Migthegreek - Fishless Cycle Log

[Deleted member 55926]

Tank Details

Juwel Rekord 800 (110L / 29 US gallons)
Fluval 3+
Juwel 100W internal heater
Water temperature: 29°C

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[OldMan47]

I think I would try to get that used media right into the filter flow path if that is possible. Inside the filter would be even better.

 

[Deleted member 55926]

Yep, I cut the media to fit my filter and have it sitting in there now.

One initial worry I have is that my pH is too high for most fish that I was planning on having (e.g. tetras). Any thoughts or advice on this?

 

[JustFrozen]

One initial worry I have is that my pH is too high for most fish that I was planning on having (e.g. tetras). Any thoughts or advice on this?

I asked the same thing as my default pH is 8, very similar to yours. I was told to not worry about it too much - there are still a large variety of fish that prefer hard water, and you can tune your selection to this if you want, but the fish can do okay adjusting to a pH that is not historically preferable (your LFS probably has the same pH you do, and they're doing fine in that water). The important thing is to not bounce around in pH, and actually IIRC hard water is better for that as it makes the pH more stable. I'm pretty sure about all this but someone please correct me if I'm wrong

 

[OldMan47]

The pH is really a good one for doing a cycle so it is not a problem for now. A temperature of around 30C has also been shown to shorten the cycle time a little.
When it comes to pH and stocking soft water fish, you can dilute the liquid rock with rain water in many places or RO water if the rain in your area is not to be trusted. Personally my water is almost as high in pH as yours and I have no real problems keeping fish. When it comes to breeding the soft water fish, they do not breed very well for me at all. It seems the hard water actually affects the eggs and makes it hard to get them to hatch out fry. For that kind of fish, if I intend to breed them, I use a mix of 3 parts rain and 1 part tap water. I calculate the final mix by knowing the total dissolved solids of my tap water and researching the TDS that I want for the particular species to breed. I do cories who like their water less than 5 degrees of hardness so I use less than 100 ppm of TDS to guide me. So far it is working better than straight tap water but it means making a commitment to always use the same doctored up water for that tank. I rarely want to make that kind of commitment.

 

[Deleted member 55926]

your LFS probably has the same pH you do, and they're doing fine in that water

This is a very good point. It's only 10 mins down the road.

A temperature of around 30C has also been shown to shorten the cycle time a little.

Thanks, I will increase the temp a little.

you can dilute the liquid rock with rain water in many places or RO water if the rain in your area is not to be trusted.

Rain water is not really an option, as I live in a flat. What is RO though?

 

[OldMan47]

RO is reverse osmosis. It is a type of filtration system that produces water almost as pure as distilled water. Home systems are sold these days that can be installed in the kitchen sink and have an extra faucet for the RO that is separate from the rest of the water. A typical system in the US has a 3 gallon storage container so that you don't need to wait forever to get a glass of water from the RO. The water production rates of RO systems are given under ideal conditions and you can expect to get half or less of that production under typical conditions. Ratings of small systems are often only 25 gallons per day so we are talking about actual rates around a gallon every 2 hours. The filter system wastes more water than it produces so to make a gallon you end up using about 4 to 8 gallons from the water supplier. In almost every case, the water use cost is much lower than using distillation or ion exchange resin to get the same results in water quality. If you only had a very small aquarium, you could even buy RO water in many shops at a reasonable price but it is too costly for me to use store bought water in my situation with larger tanks in large numbers.

 

[Deleted member 55926]

Thanks for the info on RO, OldMan. Sounds far too extreme for me though (let alone I don't think I have the finances or space). I'll just see what happens with my water.

 

[waterdrop]

Adjusting your stocking, if it even becomes necessary, to your existing tap water is a really solid approach and should work well for a wide variety of fish.

I wouldn't worry about the 28C. I regard 29C as quite ideal but a few degrees either way won't make much difference since having it at these higher temps doesn't make all that make a huge difference anyway, as OM as mentioned.

Make the pH measurement a regular part of your tests (although it need not be every day since you probably have pretty hard water) just to keep an eye on the possibility that one day it drops on you. That's by far the most common thing to slow down a cycle.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Deleted member 55926]

Make the pH measurement a regular part of your tests (although it need not be every day since you probably have pretty hard water) just to keep an eye on the possibility that one day it drops on you. That's by far the most common thing to slow down a cycle.

So high pH speeds up the cycle? How often should I test?

 

[fatheadminnow]

Yes, a pH of 8.4 is optimal for the growth of the bacteria. I would check every couple of days, just to make sure it does not go too high (9+) or too low (6.5 or less).

-FHM

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, the pH range of 8.0 to 8.4 is equally optimal for growth of the two bacterial species we want. ~~waterdrop~~

 

[Deleted member 55926]

Well interestingly, I decided to test my pH again last night, and it is about 7.8, possibly 7.7 even. I don't know if this is good or bad... good for stocking options, bad for pH stability of my water.

 

[fatheadminnow]

The reason why your pH is fluctuating so much right now is because you are cycling. pH is prone to fluctuate in a cycling tank because of the different levels of ammonia and nitrate. When I just cycled one of my tanks not too long ago, my pH was ALL over the place. But, after the cycle was complete and I had fish and everything was going according to plan, my pH leveled out near my tap water pH level.

It will be fine, once the cycle has finished the pH should stabilize. If it does not, then we will look further into the matter for you!

-FHM

 

[Deleted member 55926]

The reason why your pH is fluctuating so much right now is because you are cycling.

No! I need to stress that the pH readings I am listing is my water straight from the tap, NOT the aquarium water.

Today it is 7.6, maybe 7.7... I will keep testing daily to get an average.