Here We Go Again!

[locust267]

I filled my 260l tank up monday afternoon and added the first lot of ammonia in the eve, going by the calculator. I done a reading a few hours after and it read 6.5ppm Not sure if this means the ammonia hadn't mixed in yet or I just added too much.

Yesterday lunchtime I done another test and it read 5ppm.

5 mins ago I done another test and it read 4ppm.

I haven't yet added the heater as it hasn't arrived yet lol so I wasn't really expecting the ammonia to be dropping so soon.

How long would it usually take for the ammonia to drop back to zero? I'm guessing the nitrite takes at least twice as long.

I will be adding plants soon, I've ordered them and am just waiting for them to turn up, will the algea start producing once the nitrate starts showing up? Would there be any harm in doing very small water changes i.e 10% during the cycle to keep the algea at bay and the plants clean?

Many Thanks

A very excited Vicki

*Edited to say I have a TetraTec EX1200 so not sure if the flow of that would effect the growth of the bacteria in any way.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

sometimes the calculators don't get it quite right because the volume of water in your tank is not quite the same as the total volume of the tank, if you've got substrate and ornaments in they will take up some room. Some sometimes you need to adjust the amount you add to get it closer to 4/5ppm.

It's entirley possible that you have some ABacs already and they are starting work, it's very quick to see a drop in ammonia so soon but it's no bad thing. Lets just hope it's indicative of the rest of the cycle and it'll all be plain sailing!

 

[waterdrop]

In theory, water changes at any time during a fishless cycle should not be a problem as long as you recharge the ammonia to the right level. My own feeling though is that during the first stage of trying to get ammonia to drop, it goes better without a water change, whereas during the second stage when the nitrites are spiking, water changes are much more helpful and they should be large, not small (small water changes only have meaning when you have fish, not for fishless cycling usually.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[locust267]

Thanks, knew I could rely on you two to help out

Hopefully will see the ammonia go down again tomorrow - That would be fab but dont hold out much hope lol and will make sure I reducethe ammonia slightly to acheive 3-4ppm when I next add it.

With regards to the water changes I think I will defo leave until the 2nd stage as suggested - Hopefully the plants wont get too mucky...

Will keep you posted on the progress.

Cheers

Vicki

 

[locust267]

OK yesterday it read 3ppm

Today it also reads 3ppm lol so looking like it may be slowing down now Although the heater is still in the post somewhere and the tank is currently only running at room temp which is 25 degrees C so hopefully the heater will arrive soon...

My LFS is getting some turquoise gourami in next week and they are meant to sell really quickly, gutted the tank aint running yet as I have no room in the inn except in my 35l which currently houses 4 molly fry and assuming the gourami would eat them??

 

[locust267]

Well yesterday it appeared that the ammonia had dropped to 1.75 ish and I thought I would test the nitrite to see if anything is happening, it tested 0.10 so I'm assuming that is good?

Last night I put in a spare old heater and the tanks therm now reads 34 degrees,

Anyway today I'm a little miffed as the ammonia seemed to be higher, reading 2.5ppm, I may of read it wrong yesterday but I'm pretty sure the ammonia was less than 2 and today it's more than 2.

Anyway tested the nitrite again and it reads 0.25 so something is defo happening

I just read in someone elses post about carbon delaying the cycle. I've got the tetratec EX1200 and in the top compartment I've added one of the carbon bags (to help clear the water from the tannings in my bogwood etc) and some gravel followed by the filter floss.

Should I take out the carbon bag?

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Vicki,

If I'm correct and you are on Day 7 of fishless cycling, I wouldn't try to read too much into the numbers. The important thing is that you have put 4-5ppm ammonia in there and have seem a few signs of it going downward and some blips of nitrites being produced. That should mean that you have the potential for a fast fishless cycle, but you have to keep remembering that it is quite unpredictable.

The jury is still out, I believe, on really warm (downright hot!) temperatures for growning the bacteria. Personally I would choose 30C as the highest temp to run a fishless cycle at this point. That's 86F for us USA folks, and there are a few reports of problems at 88F, so I consider it controversial even though RDD has been trying some high temps like you've got in the hopes of adding some more data points for us.

I don't believe there is any true technical evidence that carbon slows a fishless cycle. Carbon's job is to be a chemical media and should be used for specific chemical tasks. If you have tannins from wood that you want to take out then carbon is a good thing for you. Be aware that it works for 3 days and then you'll want to remove it, thow it out and preplace it with fresh carbon for the next 3 days, and so on. One reason its discouraged for fishless cycling, though, is that disturbing your filter during the first phase while you are trying to grow A-bacs tends to have a kind of delaying effect, probably because you have such a small population at the early stages that any debris being knocked about can tend to mean less biofiltering action.

Are you keeping track of your pH and putting those readings in your log, like the ammonia and nitrite? Having a trend on pH may help later in the process.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[locust267]

Yep today is my 7th day Gone really quickly!

I took the first pH readings last night and I think it read 7.4 (in artificial lighting).

Todays readings are Ammonia 1.5ppm Nitrite 0.50 and pH 7.6.

Have turned the heater down slightly too. Will leave the carbon in there for a few days to prevent me disturbing any bacs but will also keep a close eye on my readings.

Cheers

Vicki

 

[waterdrop]

Sounds good!

 

[locust267]

Just to update, it will be 2 weeks tomorrow and things have gotten a little boring...

Ammomia is at 1.5ppm
Nitrite is I would say 0.7
Nitrate appeared to be 20 yesterday but down to 15 today.
pH 7.6

Should the ammonia of reached 0 by now, it started off really quickly but has slowed down alot now?

Vicki

 

[locust267]

Only tested the Ammonia today and it reads 1.5ppm still, exactly 2 weeks since I started, do you think it has stalled?

Many Thanks

Vicki

 

[Miss Wiggle]

possibly, have you tried a big water change?

 

[locust267]

Not yet no, my plants are due tomorrow and will need to take out a lot of water.

How much would you recommend changing and do I then top it back up to about 4ppm ammonia?

Cheers

 

[Miss Wiggle]

as much as is practical, aim for 90%, in reality you'll end up with some in the substrate, filter etc and some at the bottom that you just can't suck out with the siphon so just get as much as you can out easily then fill it back up and recharge the ammonia.

 

[locust267]

OK thanks, hopefully the plants will turn up tomorrow so I'll do the water change then.

Already had my run of bad luck - Hopefully this is just a quick blip, shame it started off so well