Green Goddess's First Fishless Cycle (240 Ltr)

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greengoddess

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Here's the obligatory chronological fact sheet:

24.02.10 = Amm 4.0
25.02.10 = Amm 3.5 | pH 9-9.5
27.02.10 = Amm 2.5 | pH 9-9.5 (Add 0.5ml .880 Ammonia)
27.02.10b = Amm 4.0 | Nitrite 0.0
28.02.10 = Amm 4.0
01.03.10 = Amm 3.0 | pH 9.3 | Nitrite 0.0
02.03.10 = Amm 3.0
03.03.10 = Amm 3.0
04.03.10 = Amm 3.0
05.03.10 = forgot to test
06.03.10 = Amm 3.0
07.03.10 = forgot to test
08.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite off scale, possibly 5.0 | Nitrate >110 | pH 9.3 | Added ammonia to take level back to 4ppm
09.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 5.0 | Nitrate 110. Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
10.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 4.0 | Nitrate 110. Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
11.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Nitrate 110 | pH 7.7 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
12.03.10 = Amm 0.0 Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
13.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Nitrate off scale (>110) | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
14.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Nitrate off scale (>110) | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
15.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Nitrate off scale (>110) | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
16.03.10 = 95% water change to reduce very high nitrate level. Refilled tank and added 3.5ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3.5ppm | pH now 7.5 - 8.0
17.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Nitrate 90 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
18.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Nitrate 90 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
19.03.10 = Amm 1.5 | Nitrite 3.3 | Nitrate 90
20.03.10 = Holidays
21.03.10 = Added 3.2ml ammonia
22.03.10 = Holidays
23.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.0 | Nitrate 70 (or possibly off scale) | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
24.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.0 | Nitrate probably off scale (>110) | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
25.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.0 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
26.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.0 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
27.03.10 = Amm 1.5 | Nitrite 3.3 | Nitrate >110 (through the roof!) | pH 7.0
28.03.10 = 95% water change | pH now 6.8 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
29.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Nitrate 110 | pH 6.8 (added some more bicarb to slightly increase pH)
30.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | pH 6.8 - added yet more bicarb to raise pH | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
31.03.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | pH 7.5 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
01.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
02.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
03.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
04.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Nitrate through the roof (>110) | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
05.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
06.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
07.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
08.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | pH 7.0 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
09.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
11.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite (very high) >3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
12.04.10 = 95% water change | pH now 7.5 | 3.2ml of ammonia added | Small pinch of fish food added
13.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
14.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
15.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
16.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
17.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
18.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
20.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
21.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | pH 7.5 | Nitrate unmeasureable | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
22.04.10 = 95% water change | pH now 7.5 | 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
23.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
24.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
25.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
26.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
27.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
28.04.10 = Amm 1.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | pH 6.7 | Added bicarb to increase pH | No ammonia added today
29.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | pH 7.6 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
30.04.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
01.05.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
02.05.10 = Amm 1.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Mistakenly added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
crazy.gif

03.05.10 = Amm 1.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | No ammonia added today
04.05.10 = Forgot to test
blush.gif

05.05.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
06.05.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
07.05.10 = Very ill, unable to get out of bed to test
08.05.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
09.05.10 = Very ill, unable to test
10.05.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
11.05.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
12.05.10 = Amm 1.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | No ammonia added today
13.05.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia | Added huge wad of flaked fish food
14.05.10 = AWAY ON HOLIDAY - tank left untouched.
25.05.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.0 | pH 7.3 | Nitrate 100 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
26.05.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
27.05.10 = Amm 1.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | No ammonia added today
28.05.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
29.05.10 = Amm 1.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | No ammonia added today
30.05.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
31.05.10 = Amm 0.5 | Nitrite 3.3 | No ammonia added today
01.06.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 3.3 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
02.06.10 = 95% water change | 2 spoons of bicarb added, pH now 9.0 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
03.06.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 2.0 | pH 7.5 , added some more bicarb | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
04.06.10 = Day 100 - Amm 1.5 | Nitrite 1.0 | pH 7.4, added more bicarb
05.06.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.0 | Nitrate 100 | pH 7.4, added more bicarb | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
06.06.10 = Amm 1.0 | Nitrite 2.0 | pH 7.8, added more bicarb
07.06.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 2.0 | pH 7.8, added more bicarb | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
08.06.10 = Amm 2.0 | Nitrite 5.0 | pH 7.8
09.06.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 2.0 | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
10.06.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.25 :hyper: | pH 9.0 (approx) | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
11.06.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.0 :hyper: | Nitrate 120ppm | Added 3.2ml of ammonia to take level back to approx 3ppm
12.06.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.0 :hyper: | Added ammonia to increase level to 5ppm
13.06.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.0 :hyper: | Added ammonia to return level to 5ppm
14.06.10 = (After 12 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 5.0 | 95% water change after testing, added 5ppm ammonia
15.06.10 = (After 24 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.25 | Nitrate 40 | Added 5ppm ammonia
16.06.10 = (After 12 hours) = Amm 0.5 | Nitrite 5.0
16.06.10 = (After 24 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 1.0 | Added 5ppm ammonia
17.06.10 = (After 12 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 5.0
17.06.10 = (After 24 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 2.0 | Forgot to add ammonia :shout:
18.06.10 = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.0 | pH 8.0 | Added 5ppm ammonia
19.06.10 = (After 24 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 5.0 | pH 8.0 | Added 5ppm ammonia
20.06.10 = (After 24 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 5.0 | pH 8.0 | Added 5ppm ammonia
21.06.10 = (After 24 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.5 | pH 8.0 | Added 5ppm ammonia
22.06.10 = (After 24 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.5 | Added 5ppm ammonia
23.06.10 = (After 30 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.0 | Added 5ppm ammonia
24.06.10 = (After 24 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.0 | Added 5ppm ammonia
25.06.10 = (After 24 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.0 | Added 5ppm ammonia
26.06.10 = (After 27 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.0 | Added 5ppm ammonia
27.06.10 = (After 24 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.0 | Added 5ppm ammonia
28.06.10 = (After 21 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.25 | Added 5ppm ammonia
29.06.10 = (After 27 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.0 | Added 5ppm ammonia
30.06.10 = (After 24 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.0 | Added 5ppm ammonia
01.07.10 = Forgot to test
02.07.10 = Added 5ppm ammonia
03.07.10 = (After 24 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 0.0 | Added 5ppm ammonia
04.07.10 = (After 12 hours) = Amm 0.0 | Nitrite 5.0



Hi everyone,


I am ready to start my first ever fishless cycle. My new tank is a Jewel Rio 240 litre and it's contents will eventually be 2 fantail goldfish and some white cloud mountain minnows.

Today I have got the tank and cabinet put together, I've washed the gravel, got the tank background on and filled it up with dechlorinated water.

My first question is to do with the arrangement of my filter sponges. After a long discussion with Waterdrop it has been decided that crushed coral must be added to my filter from day one because my tap water is really bad (extremely soft).

Here's a picture of my filter from the user manual:

filter.jpg

Starting at the bottom, there are two fine blue sponges. On top of that is a plastic basket that contains "Cirax". From what I've learned on this forum, I don't believe that this product (Cirax) is essential to a filter system and I was thinking of emptying it out and putting my crushed coral in there. What do you think?

On top of the plastic basket, there is a coarse blue sponge and on top of that is a fine green sponge that the user manual calls a "Nitrate Removal Sponge". Above that is a black "Active Carbon Sponge". Also after being on this forum I have read that carbon is not necessary and should be removed. Any thoughts?

Finally there is a thin white wool filter pad which "acts as a mechanical pre-filter, removing large particles of dirt and excess food which in turn ensures that the other sponges do not get clogged."


So, to summarize:

1: Can I throw away the Cirax and replace it with some crushed coral?
2. Do I take out the black carbon filter?
3. Other than that, are the other filters correct and in the correct order?
 
Hi GG. I disagree. I would keep the cirax as I believe it is a sintered glass or ceramic product that will harbor a lot of bacteria. I'd choose the silly green sponge to cut down on. Those are advertised to remove nitrate which of course is not going to work for long if at all. I'd probably slice the green one in half with a horizontal cut relative to the picture so that you could fit a mesh bag of CC between the carbon and the left-over part of the green sponge. Or I'd eliminate the green sponge altogether depending on the sizes of things. Or a completely different approach might be to just use baking soda initially and let the carbon get used up for a week or two, then tank the carbon sponge out and replace that with the CC bag (perhaps the carbon sponge is actually a sort of sponge bag itself and could be used to house the CC after the carbon granules were tossed.) I actually might just replace the green sponge with some sort of more coarse sponge, especially if fluval seem to make a different more coarse one that fits or if you just see some other one you could cut.

~~waterdrop~~
 
Hi GG. I disagree. I would keep the cirax as I believe it is a sintered glass or ceramic product that will harbor a lot of bacteria. I'd choose the silly green sponge to cut down on. Those are advertised to remove nitrate which of course is not going to work for long if at all. I'd probably slice the green one in half with a horizontal cut relative to the picture so that you could fit a mesh bag of CC between the carbon and the left-over part of the green sponge. Or I'd eliminate the green sponge altogether depending on the sizes of things. Or a completely different approach might be to just use baking soda initially and let the carbon get used up for a week or two, then tank the carbon sponge out and replace that with the CC bag (perhaps the carbon sponge is actually a sort of sponge bag itself and could be used to house the CC after the carbon granules were tossed.) I actually might just replace the green sponge with some sort of more coarse sponge, especially if fluval seem to make a different more coarse one that fits or if you just see some other one you could cut.

~~waterdrop~~

Hi Waterdrop,

Fancy meeting you again ;-)

OK, I'll pop the Cirax back in. After my initial post I read about those silly anti-nitrate sponges and they do sound a bit stupid so I may as well get rid of it altogether. So you suggest I do actually use the carbon sponge? OK, I'll put that one back in too. There will be plenty of room for the crushed coral now that the anti-nitrate sponge is missing.

Does it matter what order the sponges and other media are in? I mean, can I put the crushed coral in anywhere in the sequence?


Also, I've treated the full tank to a dose of baking soda but I am worried that I may have overdone it. I kept adding a heaped spoon at a time (mixing it in water before adding it) and I used some pH testing papers that I "borrowed" from work to monitor the pH as I was adding it. I stopped adding it when the pH papers indicated the pH was just over 7.0. However, I have just tested the pH using my Nutrafin liquid test and it's giving a higher pH reading. I find the colour chart very difficult to match so I cannot put a definite value on it. At worst, my pH is now 8.5!!! But the pH papers still say it's just over 7.0 (I've used two totally different brands of pH papers and their results are identical). According to the Nutrafin liquid test, the pH is definitely up to around the 8.0 mark, but possibly as high as 8.5! If it's as high as 8.0 or 8.5 is a partial water change in order to bring the pH back down?
 
Well, don't forget your goal here currently has nothing to do with fish, right? You are trying to create the optimal "bacterial growing soup" which, once its finished growing the right bacteria, will be removed from the tank! The optimal pH for our bacteria is the range from 8.0 to 8.4, so even if you were at 8.5, you'd still be quite close to optimal.

However, its also possible that you have indeed dumped in too much. I should have given more explicit instructions.. but none of this is a big deal, we can just wait and keep an eye on the pH over the next few days and do a partial water change if it keeps creeping up. pH is a secondary effect that comes as a result of the KH going up. It could also be that you've lucked into getting perfect. I assume you are homing in on 29C/84F, right?

OK, sponges. Yes, its good to be learning to pay attention to the media order. I was chuckling as you described your stack bottom to top as I was thinking "which way is the water going?" I think I can see a little red arrow indicating it goes top to bottom. Is that right? If you think about it there is plenty of common sense to this problem. The water goes in and the first thing you want to do is trap the larger particles, so you want to start with more coarse media and work your way to finer media, although its also good to realize that for some functions all that really matters is that stuff is inside the filter and not out! Usually the filter designers have had some good thoughts about this so its not bad to take somewhat seriously the order they've given you unless you can see something you think might be an improvement. Media volume is an important thing and you do want to fill up all the volume they give you, so don't just lower your volume by taking the green one out, be sure to dedide on some replacement stuff, maybe some more ceramics.

~~waterdrop~~
 
Hi Waterdrop,


OK, I have measured the KH today and it is 200 mg/L or 11.2 dH. Is that way too high? If so, I'll have to do a big water change.

Yes, I am aiming for the temperature to be around 29 celcius but it's still working its way up at the moment. Also, the water is still quite cloudy from the substrate at the moment.

I have not added any ammonia yet until I can be sure that everything is ready and perfect.

Yes, I think the water goes through the filter from top to bottom (that also puzzled me at first!)
 
As far as I know we don't have much scientific literature comment on what, if any, upper bound might be there on KH for growth of our beneficial bacteria. Our known stuff is much more simplistic than that. We have a comment that I trust from Hovanec that the bacteria definately need some calcium and probably magnesium in their water to help with the usual cell structural components and with biofilm structure. Since those minerals are the primary components of water mineral content, he's confirming that soft water will not be as ideal for the bacteria.. but none of his published papers have ever had reason to mention water that might be too hard as far as I know. So its anybody's guess. Obviously one might speculate that its a bell curve of some sort as most living environmental things are and too much hardness of any sort (KH or GH) might get bad at some level, but I just don't know.

