Big Changes!

[190MPH]

Well after what seemed like an eternity, my nitrate finally made a big leap in the FL cycle! It had been stagnant at 5ppm and is now 60-80ppm ! My nitrite is still at 2ppm, but one thing I did notice is that when the drops are put into the tube, they stay light blue while they are being mixed, then gradually develop to the pink 2ppm color. I saw this yesterday and thought it was a change from what I had been seeing, now I know why. pH is still rock steady @ 7.8, KH did drop slightly from the original 4 down to ~2, but it has been there for several days, so hopefully that is where it will settle.

I am SOOOOO glad that I listened to everyone here to hang in and be patient. It seems like I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm so happy I could.....never mind !

 

[backtotropical]

Pleased for you, 190. Stick in there, sounds like you've not long to go.

 

[waterdrop]

well that's just great there nitro!

If your nitrate(NO3) has now gone way up, your pH is good but not that high and your KH has dropped from 4 to 2 then you are ripe for a sudden pH crash. You'll need to monitor it frequently and be ready to react with a large water-change-gravel-clean (thus relying on the higher KH/pH in the tap water to bring you back up) or else think about using baking soda to make sure your KH is probably not below 4 or so. Since your nitrite(NO2) is still only dropping to 2 (at 12 or 24 hour mark - you don't say) then you still have a ways to go but you are clearly moving forward and good bacterial populations are getting established.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[190MPH]

Thanks everyone. This morning brought more good news. Nitrite was 0 @ 24 hrs, after being 2 @ 24 yesterday! Just need to get it to be 0 @ 10-12 hrs and it'll be a wrap. Of course then I'll probably harass you with a million questions about the actual fish once they're in there! pH is still steady @ 7.8-8

 

[190MPH]

Edit: Well it seems that it is better than expected today! I had checked nitrite before my normal 6am ammonia dosing, hence the results above. When I got home today (10 hrs after dosing), I checked again to see where it was at. To my surprise, ammonia 0 and NITRITE 0 ! Looks like I'm basically there, but I'll give it a few extra days to be sure. The long holiday weekend may lend itself perfectly to getting some fish on Monday!

 

[OldMan47]

Congratulations. It is a real relief when you can finally stock with fish and stop messing with the ammonia. Have you figured out yet what you will be stocking?