Miles' Fishless Cycle

[stealth300]

Ive found my conservatory the best for natural light if you have one..or a room with windows and white walls,also Ph7.4 and 8.0 on the chart do look very similar in the wrong light.I was having the same issues with ammonia until i used the conservatory to view my tests.

 

[Miles_hot]

Thanks for the thought Stealth - we are very lucky with the kitchen; cathedral roof (as the architect somewhat grandly calls it), white walls and masses of windows

Miles

 

[Miles_hot]

OK, last night we did two big water changes and got the nitrate levels down to the same as the tap water (20ppm).

The only thing is that I don't remember putting the de-chlorinator into the tank before doing the second change. If this is the case the pump had been running for about 4 hours before I leapt out of bed and chucked a 2 cap dose (double normal) in. If I did mess up I guess this mornings results will show a nice ammonia spike and we can look forward to another 80-90 day cycle.

Goodness I hope I just did it as part of the routine and didn't mess up.

Miles

 

[Miles_hot]

Update: the values this morning were (from memory - to be confirmed when I get home) Ammonia: 2, nitrite 2, nitrate: 40. So we've lost some of the Ammonia eaters (I'd expect it to be zero after 12 hours) but the Nitrite eaters seem to be much more alive and well having managed to process faster than normal.

Oh thank goodness!!!

More detail tonight.

Miles

 

[KittyKat]

Can you get readings for your GH and KH?

 

[Miles_hot]

KK - I'm sure I can, will have to buy some more tests though. What will this tell us and what will be then be able to do?
Thanks.
Miles

 

[KittyKat]

I was only asking out of curiosity.. no need for a test kit

Can you get some media from an established filter, to add to yours?

 

[Miles_hot]

I've tried that - I added a very small amount which got the ammonia bit kicked off. There was an offer which I may now need to take up of some more but I will not be free to collect that for a few weeks I think.
I'm currently so pleased not to have killed the filter off last night!
The nitrate reading has increased steeply in the last 12 hours, it will be very interesting to see what it Is tonight.
Going forwards I assume that plants will help keep the nitrate reading under control?
Miles

 

[KittyKat]

Plants and water changes

You may have killed off some of the bacteria, but you also gave the remainder lots of trace minerals to work with.

 

[Miles_hot]

could also be a darwin thing here - kill off the weaklings?

The evening readings are back on track, maybe it was all a bad dream?

Miles

 

[Miles_hot]

Well this morning's results are very encouraging - 0.5ppm Nitrite. The end is in sight Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Miles

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yes, soon now!


What are your stocking plans?

 

[Miles_hot]

After the fantastic results of the 12th the results on the 13th in the morning were a little disappointing with the ammonia not having gone. As the Nitrates were going high (80+ in the morning and then 100 in the evening) we did another double water change so we'll see what this morning brings!
Going to get very boring having to do multiple water changes every few days because the Nitrates have got a bit high! Any ideas why we seem to have to do the water changes were others don't seem to have to do them?
Miles

 

[KittyKat]

Your tap nitrates are unusually high (mine are 0-5 ppm right now, and were 10-15 ppm when I lived in UK), and we don't know how much trace minerals your water contains..

Have you decided on your stocking yet? If you get the same results from day 86 to day 90 as you got on 84 and 85, I think it would be safe to consider your filter cycled.. but *only* if the results are consistent! Because you're still getting some ammonia and nitrite, you will not be able to stock as fully as normally after a fish-less, but at least half-stock with plants should not be a problem.

Also, what's the water volume and the filter you're working with? What media do you have in your filter?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

+1

A word of caution regarding plants... Adding new plants can actually increase ammonia. As our friends in the planted section call it, plants can "melt" a bit as they get acclimated to their other new home. Just be careful... Also, for the sake of keeping ammonia low, I would post in the planted section and try to find plants that don't "melt" easily. I hear that while most cryptocorynes are "easy", they do melt almost all the time when moved.