Surely there must be some bacteria in there by now?

[pugsandseals]

DD's xmas tank is being fed & has lots of snails. But we keep testing the levels and there is still little sign of anything changing -ammonia up from 0 - 0.5ppm but that's it! Is there something wrong with our filter or are we just being impatient?

How much ammonia/fish food have you been adding and how often have you been testing the water? Did you remember to dechlorinate the tap water?

PS have you tested the nitrIte yet?

A pinch of food every other day. Yes we put water conditioner in & the nitrite level is still zero. Do you think it's too slow then?

A pinch of food every other day probably isn't generating enough ammonia. I would stick a generous handful in an old stocking (make sure it's clean) and then hang it in the tank. That'll make it good and filthy and you'll get plenty of bacteria.

The ammonia usually takes about a week to peak and then disappear and around the same time you should see the nitrIte starting to rise- this takes a bit long than ammonia. The cycle should be finished in about 4-6 weeks and you'll probably need to do a water change to reduce the nitrAte before you add any fish. NitrAte should always be below 40ppm. Check your tap water nitrAte too because it can be quite high in some areas.

You might need to replace the fish food in the stocking a couple of times during the cycle.

Thanks EauRouge - I was convinced I was doing something wrong!

Well done for properly cycling a tank and not just sticking fish in straight away, not many people are this conscientious!