questions about nitrigen cycle

[gr8nguyen1]

i set up a new 75 gallon tank as an emergency when my old tank cracked during a move. the tank currently has
6 cory catfish
1 otto
1 celestial danio
5 neon tetras
1 dwarf gourami
i do a partial water change every other day.
i did a wc yesterday. today i did a water test
ph 7.2
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 5.0
kh 3
my question is how do i know when the cycle is complete its been over 3 weeks since the tank was up. or are my test results because of my water change yesterday. my readings 2 days ago were
ph 7.2
ammonia .5
nirites 5
nitrates 5

[gwrace]

I typically consider my tanks cycled when they start producing measurable amounts of nitrates and ammonia and nitrites are zero. The last two tanks I started up I used seeded filter media which made a huge difference in start up time for a fully cycled tank.

[gr8nguyen1]

i added some new fish to my community tank on tuesday. i did a partial wc yesterday. today, when i tested my water parameters, i got this
ph - 7.2
ammonia-0 ( or maybe slightly higher-the color strip wasn't bright yellow but it wasn't the exact color of the next level either.
nitrite .25
nitrate >10
my tank had been completely cycled for a week or so. and all the readings were pretty stable until the fish additions. i added 5 rummynose tetras and 3 cardinal tetras, and 2 dwarf loaches.
my question is..is this normal. i have read that if you add too many fish the tank will try to go through another cycle. i don't want that because i don't know how long its gonna take. when do you think the tank will be normal again. "normal" meaning ammonia and nitrite levels being 0

[Chad Hughes]

Your filter will only colonize enough bacteria to consume the waste that is available in the tank. It's likely that your bacteria bed was not large enough to handle all the new additions. It will take some time to see the levels even out again as your bacteria bed grows. Your readings are elevated, but nothing to be too alarmed about. Keep a close eye on things, perform water changes to keep parameters in check and consider using Prime to help your fish cope with the elevated ammonia.

I'd be willing to bet that within a week to 10 days ytou should see things back to normal.

Hope that helps!

[fishhead123]

Your filter will only colonize enough bacteria to consume the waste that is available in the tank. It's likely that your bacteria bed was not large enough to handle all the new additions. It will take some time to see the levels even out again as your bacteria bed grows. Your readings are elevated, but nothing to be too alarmed about. Keep a close eye on things, perform water changes to keep parameters in check and consider using Prime to help your fish cope with the elevated ammonia.

I'd be willing to bet that within a week to 10 days ytou should see things back to normal.

Hope that helps!

exactly... adding 9 fishes will do that.