My Wife and I just got a 46 Gallon Bow front Aquarium..It is Gorgeous!
The tank is new and the water is still in the process of going thru it's 1st cycle. Just had the water Tested the other day...
The Ammonia is on the Rise...No Nitrites or Nitrates are present as yet...PH is 7.4. The Tank has Been Running 1 week as of today.
The Community thus far Included 12 Neons...4 Were killed by the Suction of the Filter and 2 Died, unknown cause.
4 Catfish(Unknown Species)
4 Black Neons
3 Larger Hatchets
3 Smaller Hatchets(1 Killed by Filter)
4 Zebras(1 Died, Looked like it was either Attacked or Wounded somehow) I do Suspect that maybe the Ammonia was the Cause of that Death.
All these Fish are Cheap and Hardy...Started with this community to get the Water Cycle to start.
We also had a beautiful Beta...He Died.
We also have 12 Live Plants. 4 different types.
My questions are.
1) How much Longer do I need to wait for the tank to completely cycle, and is there something I can do to help speed the cycle along?
2) Whne will I be able to start adding more Fish and How long should I wait before I can add some of the more delicate Species?
Thanks for any advice.
OIF_VET(Mike)

firstly hello & welcome to the forum hope to see you on the boards as i have'nt done a fish cycle for a lot of years tend to do fishless ones if i set any new tanks up thease days or run the new fillters in an exsisting tank for a while
1. the tank will not have cycled just yet not sure how much longer you will have to wait you can help speed the process up if you know somebody that could let you have some of there fillter media or some gravel (this needs to be as fresh as possible do not let it dry out)
2. do not add any more fish as your tank is greatly overstocked at the moment remember this is a new tank i think you will find you will have more deaths to come your water is not mature enough yet it takes at least 6 months before the water is mature
& for your fillters to be working propley (remember learn to walk before you run)
if you look in general topics i have just posted chris cow's how to do a fishless cycle have a read of that

Your catfish and all of your neons are not good starter fish. The catfish live at the bottom of the tank where the water is the worst. So expect to lose your cats. Neons are extremely sensitive to water parameters. Having live plants in the tank will also use nitrate which you will need to get the tank to completely cycle. You can add Cycle by Nutrafin or Stability by Seachem to aid in seeding the filter and gravel.

Hey Mike, where have you been on the HCA?? We've missed you!

Danios Danios Danios! They're hardy so are good for cycling - and they're kind of fun & hyper so you might want to keep them after the cycle is done.

As far as how long to cycle goes - could be up to six weeks. If you test your water, you'll know. You'll see the ammonia spike and then come back down. At that point (unless you're getting pretty sensitive fish) you'd probably be ok to put what you want in.

Anyone else have comments?

Welcome back to Aquatic Babble, Mike.

Regular water changes are good to take the edge off any Ammonia, and Nitrite spikes. But don't use raw tap water during the tank cycle. If you're able, aerate it in a bucket overnight, and treat it with water conditioner.

As I think Funky mentioned, the use of a biological seeder might help establish your filter.

Thank you all for the fast replies. I have used a bacterial additive...I think it might have been cycle...
I have had Aquariums off and on thru the years and am quite comfortable in taking care of the water...I am soo happy to have a Large tank compared to the 10,15 and 20 Gallon tanks I've had in the past. Supposedly, the larger the tank the easier it is to maintain. This IS the 1st time I have ever had live Plants...I have always wanted live plants to help maintain a good quality water.
The Fish I bought are Cheap and I expect losses and thus chose
to start with cheap fish to hopefully help get thru a cycle and to see a populated tank. Like I said, I know I will and expect to have deaths. I cant wait till my water quality is good to be able to have some of the nicer species of Fish.
I failed to mention earlier, in my 1st post, that I have the temps set at 76 degrees. And this has been steady

Mizpriz, I am sorry. U are so correct...I havent been on HCA (Posting) Like I used to...I am going thru some difficult times at the moment...Life is happening. Will elaborate on that later.
Thank you all for the warm welcome
Fish-Man(OIF_VET)
Mike

Well Mike, I hope things are looking better for you soon. It's nice to see you around again, I've been thinking about you and hoping you're doing alright. I thought maybe I was just missing your posts because I also haven't been at the HCA as much as I used to, although I've kept up with the crab-keeping, and I pop in every once in a while to be sure my daughter is behaving. She's still an active member. LOL

how long is a piece of string question i'm afraid. a tank can cycle in a week or 2 ideally but if the conditions are not 'good' it can take forever.

one thing to be careful of is to condition new water as if it contains chlorine or chloramines it can kill the good bacteria and cause the cycling to falter.

personally i wouldn't add any more fish until there is absolutely no ammonia or nitrItes showing. i.e. fully cycled.

i wouldn't add any delicate fish for a month or 2 until i was confident that the tank was fully cycled and that there was no sign of any type of disease. plus i would recommend quarantine for any new fish too.

the inch of fish per gallon is a decent rule of thumb guide for stocking i find. in general a tank is not 'mature' till about 6 months, at this point u can then consider stocking to a 2 inch per gallon level. take into acount your filtration also. if your filter is turning over 2 times the tanks volume an hr it is ok, but to be good i'd be looking for 4 - 10 times per hour, especialy if u have a lot of plants and more delicate fish like cichlids.

good luck