how can i tell when tank cycle is finished?

Question

my 29g tank is being cycled with several zebra danios. it has been almost two weeks and the ammonia level is still at 0.00. yesterday, it was a bit less than 0.01 so i put some bacteria suppliment and today it is at 0.00 again. in order to cycle successfully, does the ammonia level have to be very high at some point? or can i go through the cycle with low ammonia at all times? my other tank had ammonia level at 0.4 and now, no matter how much supplimant or ammonia drop i put in, it will not go down. so i basically failed. i dont want to make mistakes again. please help. what is the whole point of cycling and what is the quickest way to do it?
thank you.

Answer 1

Well, if you are putting in live bacteria, the ammonia spike will be very brief because the bacteria basically means that your tank IS cycled.
You did not, however, mention where your nitrites and nitrates at. Typically, you start with high ammonia, and low nitrites and nitrates. Then the ammonia drops, and you have a nitrite spike. Then the nitrite drops and the ammonia is still 0, and you have nitrates - that is when the cycle is complete.

When you say ammonia drops, do you mean drops of ammonia, or drops of a chemical that neutralized ammonia? If it's the former, that is the reason for your ammonia. If it's the latter, avoid using ammonia drops and chemicals in general (except dechlor). Ammonia neutralizers make it so that the nitrifying bacteria cannot degrade the ammonia into nitrites, so your cycle will take longer to complete.

The point of cycling, well, fish produce toxic ammonia. In an uncycled tank, it just adds up and poisons the fish. In the wild, and in established tanks, there are nitrifying bacteria that break down the ammonia into less toxic nitrates. Without the cycling process, the fish you put in first are going to live through an ammonia spike (or die from it) which, frankly, borders on cruelty because it is a painful process.

The quickest way is not to use fish, but to put the live bacteria right in the tank using Bio-Spira. OR to put some filter media and gravel from an established tank (that's where the bacteria live). These methods are pretty well instantaneous, taking a day or two.
Using just fish takes 2-5 weeks.


Anyway, stop using chemicals and other products (except water dechlor) they have other effects that can change the cycling process and delay it or stop it. You have fish now, and they are producing ammonia. In 2-3 more weeks there will enough bacteria to cope with the ammonia that the fish produce. Keep an eye on your levels so you'll know when exactly that is. Do small (15%) daily water changes to lessen the ammonia and nitrite burn on your current fish.

Answer 2

Cycling a tank properly can take weeks. But to answer the question, you can tell when the cycle is completed when there's an ammonia source (fish, etc) in the tank yet ammonia and nitrite levels are consistently undetectable and there is the presence of accumulating nitrates.

You can greatly speed up the process by seeding your bio-filter with bio-media from a healthy and well established tank. In this way you can cycle a tank in a couple of weeks or even days instead of several weeks to a couple of months (dependent upon the stock level of the original tank and the stock level of the new tank).

Answer 3

After 2 weeks your tank is ready for more fish. Ammonia is dangerous to fish when the level becomes to high. The solution is when you do a water change, do it properly. Do a 25% water change every 2 weeks. Suck up the dirt, old fish food and the fish droppings. This 3 items is the big cause of high ammonia in your tank. Do a 10% water change every alternative week. Try not to use to meds or supplements in the tank. Use that type of stuff when everything else do not give you the results you want.

Answer 4

Cycling is to build up the "good" bacteria that will consume the bad bacteria and balance the tank. I started my tank the third week in December, and it just finished cycling a few days ago. So expect about 4-6 weeks. My water was very cloudy, but almost overnight, it cleared up and is now crystal clear. I only added a capful of "Cycle" once a week to the filter. I also did a 15-25% partial water change every 2-3 days.

Answer 5

I think you are doing OK,the bacteria suppliment should be sufficent,the bacteria will grow on their own,without further additions.The bacteria that digest the ammonia don't really work until they are attached to something in the tank in large colonies. This takes about 2 weeks. Those bacteria, by the way, turn ammonia into nitrites,which are just as bad for fish as ammonia.Then a second bunch of bacteria start to grow.These turn nitrites in to nitrates. It takes about 3 weeks for these guys to colonize the filter medium and gravel. So to answer your question, test the water for nitrites, when the first bunch of bacteria have grown,you will detect a nitrite spike,when the second bunch has grown the nitrite will drop to zero and you can start monitoring nitrates,which you personally will control with frequent small water changes. Happy bacteria =happy aquarium= happy fish =happy aquarist. Have fun.PeeTee

Answer 6

There is no QUICK way to do it, the whole point of aqua-keeping is to be patient. The ammonia level will probably rise like everything else does during the cycling period, you can tell when the tank has been cycled when everything is normal, level speaking. The water will also smell like new dirt, or something like that.

Answer 7

Ammonia and nitrites must be at 0, nitrates saved less than 20. Your tank is ridiculously overstocked. Why did you upload 5 goldfish to a 20 gallon uncycled tank? ~in spite of what human beings have informed you, 5 goldfish in a twenty gallon is overstocked. the straightforward goldfish must be complete grown at about one foot in length with information from their 2d 12 months. -making use of your good judgment, each and everything you spot is acceptable- basically because human beings have that many goldfish and their water is sparkling skill not something. understand that water readability isn't water high quality, and that fish are customary for surviving in undesirable situations. -once you cycle the tank you want a source of ammonia. Fish nutrition works basically to boot as making use of fish, and also you do not ought to rigidity about causing irrevocable damage to the fish. the overall rule is fifty 5 gallons for the first straightforward goldfish and 20 gallons for each extra. It guarantees that there is ideal swimming area and room for wastes to dilute.