Where's the Ammonia?

Lisa wrote:

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.

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?

Do you have any plants in the tank? Plants use ammonia as food
(fertiliser) and may well catch enough of it to keep the concentration
below the detection limit. If so, you have an ideal set up in which the
ammonium released by the fish is eaten immediately by the plants. The
tank will never "cycle" (that is, no bacteria converting ammonia to
nitrite and nitrate will develop), but you simply don't need them. That
may or may not change if you add more fish, but if you don't do anything
rash you have nothing to worry about.

Just do a reasonable water change routine (20% every 2 weeks or so) to
keep other waste products down and both your fish and your plants will
be fine.