# Another newb cycling question



## rkay (May 8, 2011)

So my tank has been set up for awhile now around 30 days or so, I'm trying to cycle it and theres some danios in there the water parameters today were:

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0.8 ppm
Nitrate: between 5-10 ppm 
pH: 7.5

I'm doing 10% water changes everyday, should i vacuum the gravel when doing so..? I have been doing small portions like 5% of the gravel each time. My other question is how long does this stage of the cycle last? And if ammonia pops back up is that normal or should I not see it again?

Thanks


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## marimo (Jun 4, 2011)

i don't think you need to change anymore.. your tank is done cycling 

the only reason you test for nitrate is to make sure that the nitrifying bacteria are present so just make sure your ammonia and nitrates stay relatively close to zero and have steady levels of nitrates

source:
a dude from the menagerie pet shop


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## dchow (Oct 30, 2009)

Your nitrItes will be 0ppm once the cycle is complete. Your nitrAtes are up indicating that you're almost done cycling.

Ammonia and nitrItes should never show when your cycle is complete unless right after a feeding or something is rotting in the tank and even then your filter should be able to catch up. 

Add new stock slowly so that your filter has time to catch up with the new bioload. Water changes are generally needed to remove nitrAtes.

edit: I'm not sure what you mean by "stage of the cycle". You're at the final stage before its complete -- it should be done within the next day or two. Once your nitrites read 0 you're complete and it will stay complete unless something catastrophic happens.


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## rkay (May 8, 2011)

okay cool beans 


Was a pretty fast cycle then yet it seemed like forever


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

A better way would have been a fishless cycle.
Your tank is cycled for the amount of fish you added. But it's not a stable tank and will do mini cycle every time you add fish. If you dump a load of fish in there, it will cause your tank to cycle again.
As rkay said, you need to slowly add fish (like 1 or 2 fish per week) to allow the bacteria to keep up with the new changes.

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## rkay (May 8, 2011)

Okay. If i could do it over I would do it fishless but I didn't do enough reading beforehand. And once the numbers are stable for a week Il start adding slowly.

Thanks for the replys


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