My Fish Less Cycle

[David J]

Hi

The Results this morning, 11 hours since dosing have Ammonia at zero, nitrite at 0.25ppm and the pH remains at 7.6-7.8.

Thanks
David

 

[David J]

This mornings test had to be done one hour early so was 11 hour after dosing instead of the usual 12 and the nitrite as JUST over zero. I can't say for sure but I reckon if I tested it after 12 hours it would be zero. I'm tempted to count that as daym1 out of 5 clear results. I guess the proof is in the pudding so will wait and see what tomorrow brings as it will be the usual 12 hours.

David

 

[David J]

Hi

Zero nitrite and ammonia this morning. So excited.

David

 

[daveyjay1]

Wow - how exciting! Can't wait for mine to get to this point. You must be feeling really happy.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Is this day 2 of double zeros?   Looks like you have plans this weekend?

 

[David J]

Very excited. There have been moments when I thought I'll never get fish but I'm nearly there. I've started a 'to do' list. It's as long as my arm and not finished it yet.

Officially, it's day one with double zeros but yesterday nitrite was ever so slightly over zero but I had to test a hour or so early so I'm counting it lol.

David

 

[daizeUK]

Great stuff   That's exactly a month since you started, not bad!
That's how a cycle SHOULD be lol

 

[David J]

It's been a long month Daize

I have some questions on a few things:

1) Obviously I'm going to do a 100% water change. During that water change I'll be putting live plants in. Now, when I'm filling the tank back up again should I use hot water from my tap (which comes from our boiler) or am I better using the cold water supply and heating some of it in the kettle to get the desired temperature before adding it to the tank? I've read lots of different views on this. Some folks even say when you are doing your 25% changes not to even bother heating it, just add it cold.

2) I have algae on my bogwood which I will clean off before adding water. Is it ok to rinse the wood in water straight from the tap or should I only rinse it in tank water or dechlorinated water? Obviously I will be dechlorinating the new water going into the tank. I know only to use tank water to rinse my filter media.

3) After I've done the water change and added the plants, should I wait for any period before adding my first fish or am I good to go?

That's all for now but no doubt there will be more.

Many thanks,

David

 

[David J]

Disaster this morning.

Tested after 11 hours and ammonia reads 2-3ppm and nitrite at between 0.25 and 0.50ppm.

I haven't done anything different other than I was 30 minutes late in putting the ammonia in last night.

No fish for me this weekend then

What could be wrong?

David

 

[daveyjay1]

Hi David
 
Oh no!! I am gutted for you - I thought you would be getting some fish this weekend as the tests were looking so good. I am sorry I can't offer any advice as I am new to all of this - but I am sure someone will be along with some help soon!
 
Dave

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Sounds like a pH crash.  When the nitrates start to build up, eventually they will overcome the buffering ability of the water and the pH will crash.  The bacteria don't like low pH, and more specifically will not process ammonia when the pH swings like that.  So, I'd suggest a massive water change.  Don't lose hope.  After the WC, the ammonia should process again just fine.  If it does for Friday and Saturday, getting fish on Sunday will still be safe.  

 
 
This happens, especially if you haven't added any baking soda or other materials to increase the buffering capability of your water.

 

[Shaddex]

Did you do your 100% water change or is this reading after the usual 12 hours ?
 
If you have already preformed your water change it could be that you disturbed something in your sub strait etc whilst doing your WC.
Preform another 100% water change, or give it 12 hours to process the ammonia again.
 
I cant see that your BB's have all died over night.  May just be a spike.
 
Check PH, and water temp etc.

 

[David J]

Hi

Just home from work. Not done anything to the tank yet other than test the following:

Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0
pH: 7.6-7.8 (as it was before).
Temp: 28-29 Celsius.

So, while I'm making dinner I need to try and find out if I should still do a 100% water change. I'm not sure because the pH hasn't changed and the fact that the ammonia and nitrite are down to normal levels.

Before testing this morning, I hadn't done any water change. This mornings results were after 11 hours and I had done nothing different at all.

What do you think?

Thanks,

David

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Honestly, I think that you are in a good spot still.  It was more than likely just a blip on the radar (as we've talked about the trend is the real key), since the pH remains stable.  
 
If this were my tank, I'd do a 50% change for two purposes:  
 
1 - to increase the buffering capacity of the water and offer some fresh carbon to the bacteria, which they require and give yourself insurance against a crash.
 
2 - to get a sense for the change in temp during a water change...  Personally, I don't use the proper temp water during a water change, but instead do it with cooler water and leave the heater to run (fully submerged of course) and heat the water during the refill.  I do this over a long period (usually 2 hours) as the water slowly trickles into my tank via a hose connected to the faucet in the kitchen sink.  My cories (and most of the other fish) really seem to enjoy it, play in the new water as it enters and it usually causes spawning behavior with my cories.  The temp will drop from the normal 74F to about 68F over that span, and they are more than happy with it.  The temp will then slowly come back up as the heater runs.  Remember these fish are river/stream dwellers, so a bit of a cool rain or snow/ice melt from the mountains is typical for these fish from time to time, so they are quite used to it.  The key is to do it sssssllllooooowwwwlllllyyyy.

 If you are using buckets, you'll want to have it temp matched within a few degrees.

 

[daizeUK]

Another reason to do a water change is to replace phosphates, which the bacs need to grow.  I've heard you can achieve the same by adding a couple of crushed fish flakes which have a lot of nutrients that the bacteria need.