Fishless Cycle On Bettaboysgirl Aquariums

[BettaBoysGirl]

Just wanted to throw my fishless cycles out there. I feel like im stalling... But then again I might just be growing impatient. Any advice or anything to tell me on track would be awesome. The Tank is a 15 Gallon and temp is kept at 86ºF. The Betta condo is set for 89ºF, but for a week read 82ºF and today ready 86ºF. Will keep and eye on it.
NT means not tested. And Im using the Add and Wait method rather then add daily method. This is the first time ive ever cycled! Ive alredeay started cycling a 2nd tank, My Betta Condo.


Opps, Made a big mess of my stats. oh well ill fix it later.
Glofish 15gl Aquarium
Stats: 10-30gl AquaClear Filter, Hydor Theo 100 Watt Heater
Plants: 3 Amazon Swords, 1 Anubias Nana (all plants producing new growth.)
DayDateAmmoniaNitriteNitratepHTempTimeNotes12-Mar-104.0 ppmNTNTNTNTNTStart34-Mar-104.0 ppm0.0 ppm0.0 ppmNTNTNTDécor, Plants and Heater Added56-Mar-104.0 ppm0.0 ppm0.0 ppmNTNTNT50% PWC, added Seeded Material78-Mar-104.0 ppm0.0 ppmNT8NTNT 910-Mar-104.0 ppm0.0 ppmNT886° F1512Sponge, Ceramic, and Stress Zyme Added1011-Mar-104.0 ppm0.0 ppmNTNTNT1730 1112-Mar-102.0 ppm< 0.25 ppmNT886° F0330Nitrite Spike!1213-Mar-102.0 ppm0.25 ppm0.0 ppm7.886° F0830 1314-Mar-102.0 ppm0.25 ppm0.0 ppm884°F0900 1415-Mar-102.0 ppm0.25 ppm5.0 ppm888° F0130Nitrate Spike!1516-Mar-102.0 ppm0.5 ppm5.0 ppm886° F1630 1617-Mar-102.0 ppm1.0 ppm5.0 ppm886° F1620 1718-Mar-10NTNTNTNTNTNT 1819-Mar-102.0 ppm1.0 ppm5.0 ppm884°F0915 1920-Mar-102.0 ppm1.0 ppmNT886° F2200 2021-Mar-101.0 ppm1.0 ppm5.0 ppm884°F1930 2122-Mar-101.0 ppm1.0 ppm5.0 ppm884°F1515Shut Off Filter2223-Mar-101.0 ppm1.0 ppmNTNT84°F2359Replaced Filter2324-Mar-104.0 ppm1.0 ppm> 5.0ppm8.286° F0121Added half of Old Filter, Added 2ml of Ammonia2425-Mar-104.0 ppm1.0 ppm> 5.0ppm8.286° F1630 2526-Mar-104.0 oom1.0 ppmNT886° F1700added fish food, about the size of one rice grain2627-Mar-10NTNTNTNTNTNT 2728-Mar-10NTNTNTNTNTNT 2829-Mar-101.0 ppm1.0 ppm10 ppm8.286° F1730 2930-Mar-10NTNTNTNTNTNT 3031-Mar-100.25 ppm> 5.0 ppm5 ppm8.286° F0030Removed Old Filter +2ml of Ammonia311-Apr-10NTNTNTNTNTNTAdded 2ml of Ammonia322-Apr-101.0 ppm> 5.0 ppm5 ppm8NT0830333-Apr-10NTNTNTNTNT1800Aaron Added 2ml of Ammonia344-Apr-100.5 ppm> 5.0 ppmNTNTNT174090% Pwc to reduce Nitrites, +2ml of Ammonia35 am5-Apr-101.0 ppm0.5 ppmNT7.886° F0900 35 pm5-Apr-100.5 ppm1.0 ppmNTNTNT22307.5 ml of Leaf Zone36 am6-Apr-100.25 ppm1.0 ppmNTNTNT1030Added 3 Root Tabs36 pm6-Apr-100.0 ppm1.0 ppm10 ppm7.886° F2230Added 2ml of Ammonia


