Cycling with Seeded media

[dan2x38]

Your concerns are on track. The readings could be pointing to an uncycled tank. Stay the course like you said and keep testing. Did you just do a WC? Strange the NO3 disappeared.

[charlie]

Hi there can you say how long  you ran the bio media you got from garnpet without any fish in the tank, i`m assuming after picking up the bio media you went straight home & placed it in your tank.

[Stussi613]

Hi,

I picked up the media from garnpet last Wednesday afternoon, put it in within an hour of getting it and ran the tank empty until Thursday evening.

Hi there can you say how long  you ran the bio media you got from garnpet without any fish in the tank, i`m assuming after picking up the bio media you went straight home & placed it in your tank.

[Stussi613]

No water changes since starting the tank last week.  I wanted to give the bacteria a chance to build up without removing any of the water.

Did you just do a WC? Strange the NO3 disappeared.

[charlie]

Hi,

I picked up the media from garnpet last Wednesday afternoon, put it in within an hour of getting it and ran the tank empty until Thursday evening.

There is a chance you might have lost most if not all of the bio bugs, what is confusing is your first set of test findings , tend to suggest some sort of cycle/bio bug presence & then your second test results suggest nothing is present .

[dan2x38]

Quite a big tank for that small shoal. Maybe they were unable to feed the filter enough? I'd stay the course for now and play the hurry up and wait and see... LOL big part of this hobby is waiting - patence... which by the way I do not have a lot of... 

[Stussi613]

I'm no expert, but the consensus seems to be that 10x 1-1.5" danios is a pretty good load for a 60gal to cycle.  I'm going to start feeding them more and take another nitrate reading in the morning.

Thanks for all of your advice guys, really appreciate it.

Quite a big tank for that small shoal. Maybe they were unable to feed the filter enough? I'd stay the course for now and play the hurry up and wait and see... LOL big part of this hobby is waiting - patence... which by the way I do not have a lot of... 

[KLKelly]

I think with that many danios you should be showing at least ammonia.  I have two teeny tiny fish in a 20 gallon and it was a miserable time cycling - ammonia and nitrite levels kept spiking on me and it was constant water changes until I could just use salt for the nitrites once ammonia backed off.  (Edit - my evil water probably still is a factor even though it goes through an RO unit and has 0TDS)

What is your ph/kh?  I've just found out that a ph crash could cause a cycle crash also.  I didn't know this before last week.

[washefuzzy]

Yes Kelly but he has started from seeded material it makes a difference than starting from scratch.

[KLKelly]

From what I learned last week, it can happen even in a fully cycled tank.  Just throwing ideas out there. I don't think that is what happened here though but just brainstorming.  Maybe just complicating things.  I do that well.

Other ideas - did you dechlorinate the water before adding the cycled media?

[washefuzzy]

Aren't we all just brainstorming. 

[Stussi613]

yes, de-chlorinated the water and left it for 24 hours before turning on the filter with the seeded media in it...I even used a little extra since I can almost see the Britannia Water Treatment plant from the back of my house.  If the chloramine levels are going to be high anywhere it's in the first neighborhood the water gets to   

[dan2x38]

wait & C