Recent content by chris30uk

Thank you WD and OM. Iv been working all hours so iv not had much time. Its going pretty bad rite now. Ammonia is taking 16-18hours to cycle and Nitrite is holding at 5 ish (never should of removed that gravel) its a bloody mess so in 4 days when my fish arrive im in trouble. i four see a lot of...

Hi WD, its 375 liters plus an 8 liter external filter. What are my chances of success with 25 2-3inch fish? Im very worried now. Can you point me to a thread advising on a fish in cycle? One BIG question that springs to mind is if you have to keep the ammonia and nitrites near to zero with a...

Do you think removing the mature gravel from the filter was a bad idea? i have exactly 10days until my fish arrive. im panicking now.

Thank you OM and WD. Your help is much appreciated as always. Ok for some reason my pH keeps very slowly dropping so i have been slowly dosing bicarb of soda but only very occasionally and in small amounts. Maybe i should have left the two stockings filled with gravel in my filter but tonight i...

ahh! how long will it take to get my nitrites to 0? still at 3-5ppm everyday. im on day 23 with a seeded filter, is this normal? Ammona - 0 (in 12 hours) Nitrate - 3-5 Nitrate - ? (not tested) pH 7.6 Will a water change help as iv not changed my water from the start? Iv read about seeded...

Hi WD, nice to hear from you. Today's tests seem much more normal but its crazy how the tests went all weird. Anyhow heres tonight's results on day 20: Ammonia 0 (12hours or less) Nitrite 2-3 Nitrate 120-140 pH 7.6 i re dosed less ammonia tonight as common sense tells me the A bacs are...

Today's results: Ammonia - 0 (in 12 hours or less) Nitrite - 2-3 Nitrate - not tested pH - 8.4 Ok so the ammonia is cycling in 12 hours and possibly less:). My nitrites seem to be staying the same for now. For some reason the pH has jumped from 7.4 to 8.4 in 24 hours buti did add a small...

Hi thanks OM i hope so. Im still mystified about my nitrates lowering, any ideas? Could be faulty test im not sure. I didn't test for nitrates. Today's test results: Ammonia - 0 (roughly after 12-13 hours) Nitrite - 2-3 pH - 7.4 Ammonia cycle is getting faster now, nitrites are slowly...

ok i missed day 16 but i did check ammonia and it was 0 so i re dosed 4ppm. im a bit confused at my test results regarding nitrate. today's tests are: Ammonia - 0 nitrite - 2 - 3 nitrate - 15 - 20 (iv done no water changes?) pH 7.6 (added a small spoon of bicarb) ok so my ammonia keeps...

anyone?

i really appreciate your time WD. yes the filter has been seeded with gravel and filter gunk. a question: my filter has 3 trays for media but i didnt have enough ceramic rings to fill the one of the large baskets to even half way. today i bought more ceramic rings so i could fill the first...

Day 15 test results: Ammonia - 0 Nitrites - 5 pH - 8 Nitrates - not tested hi guys i was wondering. iv read people saying that you can have a seeded tank cycled in one week if done rite, is this possible? the reason im asking is in 8-12 days my fish will be arriving and im a little...

day 13: Ammonia 0, nitrites risen to 5ppm, nitrates quite high and pH the same (re dosed ammonia to 4ppm). Do i just leave alone at this point? what happens when nitrites go above 5ppm as the chart only goes up to 5? im not sure if i just wait until nitrites return to a readable ppm? help lol...

oh i see, so in any established filter there are nearly 3 times the amount of N Bacs than A Bacs. umm i didn't know that WD. so that must mean that my N Bacs have been fairly well established from early on as my nitrites have stayed pretty low all through my cycle up to now. Cheers WD you know...

thanks guys, yea the cycle seems to be as normal again. here are today's tests: Ammonia - 0 Nitrite - 3-4 Nitrate - 100+ (i think) pH - 8 so nothing really to report except the nitrites have risen 2-3ppm in 24 hours. i suspect the amount of ammonia being cycled is slowly building up and...