Day 16 Of Cycling And Finally 0 Nitrite!

[mrvillicus]

As some may have seen I had posted daily results of my cycling progress just for interest and I havent for a while, so im now upto day 12 and receiving some good results. Ive started using standard dechlorinator instead of Tetra Aquasafe to save money. Ive ordered some fish that will be here weds 2 x Apistogramma agassizii "Super Red" 2 x dwarf paradise gourami 2 x amano shrimp to go with my 3 neon tetra and 3 red fin tetra to go in my new 3ft tank. Anyway the results are......

DAY 7
PH 7
AMMONIA 0.25
NITRITE 0.50
NITRATE 10

DAY 8
PH 6.8
AMMONIA 0.25
NITRITE 2

DAY 9
PH 7.2
HIGH PH 7.4
AMMONIA 0
NITRITE 0.25
NITRATE 0

DAY 10
AMMONIA 0
NITRITE 0

DAY 11
AMMONIA 0.25
NITRITE 0.25

AFTER WATER CHANGE BOTH 0

DAY 12
MORNING
AMMONIA 0
NITRITE 0.25

AFTERNOON
PH 6.0
AMMONIA 0
NITRITE 0
NITRATE 0

I cant understand why suddenly the PH has dropped to 6.0 and the Nitrate has dropped to 0

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Try and test your tap water for hardness/softness... a simple KH/GH test kit will prove what water type are you live in, if it soft (like mine) then your water will continue to be prone to 'PH crashes', hence the reason i have to use handfuls of soft coral to keep my 'buffering capacity' at a suitable level.
Also, it is never really a good idea to add yet more fish to an already un-cycled tank, i hope it works out for you, but you maybe looking at more frequent, and bigger, water changes on a daily basis.

Terry.

 

[mrvillicus]

thanks for your help terry it seems nitrates and ammonia are stabilizing but i will keep up daily changes as required

 

[mrvillicus]

apparently my water is slightly hard to moderately hard with an average ph of 7

 

[The Taffy Apple]

thanks for your help terry it seems nitrates and ammonia are stabilizing but i will keep up daily changes as required

Try not to confuse NitrAtes with NitrItes, it will only end in more confusion..NitrAtes are the 'end product' and cannot be 'stabilized', only lowered through weekly water changes and/or a heavily planted tank.

Terry.

 

[tmiller]

Not intended to be gloom dropper but 14 days , unless you seeded is only, at best 1/2 cycled. Please wait for the nitrite Spike its gonna knock your socks off I promise

 

[ZoddyZod]

I'm confused, will the fish you have ordered be going in the tank you are currently cycling?

 

[tomtomtom1230]

Not intended to be gloom dropper but 14 days , unless you seeded is only, at best 1/2 cycled. Please wait for the nitrite Spike its gonna knock your socks off I promise

+1 I was doing 2x 50% water changes every day for 15 days, give or take a day, when my nitrite spiked - it was reaching up to about 10ppm every 4 or 5 hours which would've killed fish within those 4 or 5 hours I imagine. Nitrites take the longest to stabilize and in my experience was the length of time it took for ammonia to begin dropping + a third of that time again.

Don't forget you still need to be dosing the tank with ammonia right up until the day you add fish, in which case do an 80% water change, acclimate the fish and then release the fish into your tank, adding a single dose of Seachem Prime, API Stress Zyme (or API Ammo Lock) or King British' Safe Water (or similar product).

Once a fish has been added, I would personally check your water 6 hours after the addition of the fish and then once a day thereon after for 5 days just to make sure everything is running as it should be.

 

[CezzaXV]

Given that you had ammonia on day 11, I wouldn't be looking to add more fish on day 12.

 

[mrvillicus]

well im in a bit of a pickle then, when i said nitrate I did mean nitrite. I will be doing huge daily changes as required

 

[tomtomtom1230]

can you return the fish or ask a friend or an LFS to look after them for you? As I understand it, you've ordered fish already?

 

[mrvillicus]

there in the tank, earlier before i put them in i did a 90% change as nitrites were high, then i tested the nitrites again and they were high and ive just got back from work and again they were high so ive just done another 80% change, could this be the nitrite spike ive been warned about? also for some reason the whole tank is white, as if it has snowed very lightly??

 

[Staxx]

i dont mean to sound nasty in anyway as i am also a newbie, ive had my tank less than 2 months but it was already cycled when i got it.

why would you add fish knowing your still cycling? and knowing your water stats are still not right?


the stats are only going to get worse due to adding fish.

 

[tmiller]

I don't think it was intentional. Just misinterpreted some of the vast amount of info. Looks and sounds like he is making every attempt to put it right.
And yes the spike in nitrites is brutal at its peak. Twice daily large changes are the only option til it passes

 

[mrvillicus]

impatience, plus id read about in fish cycling and Ive followed those instructions however wrong they may be

thanks tmiller, once id started i was in too deep, i believed I could add fish as you would with in-fish cycling and im trying so hard to put it right, ive just got back from work tested the water and the nitrite was high so i did an 80% change to keep them happy through the night, im hoping this is a nitrite spike as once it done it should start to recover, looks like im in for the long haul!