please help desifer this water

[jlspitler]

ok i have been cycling my tank for about a week know. and everything was at zero till tonight. my Ammonia is at .25 and my no3 is at 20 ppm and no2 is at 0 ph is 7.6 and my water is hard and water temp is 85. i am still learning the water chemstristy. i also have goldfish in there to speed up the cycle process. any info is greatly appreciated. thanks. j

[Tropical Haven]

You are still about 2 to 3 weeks away from your tank from being fully cycled. Don't rush your discus into your tank until your tank is fully cycled.

[jlspitler]

i am not rushing at all. just trying to figure out these numbers. i do have goldfish in it for the time being to help teh process. and i have added about 2 gallons of water from our fish tank at work to mine. thanks for teh quick answer. i posted some questions on another board and they took 3 days to answer. thanks again. j

[Polar_Bear]

I'm betting that you have the same Lake Michigan water as I do, I would not call it hard, it ranges from about 8 GH to 8.5 GH, and 4 KH to 5.5 KH seasonally. Discus will breed just fine in it, and they certainly can be kept in it. If you would like to speed up your nitrogen cycle just get some Bio-Spira or Stabilty and you will be all set for discus in about a week.

[Ed13]

ok i have been cycling my tank for about a week know. and everything was at zero till tonight. my Ammonia is at .25 and my no3 is at 20 ppm and no2 is at 0 ph is 7.6 and my water is hard and water temp is 85. i am still learning the water chemstristy. i also have goldfish in there to speed up the cycle process. any info is greatly appreciated. thanks. j
Welcome to Simply!

For the future cycling with fish is not a good idea and cycling with feeder goldfish is even worst. They are some of the nastiest fish around in LFS, common carriers of many fish afflicting pathogens. LFS livebearers are not much better. Fishless cycling is the best option and Bio-spira like mentioned or having the seller provide you with a sponge filter already cycled.

[jlspitler]

so do you suggest that i take them out and let it continue to cycle and just do a big wc before i add the discus. we are planting the tank when the plants arrive. thanks. j