Add And Wait, Without Any Established Bacteria

[Skins]

Thanks, just tested my pH as I read in another post that the cycle can stall if too low?

My tank pH is 6 now, so would it be a good idea to add a teaspoon of bicarb?

Fresh tap water and water left to stand is 6.8 to 7.2, can't remember which way round though!

Thanks for everyone's help

Yes it would be a good idea to add bicarb, remember when buying make sure it only has sodium bicarbonate in the ingredients.
When i dosed with bicarb i added 1 1/2 tsp per 50ltr left an hour checked pH, if still not at the desired level(8.0-8.4) added a bit more and checked pH another hour later and so on till you reach your target.
Another tip is to get a jug of your tank water dose with your bicarb, stir and then add to the tank.

Keith.

 

[jonathand]

Cheers.

Added 1 teaspoon a few hours ago and it's reading about 7.8 now.
Is it worth adding a tiny bit more to try and get past 8?

Could try adding another half (54l tank) but guessing I don't want it to go too high!

 

[Skins]

Cheers.

Added 1 teaspoon a few hours ago and it's reading about 7.8 now.
Is it worth adding a tiny bit more to try and get past 8?

Could try adding another half (54l tank) but guessing I don't want it to go too high!

Adding one quarter/half of a tsp may well push it to that zone(8.0-8.4) the bacterias prefer but then saying that 7.8 won't hurt. In my opinion once your pH gets below neutral(7.0) and into acidic terratory this is when the fishless cycler can be presented with problems.

Keep us all posted, Keith.

 

[jonathand]

Ended up adding another whole teaspoon in the end which brought the pH up to 8.2 where it has stayed for the last two days.

Added 1ml of ammonia yesterday which has processed in 24hrs so done the same again today.

Any rough idea how long it might take to see the nitrite spike dropping at all?

Thought it might have been between 2 and 5ppm today but it's hard to tell.
Mine is like a bright magenta pink whereas on the card it seems more of a purple/blue shade.

Obviously adding the extra ammonia is going to be creating more of it too!

 

[Skins]

Ended up adding another whole teaspoon in the end which brought the pH up to 8.2 where it has stayed for the last two days.

Added 1ml of ammonia yesterday which has processed in 24hrs so done the same again today.

Any rough idea how long it might take to see the nitrite spike dropping at all?

Thought it might have been between 2 and 5ppm today but it's hard to tell.
Mine is like a bright magenta pink whereas on the card it seems more of a purple/blue shade.

Obviously adding the extra ammonia is going to be creating more of it too!

While your in the nitrite spike stage you want to cut down your h/h ammonia dose from 5/4ppm to 2ppm. When your nitrite level gets to zero which could be up to 2weeks you can then start to increase your h/h ammonia dose back up to 4/5ppm.

Keith.

 

[jonathand]

Might visit a local fish store this weekend to see what they have and what the prices are like.
Was planning getting a few shrimps in the future, do they need a fully cycled tank too?

 

[AdultMaleChicago]

I'm using the same cycling method on my 10 gallon US tank, which is a little smaller than yours at approx 37 liters. Restarting the cycle from day one starting tomorrow. This threat has been useful to me in terms of planning.

Might visit a local fish store this weekend to see what they have and what the prices are like.

Keep us posted on what looks good and, if you feel like it, your strategy for introducing fish to your aquarium.

 

[jonathand]

Visited a Maidenhead Aquatics store on Saturday.

I am interested in small, bright, shoaling and colourful fish.
Don't really want anything that will grow too big, probably only 2 or 3 inches maximum.

Before visiting I was thinking of Cardinal/Glowlight Tetras, some Pygmy/Dwarf Corys and possibly a couple of Guppies (don't really want any live bearer babies though!).

Fish that I liked in the store were:

Glowlight Danios

Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid

Yellow Honey Gourami

Trilineatus Cory

Schwartzi Cory

Red Snake Skin, Flame and Blue Guppy

Gold Tiger Barb

Think i'm going to need a bigger tank!

 

[Skins]

I do like the look of the Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid

Keith.

 

[jonathand]

Yeah, that was the most expensive of them all at £7 each

Might make a nice centrepiece as it gets a bit bigger and seems to be okay to keep just one.

 

[jonathand]

Still waiting for my nitrite to drop to zero, it's been reading 5ppm for two full weeks now.

Can process 2ppm ammonia in 6 hours though i'm only dosing every 24hrs.

 

[Skins]

Still waiting for my nitrite to drop to zero, it's been reading 5ppm for two full weeks now.

Can process 2ppm ammonia in 6 hours though i'm only dosing every 24hrs.

 

[jonathand]

Read up on the nitrite eating bacteria and saw one of the main things needed is large amounts of oxygen, so decided to see if there was anything simple I could do to help!

26th - left the feeding lid open to allow more air in, water temperature dropped 2 or 3 degrees but no other changes.
27th - moved my filter output so that it released 1000's of tiny air bubbles every minute, instead of just making the surface ripple.
28th - checked it today and I've finally seen a change down to 2ppm.

May just be a coincidence after waiting all this time

One other strange thing, I tested 2.5ml tank water mixed with 2.5ml tap water expecting to see half the ppm but it actually turned bright magenta/pink like it's been for the past two weeks.
Also, if the 2ppm test is left for over five minutes the colour gradually changes to a clear silvery/grey, which you can see other colours through just like tap water.

 

[Skins]

Read up on the nitrite eating bacteria and saw one of the main things needed is large amounts of oxygen, so decided to see if there was anything simple I could do to help!

26th - left the feeding lid open to allow more air in, water temperature dropped 2 or 3 degrees but no other changes.
27th - moved my filter output so that it released 1000's of tiny air bubbles every minute, instead of just making the surface ripple.
28th - checked it today and I've finally seen a change down to 2ppm.

May just be a coincidence after waiting all this time

One other strange thing, I tested 2.5ml tank water mixed with 2.5ml tap water expecting to see half the ppm but it actually turned bright magenta/pink like it's been for the past two weeks.
Also, if the 2ppm test is left for over five minutes the colour gradually changes to a clear silvery/grey, which you can see other colours through just like tap water.

 

[jonathand]

Nitrite

29th 1ppm
30th 0.5ppm