Fishless Cycle Log

[waterdrop]

Yeah, we still haven't figured out what the special "diesel" chemical is in the tank that the bacteria didn't like and see if trops don't like it as much as trout do

(in all seriousness of course, that's a good idea from OM.. we would expect no less) WD

 

[OldMan47]

I don't have any magic answers WD. I just think through what I know about a situation and try to have the answer make some sense.

 

[waterdrop]

Don't believe it DT, he's a shaman from up the Amazon and we've stashed him somewhere in Illinois for now.

 

[Diesel Trout]

Don't believe it DT, he's a shaman from up the Amazon and we've stashed him somewhere in Illinois for now.

I figured as much!

Ideally I would like to just chuck in a few test fish and give it a few days but that won't be a big enough load for the filter. So I have to risk a fairly large population (and some cashola) to keep things moving along. This is tricky business.

 

[martinking]

Honestly mate, have a bit of faith in your hard work, I felt exactly the same but the fish were happy as soon as they went in!

Good luck!

Martin

 

[OldMan47]

It definitely is a tricky business DT. I only risk my reputation for giving good advice, you must risk all of the cash you have invested in the trial fish. I definitely wish you all the best but am a bit cautious myself.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, for me too its always been a shakey feeling when you get to the big points of change like the end of fishless and the introduction of the first large stocking.

One thing I'll say though, and I certainly hope its true for you, after my fishless cycle it was quickly apparent to me that my new fish absolutely loved the water. One of the most impressive aspects of the things I learned here revolving around fishless cycling and tank maintenance was that I was able to see results which I knew to be the real thing because of all the previous years of observations and failures. The fish behaviors have just stayed constantly in the peak zone of vibrant alert healthy - things which I used to see only part of the time years ago when I often didn't know what I was doing compared to the the many principles I've learned here recently.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Diesel Trout]

Well Friends and Wellwishers, I am afraid I have some bad news. Mr. Nitrite has returned.

It seems when I do a water change, large or small, there is always some residual nitrite the next day. I thought water changes were suppose to reduce nitrite?!? I had a few days of 0,0 then a small increase Wednesday morning after only a 6 gallon change the night before. The next two mornings the nitrite was back up in the 1.0 range. PH has been holding steady at around 7.8 all week.

Just for kicks I did a baseline city tap water test today. After dechlorinating with TopFin concentrate I took the following readings:

ammonia: 0.0
nitrate: 0.0
pH: 7.9
GH: less than 60 GH
KH: 50
PO4: 0.0

Besides having soft water, which has already been established, everything looks normal to me.

I think I will dump the tank and get an easier, less frustrating pet. A feral dog perhaps.

 

[OldMan47]

I don't see a listing of nitrite on your tap water DT. Is it a solid zero or is it the source of your nitrites?

 

[Diesel Trout]

I don't see a listing of nitrite on your tap water DT. Is it a solid zero or is it the source of your nitrites?

Silly me. For some reason I thought nitrites were only a byproduct of the bacteria processing the ammonia. Anyway, I checked my sample and the nitrites are a solid zero.

I am at a total loss here. The only thing I have not done is remove the second of two carbon inserts from my filter; I took one out on day 91. Plus, with all the algae floating around and getting sucked into the canister I think I will open it up tomorrow and rinse things out (in tank water).

Speaking of algae, there is a lot of small particles floating around. The most noticeable look like little pieces of lint, about 3/16 inches long. Little white (clear) fibers. What the heck are they?

 

[OldMan47]

Cleaning the filter may make a big difference in your tank chemistry. If you have had something get into the filter and start decaying, it could well be causing some of your troubles. The tiny "lint" particles are the business of the polishing filter pad in the canister filter. Low flows can also affect the ability of a filter to remove tiny particles. If that polishing pad is shot, replace it with some fresh filter floss. Your nice clean filter will move more water and a fresh polishing pad will remove most of the tiny particles fairly quickly.

 

[waterdrop]

I agree, most likely the polishing pad or I suppose that description could also hold for Planaria if you didn't observe closely enough to see movement by the individual clearish, whiteish tubules.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Diesel Trout]

Seems logical that it would be fibers from a polishing pad, except that I do not have one in my canister. Doesn't look like critters either. It might be from paper towel, but it has been at least 5 days since I used paper towel in there to wipe off the glass. Surely the filter would have picked them up by now?

I opened up the canister and saw plenty of gooey brown goodness. Two of the foam inserts I gave a dunk in a bucket of tank water and lots of dusty brown stuff came out. Probably decomposing algal material me thinks; when one scrapes it from the glass it has to go somewhere right?

LOTS of nitrite this morning.

 

[OldMan47]

Without a polishing pad, tiny particles will circulate right through the filter without being trapped. Sorry, I didn't mean to say that it might be bits coming from the polishing pad. I meant to check the polishing pad to make sure it was still working OK. With no polishing pad, the tiny fibers from a paper towel will only be removed with water changes.

 

[Diesel Trout]

For sale: 72 gallon bowfront aquarium with the works. Does not leak. Does not sustain life (only 1 snail). Possibly cursed.