"Lisa" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello,

I set up my new 50-gallon bow-front 2 weeks ago. 8 days ago, I bought
2 Flame dwarf gouramis to begin the cycle. As far as I can tell, they
have been happy, eating, active, and making bubble nests all over for
the past week.

The water seems clear. (I added Bio-Spira after the fish had been in
the tank for 2 days or so - it was the first chance I had to actually
find it in stock at the LFS.)

I've tested the water EVERY day for gH, kH, pH. The pH inched up
slightly - gradually - from 7.0 to 7.2. Otherwise, no changes. Water
is fairly soft for both kH and gH.

Water tested EVERY day for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. All 0-0-0,
every darn time. (I confess I got compulsive and started testing for
the "Big 3" twice a day! Ahhh!) I even bought a different testing kit
to make sure I had a good one. Both are in agreement.

So, why aren't I cycling? Where's the ammonia that I am supposed to see
in a new tank? Is it possible that the 2 dwarf Gouramis aren't
producing enough ammonia to be detected in a 50-gallon? I am afraid
that maybe I don't have any good bacteria, or perhaps they are starving
through having little ammonia to eat.

Should I go ahead and add more fish, or should I wait? Should I do a
partial water change/gravel vacuum, or just leave it sit awhile? (I am
planning to do a 20% change/vacuum routine every week for this tank, so
I'd like to get into the tank maintenance routine as soon as I can.
But I don't want to mess up any growing bacteria!)

I was really expecting to see SOMETHING happen before now, so it seems
very strange. I guess all is well, but I wish I had some ammonia to
detect, so that I knew things were progressing. Any thoughts?
Thanks,

- Lisa


Two Dwarf gouramis are not going to make an appreciable amount of ammonia
in a 50g tank (unless you were feeding them hourly ;~), and what little
ammonia *would* have been detectable (still below your test kit's
measurement threshold) would have been consumed by the bacteria you
added, so imho, you are cycled (which means the tank is balanced to the
fish load of 2 Dwarf gouramis). You can start your water changing to
your heart's desire, or you can wait until you detect nitrates (though if
you have lots of plants, I wouldn't).
--
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