Betta Condo 20 gallon Aquarium
Stats: 5-20gl AquaClear Filter, MarineLand Visi-Therm 100 watt
Plants: 4 java Ferns, 4 Amazon Swords, 3 anubias nana, 4 small pieces of Java Moss, and 1 Moss ball.
DayDateAmmoniaNitriteNitratepHTempTimeNotes115-Mar-104.0 ppmNTNT8.4NT0100 317-Mar-104.0 ppm0.0 ppmNT880° F1640 519-Mar-104.0 ppm0.0 ppmNT882°F0930 721-Mar-104.0 ppm0.0 ppmNT882°F1940 822-Mar-10NTNTNTNTNT2330Added Other Piece of GloFish Filter923-Mar-104.0 ppm0.0 ppmNT8.286°F2359 1024-Mar-10NTNTNTNTNTNT 1125-Mar-104.0 ppm0.0 ppmNT884° F1630 1226-Mar-104.0 ppm0.0 ppmNT884° F1710 1327-Mar-10NTNTNTNTNTNT 1428-Mar-10NTNTNTNTNTNT 1529-Mar-104.0 ppm0.0 ppmNT886° F0200 1630-Mar-10NTNTNTNTNTNT 1731-Mar-104.0 ppm< 0.25 ppmNT886° F0030Added Old Filter181-Apr-10NTNTNTNTNTNT 192-Apr-102.0 ppm0.25 ppmNT8NT0838 203-Apr-10NTNTNTNTNTNT 214-Apr-102.0 ppm0.0 ppm0.0 ppm8.284° F1900Added 10 ml of Plant Zone and Plants225-Apr-102.0 ppm0.0 ppmNTNTNT2240Added 6 Root Tabs, Found 2 snails236-Apr-102.0 ppm0.0 ppm0 < 5 ppm8NT2300
If Some of you are wondering why the fish food, its not for ammonia souce. It was explained to me that it contains some phosphates, and other nutrients that bacteria will ultimately needs. Some people may lack these and you need to supply it. Since it is a planted tank, my plants are stealing those nutrients from the bacteria, and thus i need to supply it. Most likely only this one time. Was told to me by a local fish club. So Glad i attended!

 

[OldMan47]

You do seem to be making very slow progress. Since this is not your first tank, why don't you use the existing tank's filter to seed the new one and give it a nice jump start? I find that a filter clone is usually complete within a week of when I start it.

 

[BettaBoysGirl]

You do seem to be making very slow progress. Since this is not your first tank, why don't you use the existing tank's filter to seed the new one and give it a nice jump start? I find that a filter clone is usually complete within a week of when I start it.

This is my first tank cycle... I could possibly use it with my 2nd tank cycle (the betta condo). BUt i dont have access to mature media, and i dont think the one at the LFS did me any good.

 

[BettaBoysGirl]

Can anyone explain the nitrate disappearing? It was reading a solid 10 ppm ... Even looking like it was heading for the next shade of color. Now, I do have 3 amazon swords (1 med, 2 tiny), and anubias nana. I havent done any water changes and only put half a gallon to top it off since it had evaporated some.Could this be the explantion?

Also... How are you sure the nitrates are off the charts? Im using the Master API liquid kit, when you drop the blue drops in and they goto the bottom blue, however, before i can even put hte cap on to shake it, it turns dark purple. Ive let it sit for 12 hours, and it never strayed from the purple. The purple is showing is a very BRIGHT purple. It could be 1 ppm, or it could be 5 ppm... Im leaning towards 5. So any help would be appreciated!

Also, I had a piece of old filter material thats been in the 15 gallon tank for a week, but that piece is the one piece i will toss out when finished as my aquaclears have sponges and ceramic material (already inserted for cycling.) Is this ok? Taking it out after one week? I put that in the betta condo, so it now had two pieces. When would be a good time to pull it out to so the cycle doesnt get the idea its always going to have that filter?

