used the sand from my refuge and used 20g of established tank water (from my 90g that has been up for about 2 years)
after putting in the sand and water from my other tank, I let it sit for a couple days, then I used some rock out of my 90g and put it in the aqua pod.

Do I need to force a cycle or am I cool? (did it already cycle)

 

[818]

You pretty much started off with an established tank... in my eyes you could had added the livestock the first day. U only used aound 5% new water.

Go for it.

Sam

 

[Kenfuzed]

Detectable (or zero) amonia only paints part of the picture. Test your nitrites to see if you are lingering at the end of the cycle. I wouldn't add anything until that was at zero, and still wouldn't add anything until after testing for nitrates. If amonia and nitrites are zero but Nitrates are up, I'd do a 10% water change and test all again in another day. Even the most mature water, rocks, and sand will still cycle. Better safe than sorry.

 

[USMCARTY42]

perhaps have a (trustworthy) LFS provide a second opinion on your readings...

 

[pledosophy]

Your ammonia will read zero if you have never fed the tank. Feed the tank with a normal days worth of fish food or more, wait three hours, and then test for ammonia. If the reading is 0 then your bacteria is established. Then test for nitrites and nitrates until they re at 0, then it is safe to add stock.

A tank that has never been fed will aslo read 0 ammonia even though it has not even started the cycling process.

Good Luck

 

[saltyESQ]

ok, I fed the tank
then waited 3 hours and tested

ammonia was still 0ppm

but nitrite was 25ppm

how long do i wait to get nitrite down to 0 ppm

before I fed the tank, I did a 50% water change.

I will do another 50%, then should I do this all over again?

 

[Kenfuzed]

I wouldn't be in a rush to do such a large water change. Let the bacteria take hold and the cycle will run it's coarse. Your readings would tell me that your tank is mid way through it's cycle and not quite ready for stocking. I would also expect that you should be seeing an algae bloom soon. Keep watching your nitrites and when that dips you should see the nitrates begin to climb. Add some macroalgae toward the end of the cycle and you should be able to minimize a nitrate spike.