Fishless Cycle Diary

[Jonty]

I\\\\\\\'ve finally started my fishless cycle!

Edit: Tap water:

0 ammonia
0 nitrite
1-2ppm nitrate
ph 7.6

First of all I made a bit of a mistake, where I added too much ammonia and it\\\\\\\'s around 8ppm. Should I do a water change to get it around 5? So far my results are

Day 1:
Ammonia 8ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm
PH 7.6

Day 2:
Ammonia 8ppm
Nitrite 0.1ppm (is it usual to have nitrite this early? The colour on the API test is more lavender than the 0ppm blue, but not as purple as 0.25ppm)
Nitrate 0ppm
PH 7.6

Day 3 - added a bit of what may be mature filter media, may have all died. Oh well.
Ammonia 8ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm
Nitrate 3ppm (again, is this usual?)
PH 7.6

Day 4
Ammonia 4ppm (did water change - down to 6ppm - 2ppm gone overnight )
Nitrite 2ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.0 Previous days PH could have been higher as I used the normal, not high-range PH tests

Day 5
Ammonia 2ppm
Nitrite 5ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.0

Ammonia being processed nice and quick!

Day 6
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite >5ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.0

Brought Ammonia back up to 5ppm

Day 7 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite >5ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.0

Day 8 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 4ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.0

Day 9 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite 5ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.4

Day 10 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 2ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.2

Day 11 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 2ppm
Nitrate 5ppm ?
PH 8

Day 12 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 2ppm
Nitrate 30ppm
PH 8.3

Day 13 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0.1ppm
Nitrate 5ppm ???
PH 7.8

Day 14 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm (what the hell?!?)
PH 8.0

Day 15 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm
PH 8.0

Day 16 - was out, couldn\\\\\\\'t test

Day 17 (12 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite 1ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.0

Day 17 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.2

Day 18 (12 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.0

Day 18 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.0

Day 19 (12 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.0

Day 19 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 7.8

Day 20 (12 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite 1ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.0

Day 20 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.0

Day 21 (12 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.0

Day 21 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.2

Day 22 (12 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.4

Day 23 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.2

Day 24 - couldn\\\\\\\'t test

Day 25 (12 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0.5ppm
Nitrite 2ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.4

Day 25 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.0

Day 26 (12 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 7.8

Day 27 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.4

Day 28 (12 after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.4

Day 28 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 1ppm ???
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.2

Day 29 (12 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.0

Day 29 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.4

Day 30 (12 hours after Ammonia add) - couldn't test

Day 30 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.4

Day 31 (12 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 7.4-7.6

Day 31 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 7.8

Day 32 (12 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 7.6

Day 32 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 7.8

Day 33 (12 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.2

Day 34 (24 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.0

Day 35 (12 hours after Ammonia add)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
PH 8.0

 

[Jonty]

Added some maybe-mature (could be dead) filter media from my old goldfish tank.

Ammonia 8ppm Should I do a change to bring it to 5?

Nitrite 0.25ppm - is this early?

Nitrate 3ppm - is this early to?

Tested tap water:

Ammonia 0ppm

Nitrite 0ppm

Nitrate 1-2ppm - might contribute to above nitrate levels

Thanks

 

[paulbr1]

I would try to get it to around 5ppm + you will get a little Nitrite as soon as the bacs start growing as it is their waste - plus the media that you added will probably have created the Nitrate (nothing to worry about), just keep going and reporting, good luck.

Paul.

 

[Jonty]

I would try to get it to around 5ppm + you will get a little Nitrite as soon as the bacs start growing as it is their waste - plus the media that you added will probably have created the Nitrate (nothing to worry about), just keep going and reporting, good luck.

Paul.

Thanks Paul, I'll do a change.

Would adding an airstone to the tank help - I read in a nother topic that the more oxygenated the water the better.

 

[Jonty]

Did a 30% water change - ammonia down to 6ppm

 

[OldMan47]

6ppm is close enough. What you are trying to develop is a group that dominates the ammonia processors at about 5 ppm but 6 will be close enough. At 8 ppm, a different bacteria will dominate the bacteria that develop but at 6 it will soon be at 5 ppm and tend to be mainly the bacteria that we want. Next time you add ammonia, try to get 4 or 5 ppm after the ammonia addition. This will ensure the right bacteria are the main ones in the bacterial colony. The nitrates in tap water are low enough that they are not going to be a problem for your future fish.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with the advice given and sounds like you're off to an ok start.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Jonty]

Todays results - I think they're good, but the PH is high...

Ammonia 4ppm
Nitrites 2ppm
Nitrates 5ppm
PH 8.0

Everything seems to be going well... famous last words

 

[waterdrop]

A couple of things so we can get used to your posting style:

Have you established a certain time of day when you will do (are doing) your ammonia adds and when you will do your 24-hour test? Are you currently testing at the 12-hour mark or the 24-hour mark from when you added ammonia, or have you still only made one ammonia add since you changed water and corrected for the too-high level?