Thanks,
BettaBoys Girl

 

[waterdrop]

If you have plants that are healthy and actually growing, they can absorb a significant amount of nitrate. (Plants will absorb ammonia, nitrite and nitrate (all 3) depending on the plant species but nitrite(NO2) absorption is very rare.) Its also always good to be aware that nitrate(NO3) concentration testing is quite difficult, even for analytical chemists who have better tests and know what they're doing, so it is not at all unexpected that hobbyists, using inexpensive hobbyist test kits will have unpredictable results. Its just a known thing that the nitrate results will jump around for us and when nitrite(NO2) is -present-, as during a cycle, the nitrate(NO3) results get even worse. So we do them (NO3 tests) but we try not to let ourselves be too surprised when they don't make sense all the time.

Don't waste time trying to read so many details from your nitrite(NO2) test tube. When you first put the reagent drops in they will do one of two things: They will stay beautiful aqua-blue, possibly even shiny, or they will go dark, shiny dark purple or possibly some weird shiny purple greenish-gray glaze. If they go any kind of darker with any hint of dark purple then you know the nitrite(NO2) level is very high, spiked off the scale the test can handle and you can just dump the tube and record 5+ in your log. If the drops turn any kind of light blue or aqua-blue then you need to do the little shake and wait for the exact 5 minute timing and read the purple result against the chart (or the sky-blue that means zero ppm nitrite.) With all test where you want a color chart match, you should time them accurately (I use a little kitchen timer that hangs around your neck.) Going beyond the 5 min has no meaning and should not be done, on any of the tests!

A piece of old media floating out in the tank might have done a tiny bit when it was first put in and squeezed but won't be doing much overall. You can take it out or leave it in, as you please.

Also, just to comment, your 15G fishless cycle does now look like its turned a corner and is better. Lots of fishless cycles behave this way, they are not particularly linear, but do things in sudden jerks of change.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[BettaBoysGirl]

Ok, Another question.... On my Betta Condo, As you can see by the log, I was getting a nitrite reading. But Today... I dont know where it went. It stayed that pretty blue color and never changed to even a hint of purple! I tested for Nitrates and these came up 0. So im baffled on the nitrite readings. Tell me if my theory sounds plausiable. I had two pieces of old filter in the tank, which probably have Some of the bacteria that turns Nitrite into Nitrate. Well do you think it did that with that .25 ppm of Nitrite and since thats not a big reading at all, converted it into a trace amount of Nitrate? Or have any other ideas? There are no plants in this tank. So, like i said, im confused.

 

[waterdrop]

Everything looks fine to me with those numbers.. its not clear to me what your question is. Perhaps you are thinking of it like chemistry rather than biology? With complicated biological systems it will not necessarily be the case that one substance going down will mean you will be able to always detect the other substance going up. Just because your N-Bacs converted a trace (0.25ppm) of nitrite(NO2) into nitrate(NO3) does not mean your test kit will necessarily pick up on any trace nitrate(NO3) that was produced. The nitrate tests are just too flakey for that and its better to sit back and watch for broad multiday obvious sets of test results. (eg. nitrite stays sky blue for days, nitrate becomes dark colors for days.. that sort of thing.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[BettaBoysGirl]

Everything looks fine to me with those numbers.. its not clear to me what your question is. Perhaps you are thinking of it like chemistry rather than biology? With complicated biological systems it will not necessarily be the case that one substance going down will mean you will be able to always detect the other substance going up. Just because your N-Bacs converted a trace (0.25ppm) of nitrite(NO2) into nitrate(NO3) does not mean your test kit will necessarily pick up on any trace nitrate(NO3) that was produced. The nitrate tests are just too flakey for that and its better to sit back and watch for broad multiday obvious sets of test results. (eg. nitrite stays sky blue for days, nitrate becomes dark colors for days.. that sort of thing.)

~~waterdrop~~

You answered my question perfectly. I was just surprised it disappeared is all, and was seeing if it was possibly what you just said.

 

[BettaBoysGirl]

Ok New Question, would plant food, like API Leaf Zone, have an affect on cycling?

 

[OldMan47]

Some plant foods include nitrates so they can definitely throw off your measurements. They will not stop the cycle in any way that I am aware of though.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree, plant foods are generally not a bother to fishless cycling, either from the processing standpoint or from the standpoint of understanding the readings. WD