Ask Questions About Cycling

[kwi]

Oh and I added an airstone, I did have the filter spraybar fully open and rippling the surface, but this just adds a bit more agitation.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Yep, that’s fine, if you add some carbonate like bicarbonate of soda to boost your kH to at least 3gKH then you should be good to go.

 

[Essjay]

Is that the voice of experience....

No, thank goodness.
In mainland UK we call it bicarbonate of soda (I presume Ireland, north and south does as well?) but other countries call it baking soda and we had one member a few years ago confuse it with baking powder (we have that in the UK as well) and that resulted in a white powdery mess everywhere.



Baking soda/bicarbonate of soda = NaHCO3
Baking powder = NaHCO3 plus a weak acid such as tartaric acid.

 

[kwi]

I got them confused the first time I made scones........

 

[Essjay]

It could have been worse. I once made scones and picked up the wrong box - I used salt instead of sugar


Flour comes in 2 types, in the UK they are called self raising and plain flour. Self raising is plain which has baking powder added to it.
In the 1960s in cookery lessons, we were told that self raising flour was lazy so we had to use plain flour and add baking powder.
In the 1930s in cookery lessons, my mother was told that baking powder was lazy so they had to add bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar (tartaric acid) to their plain flour.

How times change.

 

[Colin_T]

It could have been worse. I once made scones and picked up the wrong box - I used salt instead of sugar

My cousin did that to me when I was a kid. We went to have breakfast and it was wheatbix. I never liked them so went to put a couple of spoonfulls of sugar on them. My cousin had switched the sugar for salt and the wheatbix got thrown out coz they were salty.

 

[kwi]

I hope you put salt not sugar on your porridge.......

 

[Essjay]

I use sweetener. I don't add salt to anything (high blood pressure)

 

[Darter217]

Is it normal to have a few small white worms (about 3 or 4) on the glass of your tank during a fishless cycle? Added my first dose of ammonia two days ago and spotted them yesterday. You can see onw of them here.

 

[Ch4rlie]

What are you using to dose ammonia with?

If you are using fish foods or prawns then thers your answer, it is likely to be detritus worms or planeria type worms which are feeding on the foods or prawns and with no predators around these worms will grow and breed.

 

[kwi]

Now 39days since I first added ammonia, drained, refilled and redosed the tank 2 weeks ago, adding calcium carbonate and an airstone in the process as my KH was a bit low and the airstone wouldn't hurt. Filter media and substrate left as they were. Added a small bottle of safe start 9 days ago, and had added one a few weeks before that. Still no nitrites..........and no drop in ammonia, which I have 2 different test kits for.
I am using a tap water conditioner, though my water is chlorinated so that would off gas over time, I did get a bacterial bloom after the first dose of ammonia, but not after refilling.
Gahhhhhh

I have a load of plants in a shopping basket, only fake plants in the tank atm, but if no bacteria is multiplying will a silent cycle work?

 

[Ch4rlie]

That is most unusual, though having said that, not all bottles of safe start has active nitrifying bacteria as it depends on how it was transported and whether it was left in cold or hot storage for a while and expiry date, those can have an impact on bacteria life cycle.

What ammonia are you using?

I would add all the live plants that you have, those will likely have bacteria on them.

 

[kwi]

That is most unusual, though having said that, not all bottles of safe start has active nitrifying bacteria as it depends on how it was transported and whether it was left in cold or hot storage for a while and expiry date, those can have an impact on bacteria life cycle.

What ammonia are you using?

I would add all the live plants that you have, those will likely have bacteria on them.

I'm using Dr Tim's ammonia dosing to 3ppm, will have to buy plants mail order as very slim choice locally.

 

[Ch4rlie]

I'm using Dr Tim's ammonia dosing to 3ppm, will have to buy plants mail order as very slim choice locally.

The plants from LFS would be ok temporary as it’s just to help start the cycle off if the bottles stuff does not work, basically as a source of bacteria really.

Mail order or in vitro plants might not have the bacterias needed to start a cycle.

Dr Tims ammonia chloride is good. Just checking.

 

[Colin_T]

I'm using Dr Tim's ammonia dosing to 3ppm, will have to buy plants mail order as very slim choice locally.

Do you actually have 2-3ppm of ammonia in the water, or more?
If the ammonia level gets too high (5ppm+), the cycling process will stall.

What is the pH of the water?
If the pH is too low the cycling process will stall.

Is the filter run continuously (24/7)?

Have you cleaned or changed any of the filter media/ material?
You don't want to touch the filter until at least 2 weeks after the tank has finished cycling.