Lily Rose's 64L Tank Cycle

[LilyRose Tank]

thanks rebrn, that nitrite colour really is a horid grey colour isnt it? lol I much prefer prettylilac. The test fluid hits the bottom of the tube and goes dee purple,, then when shaken goes lilac/grey, then horid grey!I shall alter my resultstable to show 5++. does that mean all the 1ppm's just before were really %ppm ( so difficult to see diff between the 1 and 5ppm
my 9am results this morning are...

Ammonia 0ppm dosed with 3mls ammonia
Nitrites 5++ppm
Nitrates 5ppm.....how is this dropping?

well i guess that means we're into 3rd? phase now I hope. little lily is getting frustrated that her fish are "hiding"

retest of ammonia shows 4ppm....should i do a partial water change to bring it to 3ppm?

 

[waterdrop]

As rdd1952 says in the reference article, if the nitrite test drops hit the bottom of the test tube with deep purple shiny (non-blue) look then there's no real need to shake or fool around with any 5min wait, just go rinse the test tube and mark NO2=5+ in your aquarium notebook log, your data gathering job is done!

Likewise, no need to change water just to make your ammonia dosing look more like 3ppm than 4ppm, its just not that big a deal and you can simply plan to dose a few less drops tomorrow. When I did my first fishless cycle I used a simple clear glass dropper and counted "squirts" (well, actual drops at first, boy did that get old!) Its amazing how much easier/nicer a graduated (meaning marked with milliliter amounts) dropper is! I now use separate graduated droppers for both ammonia dosing and filling test water into the testtubes. I use disposable graduated pipettes for dosing of liquid carbon on to any plant leaves that have any slight algae. (gets to be a regular little chem lab under the tank )

Jayne, you're still in the 2nd phase of fishless cycling as long as you're seeing nitrite spike. The third phase comes when it (nitrite(NO2)) begins to drop to zero by the time its been 24 hours since your ammonia dosing mark.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[LilyRose Tank]

OK thanks waterdrop, you are helpful as always xx

 

[rebrn]

Hello Jayne, as waterdrop said you are still in the second phase, but don't get discouraged, your progression still looks really good. Also, so sorry I didn't mentioned it earlier, as waterdrop said if the drops are turning purple (for nitrite) in the tube then you really don't need to shake them up and wait the 5 minutes. If you do then you will get that brownish/grayish colour. No idea why your nitrates keep dropping but as said before the nitrate test can be a little wonky, especially during cycling. Just make sure you are shaking bottle number 2 really well. I know the instructions say 30 seconds, but you might want to try shaking it for a full minute or even two just to make sure it is will mixed. Also, after you add the drops from bottle one shake the tube up, just a little, to combine then add the drops from bottle 2 and make sure you shake the tube vigorously for a good minute. Not shaking well enough can mess up the results, that came directly from API. Also I don't know if you have this information, but it might be worth checking out you expiration dates. API doesn't list expiration dates but rather manufacture dates. Here is how you calculate the expiration dates:

API Testing Supply Expiration Information
Lot #: Last 4 digits = month/year of manufactured date (printed on the bottles - note even though the bottles came from the same kit they might have different manufactured dates)

Lasts 3 Years from manufactured date

Ammonia
NitrAte
Calcium
High pH
Copper
GH
Phosphate

Lasts 4 Years from manufactured date

NitrIte
KH

Lasts 5 Years from manufactured date - pH (regular)

I doubt that any of your kits are expired, but the information is still worth knowing.

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Thanksfor that rebrn, i shall check those out. I have done another test for ammonia, and it seems that even now the ammonia is being cleared in 9 hours from 4ppm so should i dose 4 or 2ppm ?

 

[rebrn]

If your nitrites are still high, i.e. not clearing to 0ppm within 24 hours of doseing ammonia, then I would dose with the 2-3ppm rather than 4ppm. You Ammonia Bacteria will be fine, but the lower dose of ammonia will allow your Nitrite bacteria to catch up. Once you are clearing 2-3 of ammonia to 0ppm for both ammonia and nitrites within 24 hours then you can start dosing with 4ppm. Just make sure you only dose once in a 24 hour period.

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Hello there guys... this evenings 9pm test results are:

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrites 5+ppm
Nitrates 5ppm
pH 8.2

 

[waterdrop]

Looking good Jayne and I agree, no need to be dosing up at 4-5ppm during the nitrite spike phase as that will just produce an even greater amount of nitrate(NO3) which will acidify the tank faster. Your stats are sounding great.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Thankyou waterdrop (what is your real name if I may ask?)

this mornings 9.30 results are
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 5++ppm
nitrate5ppm
pH 8.2/8.4

We found the snail again, we now call him/her speedy, as we turn away, go get the kids to show them and when we return hes gone!! its a small black one

 

[waterdrop]

haha yes, use everything you can to entertain the kids during fishless!

 

[rebrn]

Yes snails can be fun to watch, and it does beat watching an empty tank

 

[LilyRose Tank]

this evenings results....
ammonia 0ppm
nitrites 5++ i think, ( colour pale green!) but was purple on adding)
nitrates 40ppm
pH 8.2/8.4

speedy still zooming around the tank ( and before someone frys me, its a snail that travelled with my plants)

 

[rebrn]

yep nitrites are still up off the chart (pale green a definate indicator pluc with it turning purple on adding). I see your nitrates came back up, so should be a good sign, or as mentioned before a clear indicator of how the nitrates can be wonky during cycling I am assuming you dosed with ammonia at some point today, even though nitrites are off the charts you should still dose but only to 2-3 ppm.

 

[LilyRose Tank]

yes rebrn, I dosed to 2ppm this morning ( it is registered on the first post of the thread too. )
so hopefully my nitrates will continue to increase to show N-Bac colony is growing. Shall re ammonia dose in the morning.

 

[rebrn]

Sorry, I must not have seen it in the up date. I figured you did you are doing such a great job with your cycle, I guess I just missed the update. Sorry about that.