Cycle question

[Mel]

Hey all! My son was given a 20 gallon tall with all the fixin's that was used to house a variety of fish in the past. In my hours of reading the many internet resources, we've chosen to make a small cichlid tank with a few shell dwellers. It's a strange choice for a tall tank, but they are of the smaller variety with interesting habits.

I bought Caribsea Cichlid sand as a substrate and after 2 hours of rinsing with city water, I placed it in the tank. I let the sediment settle for about a week and then purchased 6 small Danios to cycle the tank. Many resources pointed me in their direction as they are supposed to be a hardy fish and stand up to the rigors of the cycle. This was the first week of April. I have a standard H.O.T. aquaclear with sponge media alone (no carbon).

I left the tank alone for 2 weeks with the Danios except for feedings and did weekly ammonia tests thereafter. There has yet to be any trace of ammonia in the tank to signal the cycle's start.

I was wondering if the fact that I used normal chlorinated water to clean the dust from the sand in the beginning if that was enough to keep the cycle from beginning? I didn't think chlorine would affect ammonia, I always thought the chlorine would kill the bacteria you need to neutralize the ammonia. (I used aquarium water conditioner/dechlorinator for tank filling).  

It's now 2.5 months and as of tonight, still no trace of ammonia. I decided to do my first 1/4 tank water change as my tank water was down a couple of gallons as it didn't seem fair to the Danio's to have the same water for all that time. I have a 50 gallon at work with an 6 month old Oscar and the same test kit there seems to have no issue detecting ammonia. (The Ocscar's personality is the reason for me to choose cichlids for home... incredible fish!!)

Any suggestions/comments?

Thanks!

[ambushman2j]

a fishless cycle method would have been more adviseable, you would not have these issues and there's no moral issues towards the fish..also when using fish I have always heard goldfish were the best to use, they also take alot of abuse but also produce alot more waste then the danios would

[Julie]

You could put a cycled sponge from another tank into your filter.

[Bal]

Wouldnt the ammonia zero out in a few days, and then the nitrites spike would take over? Have you also been testing for nitrites? You mentioned a weekly testing for ammonia, and I was wondering if it did indeed rise, but if you didnt test during the couple of days it would have registered, you may have missed noticing it?

But yes, the best thing to do would be as mentioned, to borrow a sponge from an established tank.

I did a fishless cycle on my 136 gallon, and the ammonia only registered for the first three days before it fell back to zero and the nitrites spiked. Total cycling time using pure ammonia and a dirty filter cartridge totalled nine days.

[Mel]

Thanks for the replies! Yes, along with ammonia I tested for nitrites and kept an eye on the PH every so often. I have a few options, but in wanting to do this right the first time, maybe I should return the danios to the LFS and do a fishless cycle. My son is 4 and I figure he'd ask endless questions about his empty aquarium.

[Sue]

you could leave some daino's in tank as dither fish, they shouldn't bother shell dweller's , unless you get really small ones.

[gvv]

...My son is 4 and I figure he'd ask endless questions about his empty aquarium.

Good luck! I wish his interest will not dissapear later on