Berbies Fishless Cycle

[berbie38]

Hi all
thought I might as well share my experience with everyone I am very new to tropical fish keeping and so any advice very welcome. I am cycling a 180 ltr Jewel rio with final goal of keeping some malawi cichlids. Ok I managed to get all the mature media from one of the local pet shops golfish tanks which has been running for about 8 months and have put it in my filter. I haver dosed up the tank to 4ppm.
Tap water parameters
NH3 0.25 NO2 0 NO3 above 0 but way below 5 PH 7.0

Day 1 12/6/11
checked the Ammonia level early because I have the mature media still 4ppm but looks slightly paler.
NH3 4 NO2 0.25 NO3 N/A PH 7.5/8
will keep you informed om a regular basis
best wishes Berbie
just checked again about 3 hours after first test to make sure i wasnt hallucinating Nitrite up to 1 mg/l now!!
Day 2 13/6/11
NH3 2 NO2 5 NO3 N/A PH 8
Day 3 14/6/11
NH3 0.5 NO2 5-10 No3 10 PH 8
Day 4
NH3 0 NO2 10 NO3 10 Redosed to 2-3 PH 7.5
DAY 5
NH3 0 No2 15 No3 10-20 Redosed to 4ppm
Day 6:
NH3 0 NO2 15 NO3 10-20 redosed to 4ppm
Day 7
NH3 0 NO2 15 NO3 80 redosed to 4b ppm think nitrite is off scale as 15 is the highest reading
Day 9
NH3 0.25 N02 15 NO3 off scale nitrite may be off scale to its at its highest reading
LARGE WATER CHANGE
Day 10
NH3 0.25 NO2 5 NO3 40-80 redosed to 4
Day 11 22.6.11
NH3 0.25 NO2 5 NO3 N/A redosed to 4
Day 12 23.6.11.
NH3 0.5 NO2 5 No3 80-160 PH 7.5 redosed
Day 13 24.6.11
NH3 2 NO2 5 NO3 80-160 ph 7.5
[u]Day 14 25.6.11[/u]
NH3 0 N02 1 N03 80-160

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Mature media is awesome!


I would recommend upping the temp to 84F (29C) and the pH to 8.4ish (add baking soda).

 

[berbie38]

cool. temp is at that already, how much soda, i have quite high ph already

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I would also recommend you add the tap water parameters to the first post (pH, NH3, NO2, NO3) so that folks can compare your tap results to your current cycling situation. Also continue to add each day to the log, like this:

Day 1, 5/27/11 - 19:00 (12hrs) pH: 7.2, NH3: 2ppm, NO2: 2ppm, NO3: 40ppm, temp 82F (dosed with baking soda)

The baking soda dosage varies... How high is your pH now? Obviously, the lower the pH the more you will need to add. But, you really can't overdose it. I would add 1-2 tsp per 20 gallons, and then wait about 30 minutes or so to test the pH. If it is still lower than 8.0+, then I would add accordingly again.

 

[waterdrop]

What pH reading are you getting? Normally there is no need to adjust this as long as you are in the upper 7's or above. The two pH readings to look at are the tank and a glass of tap water after it has been sitting an hour or two (so you can get an idea of how a fresh fill of tap water would adjust the pH for the fishless cycle.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I yield to the master.

 

[berbie38]

ok i will post in a few hours to give my tap ph and other readings from the tap
thanks
berbie

 

[berbie38]

Hi ive edited my first post which now gives all parameters any help much appreciated
berbie

 

[eaglesaquarium]

 

[waterdrop]

As suspected, pH looks fine as is. But keep an eye on it over the course of the cycle, it is possible to start out with a pretty high pH but to have low KH and for it to thus be easier for the pH to quickly drop at some point (when the nitrate(NO3) ion is dissolved in water it moves between different bonding states and you typically get about 7% of it being nitric acid, which is why cycling has an acid effect on the tank - depending on the types and amounts of things that have a "carbonate hardness" (KH) effect, your water may or may not have a large ability to resist the acidic effect of the acid.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[berbie38]

ok, thanks
so what side effects could the ph dropping have? an acid effect on the tank- what will happen to the tank? longer to cycle?
what do i do if it drops too low? what ph value is too low?
best wishes
berbie

 

[eaglesaquarium]

6.0 stalls the cycle. If that happens, you have two options. 1) Water change, 2) add baking soda.

 

[waterdrop]

Correct, pH of 8.0 to 8.4 is the sweet spot for optimal beneficial bacterial growth in your developing biofilter. As the pH slips downward through the 7's this slowly begins to slow down, finally with the growth getting very slow in the upper 6's and stalling at 6.2 and usually totally stopping at 6.0 pH. It's complicated though because time is also a factor - the bacteria are actually responding to a -change- in pH. For instance, if a tank sat at a pH of 6.0 for a very long time, some of the bacteria would begin a slow comeback - just a good thing for understanding I believe.

At any rate, as long as pH is one of your periodic measures, a rapid pH drop is easy to detect and easy to remedy as mentioned.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[berbie38]

Thanks for the advice very much appreciated.
Have updated todays results, looking good!!

 

[berbie38]

Hi all just got in from work and ammonia now down to 0.5, should i redose??
Regards berbie