A Plea From Me

[Truck]

evening all

im on day 21 of my fish in cycle and still no nitrite...im getting desperate now, would any one be willing to post out some mature media? im willing to pay all costs, the reason it has to be posted is because im at school.

thank you all

 

[laura_smithuk]

where abouts are you?

 

[Tory]

Have you chucked in a frozen prawn? Ive read that when they start rot, it can help ...

 

[tropic_john]

he's cycling his tank with ammonia...

anyway, truck, are you cycling the planted tank, because loads of people fish-in cycle there planted tank

 

[Tory]

he's cycling his tank with ammonia...

anyway, truck, are you cycling the planted tank, because loads of people fish-in cycle there planted tank

my mistake!

Id still be careful, I did my planted tank with old media, water and fish waste and I had a couple of mortalities

 

[Geoff1991]

Not really fish in, its called a silent cycle

Same concept really, you stock slowly and do regular water changes. Only it isnt as much work because the plants use the majority of the ammonia and ,most people just do a 50% daily to get rid of the last little bit...

And truck i could send you some but my tanks been running a while with only shrimp in it so im not sure if it would be of any use...

 

[Truck]

thanks geoff, i would really appreciate that

as geodd said, im doing a fish in cycle, well in proper terms a silent cycle with plants

 

[RadaR]

Silent cycle with plants, ok.
Well, it's good you're not seeing any nitrite on the test kit. I don't know why you want to see any. If you did have some, there would be problems with water quality and algae. There are still low concentrations of nitrite present (probably) but these can't be registered on the test kit and aren't toxic. Your plants are taking care of the ammonia and nitrite hence why you're not seeing any.
Plus, if the plants are growing well then why care about the ammonia and nitrite? You know they are taking care of most of it and the remaining low concentrations are promoting the nitrifying bacteria.

 

[saz326]

have you tested for nitrAte? Maybe the filter skipped the nitrite phase and went straight for gold.

I would happily send some mature media - but the postal strikes have hit me this week so dont think it would be worth it until they sort themselves out.

 

[ZoddyZod]

have you tested for nitrAte? Maybe the filter skipped the nitrite phase and went straight for gold.

I second this. Took me 80 days to do a fish-in cycle and I never once saw nitrite. Ammonia is 0 and nitrate is slowing rising so I know it's being processed. The nitrite spike may just be very short and easily missed.

 

[Geoff1991]

thanks geoff, i would really appreciate that

as geodd said, im doing a fish in cycle, well in proper terms a silent cycle with plants

No worries, just drop me a PM with your address etc.

 

[Truck]

i bear good news! I Have nitrite! i was well chuffed

thanks for all the kind offers

 

[MisterJiggyFly]

If you're doing large daily water changes I suspect you're not allowing ammonia to reach a sufficient level to grow bacteria. I cycled my tank just like you (with fish and lots of plants) and I was completely finished by about day 30, but my cycle didn't really take off until I started doing water changes every other day, every three days, etc...

My pH was around 6.2 so my fishies were able to tolerate small concentrations of ammonia quite well. Not a single casulty or even signs of stress.

 

[MHunt]

This is the dilemma with a fish in cycle, do less water changes to let the bacteria build up to cycle the tank quicker which may harm the fish, or do loads of water changes and the cycle takes longer (if at all) as you're taking away the food for the bacteria.

That said if you're onto the Nitrite stage then you're probably not too far away now. What fish you got in? Are they hardy or a bit sensitive?

 

[Truck]

theyre ember tetras, im not stoping the water changes as im not going to put a fish into a stressful situation, whereas 0.25 ppm of ammonia wont be as severe as 1ppm

i know people say ember tetras arent hardy at all, but i beg to differ, theyre the hardiest fish ive ever kept