The reason I ask is that so many people post up here and just give test results without explicitly saying when the tests were relative to when the ammonia was added. (The most useful way to express the added data is to simply say "12 hours later" or "24 hours later", along with the 3 or 4 test results (rather than any clock times or such.))

(Note that ammonia only needs to be added once in a 24-hour interval and only if it went completely to zero at some point (any point) during the preceeding 24 hours. And then it needs to be added at "the usual" time (whatever you've established, like 7AM, or 8PM or something like that, roughly, and recorded in your logbook.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Jonty]

A couple of things so we can get used to your posting style:

Have you established a certain time of day when you will do (are doing) your ammonia adds and when you will do your 24-hour test? Are you currently testing at the 12-hour mark or the 24-hour mark from when you added ammonia, or have you still only made one ammonia add since you changed water and corrected for the too-high level?

The reason I ask is that so many people post up here and just give test results without explicitly saying when the tests were relative to when the ammonia was added. (The most useful way to express the added data is to simply say "12 hours later" or "24 hours later", along with the 3 or 4 test results (rather than any clock times or such.))

(Note that ammonia only needs to be added once in a 24-hour interval and only if it went completely to zero at some point (any point) during the preceeding 24 hours. And then it needs to be added at "the usual" time (whatever you've established, like 7AM, or 8PM or something like that, roughly, and recorded in your logbook.)

~~waterdrop~~

Thanks for that Waterdrop. I was doing my tests at 4pm but now I realised as I get further into the cycle I'll have to do 12 hour tests, so I'm going to test at 8pm from now on, and therefore 8am for the 12 hour tests later. When I need to add ammonia (when it gets down to zero?) I'll do it a 7:30pm, and later 7:30am. Are these good times to have?

Thanks, Jonty.

 

[waterdrop]

Right, its all according to your personal schedule. You've got to look out 12 hours ahead and see if that's a time when you'll typically be home and have time to perform the necessary tests. You'll want to perform the 24 hour tests -before- you make the ammonia add (you want to measure what happened to yesterday's ammonia, not whether your ammonia add was the right amount! (presumably you've got that down by this point.))

Now, by 12 and 24 hours, we don't mean the time of day needs to be very precise, its just general! But you -do- want to note the correct date and time in your logbook, as the beginning of the line where you record your test results, tank temp, clarity observation and such. Then later, when you get the chance to do the tests again, at roughly 12 and 24 hours, you'll be getting a picture of whats going on with your levels and by extrapolation, your bacteria. Near the very end of your fishless cycle you'll finally want to be pretty accurate about your 12 hours, so that you know you're correctly at the end of the overall fishless cycle.

Another thing that repeatedly confuses beginners is that sometimes the very first 5ppm dose of ammonia doesn't actually drop to zero ppm for days and days, sometimes even 2 weeks! This is OK! Its fairly normal and you just dutifully wait and take an ammonia test and a pH test once a day. Eventually it will drop all the way to zero and after that you wait until your "add ammonia" time of day and add enough ammonia to bring it back up to your guesstimation of 5ppm. Then you may be waiting days again!

After a while you will find that ammonia drops to zero within 24 hours and so you are adding ammonia each day. Around that time, plus or minus, you may begin to have some traces of nitrite(NO2), so that's when you can start to also take nitrite(NO2) tests and record the results, then before long you may get curious to start adding in your 12 hour tests. Its the trend you see when you look back at your notebook that is the more powerful message about how your cycle is proceeding.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Jonty]

Today's results:

Ammonia 2ppm
Nitrite 5ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.0

 

[waterdrop]

OK, basic data still not clear!

In your edited first post of the thread you say "ammonia being processed nice and quick," but the last few days seem to report 2ppm ammonia with no adding of ammonia. So its not clear if you're still waiting on the ammonia from 3 days ago to go down or whether you added ammonia to 5ppm the night before and the latest report meant that 5ppm had dropped to 2ppm in 24 hours (8pm to 8pm). Let us know...

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Jonty]

OK, basic data still not clear!

In your edited first post of the thread you say "ammonia being processed nice and quick," but the last few days seem to report 2ppm ammonia with no adding of ammonia. So its not clear if you're still waiting on the ammonia from 3 days ago to go down or whether you added ammonia to 5ppm the night before and the latest report meant that 5ppm had dropped to 2ppm in 24 hours (8pm to 8pm). Let us know...

~~waterdrop~~

I havent added any ammonia since the start - I'm doing the add and wait method. I'll notify on the first post when I add ammonia.

 

[waterdrop]

OK, great! got it. -wd-