Question: Cycling - Tank readings

[Nightfury1]

So I started cycling about 1 and a half weeks ago. Unfortunately my father and I had to do a FULL clean of the tank. The sand was not clean enough and had to be taken out with all the nasty water. We started the tank back up Friday the 31st. I wanted to do a fishless water cycle but my dad over ruled and we are doing a fish-in cycling. I have about 6 small guppies in the now clean 29 gallon tank with 5 large moss balls. As of this moment my tank readings are:
PH - 7.9
Ammonia - 0.35ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 10ppm

Is my tank even cycling yet? If not, how do I begin the cycling process WITH fish?
If there is anything else you would like to inform me about go right ahead

I already know about this website ( what-is-aquarium-cycling-how-to-cycle-your-tank ) it helps but I am still kinda confused.
According to the website I should do a water change every day for weeks until my nitrates reach 15-40ppm is this correct? After that does that mean my tank is cycled or what?

I would like to know what other people think and such.

Thanks bunches!

 

[snuggly time]

It looks like it's cycling to me!

You'll know when it's finished when the ammonia and nitrite both read 0 and you only get a reading for the nitrates. Just keep feeding the fish and it should cycle. Keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite, if it's too high the toxins can start to harm the fish.

This page explains it quite well. Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling

Good luck :happy:

 

[SophieG]

So i'm no expert, but i know for a 29 gallon tank to cycle it could take 4 to 8 weeks. I cycled my tank with fish. Essentially your ammonia should start to fall when your tank starts to cycle. Eventually when ammonia drops to zero, your nitrites will start to rise. This is more harmful than ammonia. So you need to monitor those levels every couple of days. When they become higher than .3 mg/L than thats when you start to change 15-20 percent of your water. When your nitrites levels come back down to .3 or les, your tank should be cycled. Those moss balls will help natural cycling. Other plants as well. Oh and this is for a fresh water tank. Hope this helps.

 

[HayleyK]

I would call one Gollum and one Smeagol

As for cycling a tank with fish you need to do 10-20% daily water changes. Feed the fish and it should cycle although I'll warn you now, cycling can be quiet slow so be patient.

P.s your set up needs at least another hide, and the picture quality is bad but if thee are sharp rocks in the middle on the tank I would remove them or sand them down . Axolotls also like to hang in plants - real or fake.

 

[Nightfury1]

Thanks so much guys, I was worried that I wasn't doing something right. I'm glad it's cycling! And yeah I actually made the hide in the photo out of pvc pipe and rocks, I do have another hide that i made it's just not in the tank yet.
I will make sure to put the rocks down then, I just had them up for now because I thought it looked cool. I was thinking of putting some java moss in the tank and attach it to the wood in the middle. It's hard to see in the photo but there is actually a log floating on top of the water, I was thinking of letting java moss hang from that. My only concern with the moss was that I did not want it over take the tank. Would the moss grow on the sand and glass?

 

[HayleyK]

It's more so algae that grows on the glass or sand. If the moss gets too out of control, you can always "prune" it back like a normal plant