Tank Cycle

Question
Hi! I just set up a bigger tank for my fancy gold fish on Saterday July 8th. They were harrassing my black moore who is behind in growth due to the bigger ones getting all the food so I thought it time to move my calico fancytail and my pearl scale with an orange crown to a bigger tank. They came from  a 20 gal to the new one that is a 29 gal. I added 30% of the old tank water to the new tank and the old tank's filter sponge as well as a big ornament. The fish are about 3 inches long and I also have a 5 inch Dojo Loach...so 3 in total for this tank. Today I noticed that the calico is chasing the pearl scale...doing the spawning dance, so they seem to be doing fine. I have been testing the water day and night for ammonia, PH, and nitrites. I have been adding cycle and i just added 2 live corn plants. PH is at 7.4 / 7.6 My Ammonia has never really registered but my nitrites got a little high on Tuesday..enough to make my pearl scale's tail go a little brownish..I did a bit of a water change to bring nitrites down to 0.3 then another one Wednsday and now my nitrites are at 0.1 and have been for 2 days. My main concern is has my tank cycled in just 6 days?  Is the worst over or has it even started?  These 2 goldfish have already gone through a cycle when I set up my 20 gal and came through no problem, I just dont want to loose them :(  I have added 2 more black moores to the 20 gal tank and so there is a total of 4 fish in that tank counting the pleco.  Any advice you can give will be very much appreciated!!

Terri

Answer
Hi Terri;

I suppose it's possible the tank has finished it's first cycle already. The bacteria that needs to develop to do that is in the gravel, in the filter, and on decorations. If you used any of the old stuff in the new tank it has probably "seeded" the new tank so the break-in isn't so severe. There is none or very marginal bacteria in the water itself so that would have had no impact on the cycling process.

The smaller tank is overcrowded now though. For every goldfish or plecostamus you need at least 8 gallons of water. You might want to move one of those guys over to the bigger tank once you know it will remain stable. They are all going to grow and will need plenty of room.

Here is more about goldfish and their needs;

http://www.firsttankguide.net/goldfish.php

Let me know if you have more questions........

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins