Is This Right ?

[fish12]

4ft been running for 2 week fish less after a full tank water change so nothing has been feeding the baterica, So i started to throw in fish flakes in every 2nd day to increase the waste in my tank and start the cycle(as i read this is one of the ways you can start your cycle). Then the ammonia starts to peak then drop back down, Then my NitrItes peak then drop back down and then lastly my nitrAtes start to peak then i do a water change and then the finally reading should be ammonia 0 nitries 0 and nitrates 20ppm how long would this take to happen doing it my way?


I have spent many nights trying to understand the cycle but now i hope i finally got it please correct me if im wrong?

thank you everyone for your time

 

[DrRob]

Yes, that's pretty much right, you have the nitrogen cycle down there.

Can't help you with timings, it's not a way I've used, except that any cycling can be very much a "how long is a piece of string?" question.

 

[soybean]

Pretty much, yes, but you'll find it soooo much easier to buy a bottle of plain ammonia rather than dump all that food in your tank!

 

[fish12]

YES FINALLY!!!!!!

thank you guys seriously!

 

[soybean]

Honestly, get some ammonia and make your life easier.

In order to know how quickly the different kinds of bacteria are growing, you dose ammonia daily until the test shows about 4.0. How quickly that drops over 12/24 hours to a lower figure tells you how your cycle is progressing. Using fish food isn't very accurate and I think you'll be doing it longer as you have no idea how much you need to be adding.

 

[fish12]

thanks soybean i will get some of that asap have you got any pics of your tank?

btw the way just did a couple readings on my tank ammonia increased a wee bit to just under 0.25ppm nitrite 0 and nitrate i would say between 0 - 5.0ppm im i still doin it right?

 

[soybean]

another question my ph is exceeding 7.6 should i be lowering it by adding any dwood?? or is it fine.

does anyone else have no dwood in there tank?

thanks soybean i will get some of that asap have you got any pics of your tank?

7.6 is ok for most community fish, no point messing around with it unless you really need to ie want to keep fish that need it below 6.

I imagine a lot of people don't have any wood in their tanks.

I haven't got around to taking any up to date ones, I'm always forgetting! I've just replanted it so I'm giving it a month or so to get going.

My ph is over 7 and I have four pieces of wood, it doesn't have a drastic effect anyway.

 

[fish12]

Ohk no worries then about the pics, do u buy your wood from aqauarium/petshops or do u get them from the wild because when ive always had dwood from the wild and it always lowered my ph to acdic which wasnt the ideal ph for the fish

In my most post above i gave a few recent tank readings do you reckon im doing the right thing going by thr readings shown?

 

[soybean]

Yeah I've just picked a few pieces up from shops and given it a wash and soak for a day or so, cos I don't mind tannins.

What kind of kit do you have, strips or liquid? Strip kits arent very reliable when cycling a tank, especially nitrate tests.

In a cycled tank you will have 0, 0, and then a nitrate reading which varies. If you're getting an ammonia reading still, it isn't cycled, even if you're getting a nitrate reading. There is a huge difference between 0-5!

Keep going as you are. It will happen eventually, but like I said the fish food way will take longer as it isn't as easy to record what's going on.

 

[fish12]

Liquid test kit have you ever heard of the brand Cycle Here is a quick link: http/www.epinions.com/specs/Hagen_Cycle_Biological_Aquarium_Supplement or this http/www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/aqua_master_aquarium_bio_booster
Which one of them would u use?

 

[soybean]

In my experience cycling supplements that don't work. Theres a lot of debate about that especially on this forum, people do tests with them alongside regular cycles and don't really see any improvement. Personally I think it's like dropping the money you'd spend on them in the tank and leaving it there.

You're on the way, save your money and buy the ammonia instead.