Fishless Cycle Diary

[djl08]

Just wanted to post my diary so far and update it as the days go by. For those of you thay havent read my previous posts im cycling a 100 x 40 x 50 cm tank ( around 160L). It will be a community tank, not quite sure what fish im going to put in it yet.

Im running an interpet PF4 internal canister filter, with a 300W heater and ive just added an air stone and an air disk as ive heard the higher temps will drive the oxygen out of the water, which isnt what we want.

My water temp is currently 84 degrees, ive heard thats optimal for bacterial growth.

Ive added a picture below. Forgive the shoddy positioning of the plants.

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Ive chosen 7 pm as my add/ test time, so any tests will be 12/24 hr after that.

Before starting the cycle i filled the tank, got the heater and filter running and left to settle for 2 days.

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Day 1 - 17/5/09

Ph - 7.2
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm

Added 7ml of ammonia to bring it up to 4ppm.
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Day 2 - 18/5/09

Ph - 7.8 (dont really know how this rose)
Ammonia - >4ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - N/a
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Day 3 - 19/5/09

Ph - 7.8
Ammonia ->4ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - N/a
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Day 4 - 20/5/09

Ph - 7.8
Ammonia ->4ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - N/a

*Raised temp to 81 degrees
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Day 5 - 21/5/09

Ph - 7.8
Ammonia ->4ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - N/a

*Added mature media from spesh (thanks again for that). Hopefully this will give it a bit of a kick in the kiester.
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Day 6 - 22/5/09

Ph - 7.8
Ammonia ->4ppm
Nitrite - <0.25ppm finally got a reading of nitrites, should i start testing for nitrates as well now?
Nitrate - N/a

*Raised temp to 84 degrees as i read today that that is optimal, also added an air stone and an air disc to the tank to keep oxygen levels up.
2 questions;

1) How do i get my ph to the optimal 8.4?
2) Was thinking of adding some plants, is this recommended? if so, which ones?
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Day 7 - 23/5/09

Ammonia - still >4ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm ----
Nitrate - 0ppm

*how have the nitrates dissapeared? and still no nitrates?. Added 4 live plants, think ones a cabomba, and ones an amazon sword, will upload pics when i get a chance for identification.
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Day 8 - 24/5/09

Ph - 7.8
Ammonia - 4ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

*Did this test 5 mins ago ( 3 hours early as im going out for the rest of the day) and still no change, i thought i would have seen something by now having seeded with mature media on thursday. I thought i had a lot of patience, so much for that. Grrr.
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Day 9 - 25/5/09

Ph - 7.4
Ammonia - 4ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm

*in some dire need of a confidence boost guys.
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Day 10 - 26/5/09

Ph - 8
Ammonia - >4ppm
Nitrite - No test
Nitrate - No test
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Day 11 - 27/5/09

Ph - 8
Ammonia - 8ppm

*Got home from work today and found that my cabomba had completely disintegrated and was floating around my tank. I should have acted sooner and removed it i suppose. Anyway, got an ammonia reading of around 8ppm today (not quite as bard as the 8ppm). So i carried out a 40L water change (around 25%) and the ammonia went down to 4ppm. I also took my filter apart because i noticed that the flow rate had dropped, as i suspected, full of my disintegrated cabomba. Could this be what caused the rise in ammonia?

Ph - 7.8
Ammonia - <4ppm.
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Day 12 - 28/05/09

Ph - 7.8
Ammonia - 1.5ppm
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Day 13 - 29/05/09 (+1hr)

Ph - 7.8
Ammonia - 1ppm

* Finally seeing a significant drop in ammonia levels
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Day 14 - 30/5/09

No Tests carried out
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Day 15 - 31/5/09

Ph - 7.8
Ammonia - 0.5ppm
Nitrite - 0-0.25ppm
Nitrate - 0-5ppm
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Day 16 - 1/6/09 (+2hrs)

Ammonia - 0ppm!!!!!

*Added 5 ml of ammonia. Being a bit cautious with the ammonia adding since i added too much last time round.

Ammonia - 4ppm

*Turns out me being cautious worked out orite for me.
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Day 17 - 2/6/09

Ammonia - 3ppm
Nitrite - 0 - 0.25 ppm
Nitrate - 5 - 10 ppm
Ph - 8.0

*Finding it hard to read the results against the cards in my test kit. Any tips?
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Day 18 - 3/6/09

Ammonia - 1ppm

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Day 19 - 4/6/09

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0.5ppm
Nitrate - 5 - 10pm
Ph - 7.4

*Added 5 ml of ammonia. Ph seems to be falling. What could be causing this?
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Day 20 - 5/6/09

Ammonia - 0.5 - 1ppm

*Trimmed and planted the cuttings of my hygro. polysperma, hope they root. Also split and replanted my amazon sword.
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Day 21 - 6/6/09 (-4hrs)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 5ppm
Nitrate - 10-20 ppm
Ph - 7.4

*Promising set of results today, got my first significant nitrite reading, and my nitrates and climbing nicely.
+5ml of ammonia.
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Day 22 - 7/6/09

Ammonia - 0-0.25ppm
Nitrite - >5ppm
Nitrate - 40ppm
Ph - 7.4

*28 hours after adding the last dose of ammonia. Added a further 5ml of ammonia.
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Day 23 - 8/6/09

I was out all day so had no time to test.
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Day 24 - 9/6/09

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 5ppm
Nitrate - 40ppm
Ph - 7.6

*Added 5 ml of ammonia.
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Day 25 - 10/6/09 (+1hr)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 5ppm
Nitrate - 20-40ppm
Ph - 7.4

*Added 5 ml of ammonia. Nitrate and Ph seem to have dropped a little.
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Day 26 - 11/6/09

Ammonia - 0ppm

*+5ml of ammonia.
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Day 27 - 12/6/09

Ammonia - 0 - 0.25ppm
Nitrite - 5ppm
Nitrate - 40ppm
Ph - 6.6

*Ph has dropped from 7.4 to 6.6 . What could have caused this.
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Day 28 - 13/6/09

When i got home today i carried out a 90% water change, then recharged with ammonia. This took so long that i didnt have time to test afterwards.
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Day 29 - 14/6/09 (am)

Ammonia - 0.5ppm
Nitrite - 5ppm
Nitrate - 20ppm
Ph - 7.6

*Didnt have the time to test last nite so i did it when i woke up this morning. Shouldnt a water change drop the nitrite and nitrate reading?
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Day 29 - 14/6/09 (pm) +2hrs

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0.5-1ppm
Nitrate - 5-10ppm
Ph - 7.6

* Big change since this morning, big drop in nitrite and nitrite. Added 3 ml of ammonia.
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Day 30 - 15/6/09

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
Ph - 7.4

*Added 5 ml of ammonia. Does this mean i start the 12 hour tests?
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Day 31 - 16/6/09 AM (12hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 1ppm
Ph - 7.4

Day 31 0 16/6/09 PM (24hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0.5ppm
Ph - 7.0

*As much as it pains me to say this., i think im heading for another Ph crash here. Added 5ml of ammonia following 24 hr test.
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Day 32 - 17/6/09 AM (12 hr test)

Ammonia - 2ppm
Nitrite - 5
Ph - 7.0

Day 32 - 17/6/09 PM (24hr test)

Ammonia - 0.25ppm
Nitrite - 5ppm
Ph - 6.8

*added 4ml of ammonia.
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Day 33 - 18/6/09 AM (12hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - >5ppm
Nitrate -
Ph -8.3

Day 33 - 18/6/09 PM (24hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0-0.25ppm
Nitrate - 5-10ppm
Ph - 8.2

*Added 4ml of ammonia.
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Day 34 - 19/6/09 AM (12 hr test)

No tests carried out (working mornings) !!!

Day 34 - 19/6/09 PM (24hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Ph - 8.2

*Added 4ml of ammonia.
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Day 35 - 20/6/09 AM (12hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 5ppm
Ph - 8.2

Day 35 - 20/6/09 PM (24hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

*Added 4ml of ammonia.
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Day 36 - 21/6/09 AM (12hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 5ppm
Ph - 8.3

Day 36 - 21/6/09 PM (23.5hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
Ph - 8.2

*Added 4ml of ammonia.
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Day 37 - 22/6/09 AM (14hr test)

Nitrite - 0.1ppm

Day 37 - 22/6/09 PM (24hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Ph - 8.2

*Added 4ml of ammonia.
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Day 38 - 23/6/09 AM (12hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 1ppm
Ph - 8.2

Day 38 - 23/6/09 PM (24hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Ph - 8.3

*Added 4ml of ammonia.
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Day 39 - 24/6/09 AM (14hr test)

Ammonia - 0-0.25ppm
Nitrite - 5ppm
Ph - 7.9

Day 39 - 24/6/09 PM (25hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0-0.25ppm
Ph - 8.3

*Added 1 teaspoon of bicarb to raise the Ph slightly, also to prevent it from crashing. Added 4ml of ammonia after this evenings tests.
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Day 40 - 25/6/09 AM (12hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 1ppm
Ph - 8.3

Day 40 - 25/6/09 PM (24hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

+4ml ammonia.
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Day 41 - 26/6/09 AM (12hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

Day 41 - 26/6/09 PM (24hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 20ppm
Ph - 8.3

*+4ml ammonia.
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Day 42 - 27/6/09 AM (12hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0.5ppm

Day 42 - 27/6/09 PM (24hr test)

No tests carried out, was thrown a surprise birthday party!
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Day 43 - 28/6/09 AM (12hr test)

No tests carried out.

Day 43 - 28/6/09 PM (12hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

*+4ml ammonia.
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Day 44 - 29/6/09 AM (12hr test)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

Day 44 - 29/6/09 PM (24hr test)

Ammonia -
Nitrite -
Nitrate -
Ph -


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- Dj -

 

[fatheadminnow]

You can start to test for nitrates, but it is a little irrelevant at this point, but recommended.

