The Planted Tank Forum banner

Cycling question

1K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  roadmaster 
#1 ·
Additional to my previous post on pH, kH etc, I just wanted to ask what people think about our tank's cycling process. Sorry if it's a stupid question, it's our first planted tank!
We have a 580L tank that's been going for about 5 weeks. From day 1 we had 2 radion xr30w, aquamedic co2, substrate is laterite, cal black earth then gravel cap. Lots of driftwood and about 80% planted from day 1. Dosing flourish and flourish excel after water changes every 3-4 days. No algae, plants growing well and pearling, started adding fish after about 3 weeks. Slight tannin discoloration for the first 2-3 days then crystal clear since then.
My question is that is seemed as though our tank never cycled, but everything is fine. For the last five weeks, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate have been 0. Perhaps now we have added more fish in the last week nitrate might be between 0 and 5ppm, but it's hard to tell.
We added stability as per the instructions and some fish food for the first 2 weeks, but that's it, no used filter media or anything.
Is this normal? I'm suspicious!
 
#2 ·
Sound's about right to me.
With enough plant's,combined with large volume of water and not too many fishes right away,,,you could easily not ever see ammonia,nitrites,that many expierience in smaller volumes of water ,too few plant's,too many fishes.
Plant's much prefer ammonia,ammonium,over nitrogen but will quickly utilize all for growth = little or nothing to see on standard hobbyist's test kit's.
Plant's could prolly benefit from macro-micro nutrient's as evident by your zero nitrate reading's .
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top