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There isn't a set parameter for each day that you have to reach. But it has to reach 0ppm for Ammonia and Nitrite. And we should see Nitrate going up a bit to maybe around 20ppm before the tank is considered cycled. Measure Ammonia daily to see if it is dropping. You can skip testing Nitrite and Nitrate daily if you want. Just test those again at the end of the cycle to confirm you see no Nitrite and some Nitrate.

My understanding is that you start off High ammonia, low (or no) nitrite or nitrate, Then you should get increasing nitrite, still low (no) nitrate and falling ammonia. Then the nitrate rises and the nitrite drops. Once this 'cycle' has finished the tank is ready, when you have all zeros! There aren't any set figures you will see, this will vary tank to tank, it is just the trend (cycle) followed by the full set of zeros you are looking for to confirm it has happened. After the cycle you may still get low NitrAte readings and as long as they are low that should be fine, one of my tanks has had that for nearly 10 years but the nitrIte and Ammonia must be zero and you need to have seen some previous readings of both of these to know the cycle has been happening. The fact you have all 3 with a reading seems to indicate it has started but check daily the changes to the figures so you know where you are through the cycle! If you don't check frequently you may miss seeing part of the process and then you won't know whether it has cycled or not! If you are setting up a very low PH tank for caridina the above probably won't work but for 'normal' tanks using tap water it is the way to go! Let us know if you are going the caridina route but I assume you are not as you have readings for all 3? Simon

Good morning, Thanks in advance. to set up: aquarium 30 liters 30 * 30 * 30 2 filters - 1 filter sponges - marina s15 filter with neo media soft substrate JBL Manado I have a 30-liter aquarium with neocaridins and I wanted to add CRS. as for the PH it is ok for the CRS it has the ph at 6.5 but I needed to remove it as all plants because the layout is a big mess because I have BBAs and cladophora plants. I wanted to either reset the aquarium or remove all the plants to try to eliminate all the algae. can someone help me what is the best way to do it? because I’m afraid to remove it as plants and lift a lot of garbage and ammonia, and I don’t have another tank where I can put the neos to reset the tank and cycle again. Can I gradually remove the plants one per day and wash them with hydrogen peroxide? Or would it be better for one day to take off neocaridines and wash everything and reassemble on the same day? many thanks Thanks and best regards

Hey group, I have a 5G tank that I am starting and I just added Dr Tims ammonia a day ago. day 2 just finished of the fishless cycle and my water parameters are: Ammonia: 4ppm Nitrate: 10ppm Nitrite: 1ppm Am I on the right path? Does anyone have a guideline of the what the parameters should be each day of the cycle? Any advice helps!

Hi the tank have 14 mounths mature. The bbas only appears when a put a new filter s15 with eheiem substrat pro, and the pH Change from 6.5 to 7.5 because the eheiem médias. Now i try to treat BBA with florish excel but without many results. Thanks

You're probably best treating the tank as it is. A proper balanced tank shouldn't have BBA so you need to identify why you have this problem. Sometimes it happens early on after a tank has been set up and it clears itself with time as the tank balances itself out - I have had this happen! The other usual problem is regarding the light, too much, too little, in direct sunlight etc etc. I would just remove as much as you can manually without disturbing the plants and see if it clears up naturally, if this tank is fairly new! I have had this, and fungus with new tanks and left alone it has always vanished as the tank becomes balanced/settled/mature? You may be best holding off getting CRS at this stage, until you have the tank properly sorted as caridina shrimp are more sensitive/delicate than neocaridina shrimp? Simon