I would not mess with your pH.

Trying to change your pH and maintaining that level is a whole new ball game, I would just stick with what your pH is at.

Besides, you are already making some nice progress!

-FHM

 

[snowflake311]

I'm doing a fishless cycle for fresh water it's been 3 almost 4 weeks my NO2 are starting to slowly go down my nitrates are at 40 and going up. I checked my ph it was 6.4 I started with it at 7.5.

Turns out the bactira that converts nitrites adds more acid to the water. So I did a water change added more ammonia to feed the tank. My ph is normal again. So at the end of your. Cycle check your ph.

I cycled my tank with some plant it worked fine. Are you setting up for saltwater?

 

[djl08]

I would not mess with your pH.

Trying to change your pH and maintaining that level is a whole new ball game, I would just stick with what your pH is at.

I see what your saying, just thought it would save me some time by getting it to the optimal 8.4.

I cycled my tank with some plant it worked fine. Are you setting up for saltwater?

No its set up for freshwater, was thinking dwarf gourami's, clown loach's, and maybe a siamese fighter (love those).

As for the plants, any thoughts?

 

[OldMan47]

The pH drops as the nitrates come up because some of the nitrates are in the form of nitric acid. The water change will bring down nitrates and let the pH recover. If you start with a low buffering capacity in the water, low KH, the acidifying effect will be noticed much sooner than in a tank with a high KH.

 

[djl08]

Updated, cant see where the little nitrites i had have gone? and still no movement in ammonia!

 

[djl08]

Updated, i heard that this would try my patience. Didnt really expect to start losing my patience so quickly. I suppose when the missus is in your ear going, 'when will it be done?' or 'When can we have fish? or even ' I told you we should have got a rabbit!!!'


-Dj-

 

[djl08]

Updated, still no change. In need of some votes of confidence. Just so i know everything is ok.

Cheers

- Dj -

 

[djl08]

Anyone?

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Dj,

Wow, you got your dose of impatience nice and early. You've hardly begun! It often takes a week or two (or even once it took 3!) to get that very first dosing of ammonia to drop from 4-5ppm all the way down to zero ppm. The only reason it "feels" slower than later in the process is because our test kits are too crude to be able to detect the work that a few Nitrosomonas cells are busy doing down there in the filter. In other words, its not that -nothing- is happening, its just that we can't see it yet and we just have to trust that. It certainly sounds like you're doing everything right. Its very unpredictable whether the "seeding process" will happen to "take" when you put in mature media, but its never a bad thing to do as it will have given you -some- sort of little boost, no matter what, even if you can't detect it yet.

Aquariums are all about "slowing down" and enjoying life in a new way that is a big contrast to our new world of computers and cell phones and high speed trains, lol. It can be tricky to weave a tale of bacteria growing that's interesting to engage your spouse, I know that all too well, but in my mind that's your best bet. I always try to involve the people around me in my own fascination with all aspects of our natural world and its processes and I find that to be fascinating entertainment for our short years we have here on earth. Once you finish fishless cycling and get fish, that new phase of your hobby will go on for years to come and will be what it is, but the little period at the very beginning, those short couple of months is the -only- period you get to be directly involved sometimes in intensly learing about biofilters, bacteria and all this strange stuff, so embrace it!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[djl08]

Thanks for that waterdrop, i know im probably being a tad impatient but ive been reading other peoples fishless cycle diaries and the majority had a drop in ammonia in the first couple of days. Mine seems to be stuck somewhere between 4 and 8 ppm (darker green than the 4). Just tested again and the ammonia seems to be getting a darker shade of green, and the Ph has gone up to 8. Didnt bother testing for NO2 or NO3.

 

[djl08]

Got home from work today and found that my cabomba had completely disintegrated and was floating around my tank. I should have acted sooner and removed it i suppose. Anyway, got an ammonia reading of around 8ppm today (not quite as bard as the 8ppm). So i carried out a 40L water change (around 25%) and the ammonia went down to 4ppm. I also took my filter apart because i noticed that the flow rate had dropped, as i suspected, full of my disintegrated cabomba. Could this be what caused the rise in ammonia?


- Dj -

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, any organic matter, be it plants or fish or whatever, will break down and be processed by the heterotrophic clouds of bacteria into ammonia. A large mass of plants that dies will produce a lot of ammonia.

While on the topic, its interesting to note the sources of ammonia (later on, in a fully running tank): The largest source will usually be from respiration of the fish, as gills give off some ammonia in addition to CO2. After that there are a number of smaller sources that will vary relative to each other, depending on the tank situation. These are: excess fish food, animal waste and plant debris. The heterotrophic bacteria are completely different species than the autotrophic bacteria that is beneficial for the biofilter function.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[djl08]

Thanks for that wd, something else i didnt know. So was i right to do a water change?

- Dj -

 

[waterdrop]

Sure, that's fine.

~~waterdrop~~