Fish In Cycling Log

[OldMan47]

Nitrate is not a problem in small amounts like that. I would keep an eye on the nitrite. If it starts to rise, you will need to do much larger water changes.

 

[Ryandsimmons]

I felt a bit bad after posting that, so made it a 20% change, I have developed a soft spot for the black skirt tetras especially so despite the 14 hour work day I should really make the effort.

After the change I only am checking the new nirate/ nitrate levels...
Nitrite... still looks .25 Bit depressing that
Nitrate looks a clear 10 though, a definite improvement.

Tomorrow night will make it a 40% change if this continues.

 

[onebto]

No, less stress due to proper shoal size is a much more minor thing that the kind of major survival stress that would hit the initial tetras that are in there now if the tank is not cycled and begins to show traces of ammonia and/or nitrite. It can take many days for these traces to first start to show up in a new situation, so you have to give it at least a week or maybe two before feeling you actually may know the real situation with the water chemistry. Tanks and water chemistry are a much slower changing thing than beginners first realize. Besides the filter possibly being not cycled at all, there's the possibility that the mature media transfer will not fully "take." Its rare but it does happen sometimes, so that's also one of the reasons for being patient and watching the test results over the week or more.

The whole hobby is all about slowing down and relaxing more in life. There's no real need to rush the setup and buildup of fish and plant stocking as they are one of the more active and pleasurable aspects of the hobby and the chance to observe and learn should be savored. You sound to be doing things right, so a good tank setting should eventually be yours to enjoy.

~~waterdrop~~

Well said waterdrop

 

[Ryandsimmons]

Day 7: pH 8, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0.25, Nirate 20

Does nitrate always grow this fast? Other developments are:
A scum on top of the water, it is very fine but noticable.
I seem to have started breeding snails, I have found 3 today, all around 4-5mm, looking on the net I think they are Malaysian Trumpet snails, myu wife said in the morning there were loads. I will now do a 30% water change.

 

[OldMan47]

Every 1 ppm of ammonia that is converted to nitrate becomes 3.6 ppm of nitrate. That means big numbers in a hurry all the time during a fishless cycle. A fish-in cycle should not have a big enough stocking for rapid rises in nitrates, but ti can happen. You might want to have a hard look at how much you are feeding. Any left over food in the tank is a source of nitrogen along with fish waste, which is more abundant with heavy feeding.

 

[Ryandsimmons]

Every 1 ppm of ammonia that is converted to nitrate becomes 3.6 ppm of nitrate. That means big numbers in a hurry all the time during a fishless cycle. A fish-in cycle should not have a big enough stocking for rapid rises in nitrates, but ti can happen. You might want to have a hard look at how much you are feeding. Any left over food in the tank is a source of nitrogen along with fish waste, which is more abundant with heavy feeding.

I only have 6 small fish, I suspect it may be overfeeding (my wife feeds while I am at work) so I'll have a look at that. The plants were also a bit brown around the edges so I have tried to trim them all and get rid of any dead leaves as that could contribute.

I checked the tank this morning when I woke up and found around 15 snails, they certainly look like the Malaysian ones to me so that is a good thing right? How do I know when the cycle has ended? I assume that Nitrite will become 0, but what sort of growth levels per day can you expect on the Nitrate side of things?

 

[OldMan47]

When the cycle is complete, the ammonia and nitrite will just sit at zero with no water changes needed to control them. At that point, with no overfeeding and no dead plant leaves, you should have a slow enough move in a reasonably stocked tank, to rise less than 20 ppm of nitrate in a week.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree. Nitrate(NO3) should be checked for in the tap water. If the tap water has, say 5ppm, then you would always add 5 to the numbers you are talking about. A well-maintained tank, after cycling, should settle in to a slow weekly buildup between zero and 20ppm above tap level. So if our example 5ppm tap level person were the case, perhaps we'd see 10ppm NO3 after the weekly water change and by next week we might see 20ppm and it would go back and forth each week between those.

If you were to see it (NO3) creeping on up to higher numbers that might mean too much feeding, too little substrate cleaning or too small a percentage weekly water change or more likely some combo of the three as they are all so tied together.

And its important that there not be any family members who fall under the spell of thinking the fish look hungry all the time -- yes they will almost always seem that way but they really, really only need the small bit they can consume it 3 or so minutes once a day or an appropriately smaller feeding twice a day for very small fish. Fish stomachs are only as big as one of their eyes!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Ryandsimmons]

Day 8:

pH 8, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 (Woohoo), Nitrate 15.

Nitrite is zero again thank god. Nitrate is still climbing fast though.

I am going to skip todays water change. Anyone got a suggestion of how to clear the scum on the top of the water?From the tap everything is zero by the way, barring pH which is 8.

 

[waterdrop]

If your flake food is leaving some surface oils (which is harmless other than looks) you can sometimes float a paper towel on the surface to absorb it. I don't know if it works in all cases but its worth a try... so let me know

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Ryandsimmons]

Day 9: pH 7.8; Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, Nitrate 40.

Nitrate is high! A 30% water change straight away and nitrate is now 15-20

 

[Truck]

40ppm of nitrate is fine, levels of up to 400ppm are safe.

 

[waterdrop]

40ppm of nitrate is fine, levels of up to 400ppm are safe.

Agree. Some catfish have even been shown to do ok in 1000ppm. I think it varies a lot by species - some say that GBRs, for instance, are pretty sensitive to it. 40ppm is nothing to really worry about. WD

 

[Ryandsimmons]

Day 10: pH 8, Ammomnia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20ish.

Looking good! The mature media seems to be doing the trick nicely.

 

[OldMan47]

That is encouraging Ryandsimmons. Now we just need to see the ammonia and nitrites hang there with no water changes. Your nitrate build is a bit disturbing. There is something contributing more nitrogen to the tank's water than we normally see in a tank with fish.