How's that for taking a long time to say I don't know. :lol:

~~waterdrop~~
 
OK, I understand. So I suppose my next question is... do I leave it as it is and start the cycle once the initial cloudiness has gone? Or would you do a water change to lower the pH/KH?

Last question (for now)... my filter now has a big void in it where the green nitrate removal sponge was. Do I leave it like that whilst doing the fishless cycle or do I put something in there? I could use that area for the crushed coral but I would have thought using CC is inadvisable at the moment considering the very high pH/KH.
 
For lack of knowing for sure I think I would do a 50% (or whatever) water change with the idea in mind of working that KH=12 down to KH=8 or something. Anything 4 or over is going to give you better lead time on the pH dropping (I would include KH measurements in your logging data but I'm not sure how often.. perhaps something slightly more than once a week to start getting a feel for it.)

Do you have any types of sponge that you could fill the hole left by the green sponge? Since we've decided the water must be going downward it would probably be good for whatever sponge material you find for it to be a more coarse sponge.

~~waterdrop~~
 
Thanks Waterdrop,

OK, I'll aim to reduce the KH to 8 by partially changing the water. I should be able to find some sort of sponge to put into the filter system... I'll look into that. As I said, eventually the crushed coral will be going in there anyway.

Once the KN is down to 8 I will do a full test of the water and post the results on here. Hopefully then I'll be able to add some of this industrial strength ammonia that I've just managed to "aquire" from work.
 
Don't forget, 8 was just a wild stab. 6,7,8,9,10... any of those would be fine to help both of us feel we've at least tried to do something. :lol: Its really the fact that it is not 3 or below that will technically help you and what might be too high is just a guess with the most likely thing being that there is no "too high."

Also, don't forget its not that hard to overshoot the ammonia the first time or two so you might wait for that possibility and you could change out the too high baking soda at the same time as the too high ammonia. You basically want 4ppm (because color easier to match) and the important thing is for the ammonia not to be up at 8ppm.

~~waterdrop~~
 
Don't forget, 8 was just a wild stab. 6,7,8,9,10... any of those would be fine to help both of us feel we've at least tried to do something. :lol: Its really the fact that it is not 3 or below that will technically help you and what might be too high is just a guess with the most likely thing being that there is no "too high."

Also, don't forget its not that hard to overshoot the ammonia the first time or two so you might wait for that possibility and you could change out the too high baking soda at the same time as the too high ammonia. You basically want 4ppm (because color easier to match) and the important thing is for the ammonia not to be up at 8ppm.

~~waterdrop~~

Yes, from what I found out during my Googling, a dH of 11 may actually be OK but I'll need to try and confirm that.

After my baking soda incident, I will be very wary of putting too muich ammonia in the tank. From my calculations, it should take 3.2ml of .880 Ammonia (Industrial grade 30% Ammonia solution) to get the ammonia in my 240 litre tank up to 4ppm. Naturally, I will add it in smaller quantities and measure as I go along to avoid another baking soda situation. :unsure:
 
Yes, on ammonia I always start low compared to any calculator and work upward since ammonia is naturally a gas and the concentration in your source may not be all that accurate to begin with and begins changing the moment the cap is first opened.

~~waterdrop~~
 
Thanks Waterdrop,

I am busy at work for the next couple of days but I will update this thread when I have some more news. Thanks again for all your help. :good:
 
I checked the tank again today and the water has cleared up nicely. It's sitting at 29 celcius. I also re-checked the pH and I am fairly sure it is 8.0 - 8.5. According to what I've heard, that pH range is quite ideal for a fishless cycle. As you (Waterdrop) said, I must remember that there are no fish in the tank yet so I need not be too concerned with the pH and water hardness as long as it's near enough. Once the cycle has finished I can do a couple of water changes to get the pH and KH down to more normal levels for goldfish.

So, unless you can think of any reason not to, I am going to leave the water as it is and add the first lot of ammonia tomorrow.

I also bought and added a Juwel Air Diffuser accessory today to give my goldfish lots of nice oxygen to breathe when they eventually transfer to their new home.
 
Yes, you are "a pleasure to teach" (as I'm happy they say on my son's report card, lol.) This is an important concept: the water in there now is to be optimized for the bacteria and there is no need to think about it in relation to the eventual fish. It will be drained and a whole new set of water will be filled for the fish and will be treated in different ways.

You are correct, a pH of 8.0 to 8.4 is ideal and 29C is a kind of best compromise between various things I've read over several years now. The bacteria also grow better with plenty of oxygen and greater surface movement will increase that particular gas transfer, so adding some air diffusers can't hurt during the fishless cycle. I think you're ready to begin.

~~waterdrop~~
 

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