Fishless Cycle Log - Add & Wait Method

[BIG BAD BARRY]

When your nitrite is 5ppm+ it will mess around with your nitrate reading as i found out on my cycle (which is almost done - touch bogwood!)

It is the most unreliable test.
Keep the tubes and caps clean and keep posting.

 

[MarlinTiger]

Thanks Waterdrop.

Reading into the original post about how to go about the fishless cycling process, it would seem that I shouldn't really be testing for the Nitrates as yet anyway, however, my reasoning is that if you are doing some of the tests you may as well do them all!

MT

Cheers BBB,

Nice to hear you are doing so well with yours.

MT

 

[Gvilleguy]

I think it's good to do the nitrate test now, anyway - good practice! Soon you can do it in your sleep.

 

[Aqua Tom]

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Keep the tubes and caps clean and keep posting.

but try not to drop them

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

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Keep the tubes and caps clean and keep posting.

but try not to drop them

Your gonna love this then! Dropped and smashed another one last night!

It was late, i was tired and the nitrite threw a wobbler!

I cant ask API for anymore just yet!

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Thanks Waterdrop.

Reading into the original post about how to go about the fishless cycling process, it would seem that I shouldn't really be testing for the Nitrates as yet anyway, however, my reasoning is that if you are doing some of the tests you may as well do them all!

MT

Cheers BBB,

Nice to hear you are doing so well with yours.

MT

Waterdrop is the expert!
I shake the c**p out of the bottle 2 and this morning after getting a couple of drops out it got stuck. Lucky i was counting!

 

[MarlinTiger]

Morning all,

Results for Day 13 are as follows:

Tank Temp. 31.4
pH 8.2 - Stabilised at that
Ammonia 0.25 - No movement from yesterday
Nitrites 5.0+ - Same as yeterday
Nitrates 5.0 - Again dramatic move downwards

If the Ammonia readings are down to the same as the tap water when I first added it, should I not now be considering added some more or will the Ammonia reading drop all the way to zero?

By not adding any more Ammonia yet and waiting for the zero reading, at what point could I start to kill the bacteria I have already developed?

Comments as usual are most welcome.

Hope everyone has a good day.

MT

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Wait for it to hit zero. Your filter that you are preparing by cycling will process the ammonia from your tap water with the help of the dechlorinator.
It can seem like ages but you will suddenly see that beautiful yellow colour in the tube!
I was correctly advised by AquaTom not to bother with nitrate testing at this stage until your nitrite starts dropping and nitrate is produced. You will know straight away whether your nitrite is 5ppm+ as it will turn purple in the bottom of the tube but wait your 5 minutes. As WD has pointed out, your nitrate results will probably be unreliable when your nitrite is showing high levels.

 

[MarlinTiger]

Cheers BBB,

Using an API kit and the colours are very similar between the 0 and 0.25 may wait another 24hrs and if the reading isn't all the way down to zero then may add to take it back upto the 4ppm.

MT

 

[Skins]

Cheers BBB,

Using an API kit and the colours are very similar between the 0 and 0.25 may wait another 24hrs and if the reading isn't all the way down to zero then may add to take it back upto the 4ppm.

MT

When your in the nitrite spike stage it is a good idea to dose your h/h ammonia up to 2ppm and when nitrite levels drop to zero then start to increase the h/h ammonia back up to 4/5ppm. Adding less h/h ammonia into your tanks water(Soup as WD calls it)at this stage cuts down a rapid build up of nitrogen into the cycle process.

Keith.

 

[MarlinTiger]

Keith,

So I should add enough Ammonia to take it back upto the 2ppm range now, or should I wait say another 24hrs?

Thnaks for the help.

MT

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Cheers BBB,

Using an API kit and the colours are very similar between the 0 and 0.25 may wait another 24hrs and if the reading isn't all the way down to zero then may add to take it back upto the 4ppm.

MT

When your in the nitrite spike stage it is a good idea to dose your h/h ammonia up to 2ppm and when nitrite levels drop to zero then start to increase the h/h ammonia back up to 4/5ppm. Adding less h/h ammonia into your tanks water(Soup as WD calls it)at this stage cuts down a rapid build up of nitrogen into the cycle process.

Keith.

That is how i have done it if you look at my link of my cycling log.
Wait until it is clearly zero.

 

[Skins]

Keith,

So I should add enough Ammonia to take it back upto the 2ppm range now, or should I wait say another 24hrs?

Thnaks for the help.

MT

Hello MT,
If your seeing ammonia test results of 0-0.25ppm then you could dose it back up to 2ppm but then it would not hurt if you waited for a clear yellow result. I don't no about you but i do find the ammonia test results when yellow very close to the 0.25 yellow/green result and generally ends up me looking at the tube in all different light sources just to double check.

Keith.

 

[jonathand]

Yeah, sounds just like mine the other day.
Had to test some fresh water to be able to see if there was any difference in the shades of yellow

 

[Gvilleguy]

I'm not saying MT should do this - just curious what the rest of you think. I found that a couple of 90% water changes during my cycle seemed to kick start the process and move things along. What are the merits of this, if any?