Here We Go

[Razgriz]

Thanks

And Wd, I havn't posted the spreadsheet online yet, it only has one entry saying added 5ml of amonia and the base line readings, will pop it online when it starts to develop a little.

I'll deffinatly stick with it though!

 

[Timmy_Bee]

i just realised i managed to post that reply without even realising there was a 2nd page! (am still asleep - even if it is lunch time!) so sorry for the lack of relevance

 

[Razgriz]

Hi guys, quick update.

I am now on day 5 of my cycle. The amonia I have added is staying at a steady 4-5ish ppm, cant really tell on my card as its somewhere in the middle colour of the two shades of green, but oh well. Should hopefully be seing some nitrItes soon.

My plants seem to be a bit iffy. I havn't been able to locate any TPF+ (my 3 closest LFS do not stock it) so instead have been adding a little fish food in there. The two ferns are going brown at the bottom but staying green on top. One of them has lost a couple of branches. A few reeds of the grass one are dying too. I'm not sure but I'm guessing the cycle is doing this? Should I take them out and leave them in a bucket or something until my cycle is complete?

 

[Timmy_Bee]

you need to find some sort of fert for those plants, otherwise they probs will die.

How are your water stats coming along now?

 

[waterdrop]

Some plants can go through a period of adjustment when they are relocated or their conditions are dramatically changed. As a result, beginners sometimes throw out plants that still have a good crown and root and would come back after stem/leaf loss. Although one often -does- in fact lose the entire plant, its sometimes worth continuing to trim dead leaves but leaving the roots and tuber/crown in longer to see whether a new leaf shoot will bud. It is, however, advantageous to remove any and all dead plant tissue if possible (you want your dosed ammonia level to be in control and not have to worry about additional amounts of ammonia forming from organic breakdown.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Razgriz]

Thanks guys, I'll get on top of it.

All my levels are holding steady , reached the end of the first week today. Been looking at other peopels nitrogen cycles, it didn't seem like suck a long wait when I first started but now its dragging so much more. Oh well, will be worth it when I get some fish and they can swim around happily

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, its a long haul. All of us who have been through it know that and that's one reason we try to chat and keep people encouraged. One thing I had going for me as a "re-beginner" was that I had experienced years of seeing fish struggle in various ways, caused by various things I had no clue about despite reading rather widely, I thought. When I returned to the hobby recently after many years absence, the things like the nitrogen cycle and other maintenance basics made sense to me. I felt enlightened, at least mentally, but I still felt doubts as my first fishless cycle dragged on and on. Finally though, the pale blues and yellows of the API kit became rock solid and my excitement grew. Then, after the big water change and my first fish introductions I was able to shed all doubt. The fish, after a short adjustment to their new surroundings, were vibrant and alert, like I remembered some of my fish being at the best of times. Unlike when I was younger and had no way to know about these good techniques, my fish have remained just as vibrant and healthy for nearly 3 years now as they were on day one, its truly astounding to someone like me who tried so hard and observed so closely and yet experienced all kinds of failures - the basics we try to pass along here in our beginners section are without a doubt (in my opinion) sufficient and important keys to real success in fresh water keeping.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Razgriz]

It's greatly appreciated Waterdrop

Here are the results so far, finaly starting to see a significant decrease in Ammonia, YAY <3

Please excuse the terrible spelling of ammonia in Excel

 

[Razgriz]

Completed my water test today, my ammonia is staying at roughly 2, the green is somewhere in the middle of the two shades, however my Nitrite has gone back to 0. Is this right? The water has slowly been turning purple to make the 0.25 and 0.5 ppm mark, but today it has gone back to clear blue meaning 0 ppm?

I'll do another test later to make sure but it seems a little odd

 

[waterdrop]

That's ok, none of this in linear. Remember that everything is dynamic. The A-Bacs might slow down processing ammonia into nitrite, giving the few N-Bacs time to slowly work their way through the nitrite better than they did in the previous couple of days and the plants might also pick up a little and absorb a little more of the nitrate. All kinds of confusing stuff can go on. Your job is just to keep testing and recording and posting and then re-dosing if there's a day when the ammonia finally gets down to zero ppm.

Pick an "Add-Hour" as your time you will always dose the tank. It is one particular hour out of the 24 hour day and you want to pick it such that later on in the fishless cycle you would be able to do an additional test at the opposite 12 hour time. For instance, you might choose 7pm as your 24-hour mark, then 7am could be your 12-hour testing point later on.

Once ammonia finally does drop down to zero ppm, you don't care what hour it was when that happened, you still dose the new ammonia at the "Add-Hour." Its ok if the tank reads zero ammonia for a bunch of hours that day, in fact its good.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Razgriz]

Update:

My ammonia has started to drop off again, still not 0 but its certainly gone down a couple of shades in green. Not sure what caused it. My NitrIte has also started to go up, it has gone from light purple to blue, back to light purple and now finaly a solid purple of at least 1ppm.

I don't know if its just me or my eyes but I have so much trouble telling which colour on the test card best matches the colour in the tube.

Thats what I have so far

 

[Skins]

looking good

 

[Aqua Tom]

I don't know if its just me or my eyes but I have so much trouble telling which colour on the test card best matches the colour in the tube.

Its not just you, sometimes I have a hard time reading the colours & other times it just pops out its so obvious. I think its all to do with how tired you are.

 

[Razgriz]

Wooo my ammonia has processed twice

Soon will be having fishies!!!

 

[Razgriz]

Update:

Since last time, things have been running more or less ok till I had a small blip, but I'm back on track now.

I graduated from University in the Summer and last month got my first full time job. I must say working 9-5 has been a shock to the system. I havn't really had time to keep up to date with my log, just added the ammonia to checkhow it was. It had got down to processing both Ammonia and Nitrite in under 24 hours, but not quite 12. Then I went away for a weekend and when I came back the processing had slowed right the way down. It now takes just under 48 hours to process both of them.

It's getting there though, I'm hoping to get fish at the start of the New Year. Can't belive its been two months already

Anyways, hope everyone has a Merry Christmas/what ever else they celebrate and all the best for the New Year