Maxpowers Fishless Cycle Diary

[waterdrop]

Yes, agree, your N-Bacs may have chomped their way through the nitrite(NO2) for the first time, indicating their colony may be much larger now. Next milestone will be when they can start eating the nitrites down to zero within 24 hours!

There are just millions of insect larvae types out there that can manage to come in on plants or appear from house insects that frequently you just don't know about those little things.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[MaxPower]

Afternoon everyone,

I have updated my stats again and the ammonia processing appears to be moving along nicely it seems to be just over 12 hours, since I didn't have time for tests this morning (silly me) I don't know if they are now processing in under 12 hours.

However I seem to be having a problem with my nitrAte tests many are coming back with a zero reading but a few have come back very dark red (using API test kit). I'm very confused and just hope my zero readings are erroneous and not the previous readings I have got confirming that the nitrItes are being processed. My nitrIte readings are still off the charts so I can't confirm whether they are going down or not.

Any pointers?

Thanks for your help, MaxPower.

/Edit

I have included an image on the left is the tank water, on the right tap water.

 

[waterdrop]

I think you are skipping the pH test too much. Even though you had the opposite problem of us worrying about it begin too high (at pH=9.0 if I recall) and we speculated it would come down (and it did as you had a result in the middle 8's) its still possible you could have crashed at some point. It would just be nice to know this isn't a problem.

The other thing is that if we're indeed misreading the nitrate(NO3) (one of the nitrate test reagents can get precipitates in the bottle that can either get stuck in the drop-forming bottle tip or otherwise mess things up a bit) level then its possible you've somehow reached a pretty late stage in fishless cycling and have loads of nitrite and nitrate in there and its greatly slowing down the N-Bac development and you would get a boost from some large water changes with an ammonia recharge.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[MaxPower]

Once again excellent reply, if I get this complete I will have you to thank Waterdrop.

PH test:

Might give a water change a try at the weekend.

 

[waterdrop]

Looks like a pH of 8 to me, does it to you?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[MaxPower]

Here are the results from the water change. I changed approximately 80% of the water in the tank and replaced it with dechlorinated using Nutrafin Aqua+.

Tap water parameters:
PH - 7.4
Ammonia - 0
NitrIte - 0
NitrAte - 20/40

New tank parameters:
PH - 7.4
Ammonia - 0
NitrIte - 1.0 (strange)
NitrAte - 5.0 (even stranger)

I thought that changing a large amount of water would make the new tank parameters pretty much the same as tap water. So why do I still have a nitrIte reading and why have my nitrAtes gone down? The only explanation I could come to is my water conditioner nutralising the nitrAtes, is this possible?

PS I did most of the tests twice to confirm.

 

[MaxPower]

... The only explanation I could come to is my water conditioner nutralising the nitrAtes ...

This appears to be the case, I tested some tap water and some tap water with a drop of conditioner added:

Tap water
NitrAte: 20/40

Tap water with conditioner
NitrAte: 0

However this makes me think that my nitrItes aren't processing at all, the large water change still left a readable amount within the water leading me to think that before the water change there were very high amounts within the water.

I'm now looking for mature media to help the process, I have checked the sticky but the members in my area are inactive and I can't travel very far for it. Can mature media be posted?

 

[waterdrop]

Max, your fishless cycle appears to be on track to me. It looks you are at the ending of the nitrite spike stage and now nitrites and nitrates may appear to "bounce around" a little and be a bit hard to understand (especially with water change) but your next milestone is for the time it takes for nitrites to drop to zero to be reduced. If nitrites(NO2) most recently have dropped to 1.0ppm 24 hours after you added ammonia, then you want to watch this get shorter over the coming days/weeks. Of course the goal is for it to drop to zero ppm 12 hours after ammonia is added, but it may be stubborn about getting to this.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[MaxPower]

Just to update, I think I might have been over dosing the ammonia I have been adding 4ppm every 12 hours. The bacteria have been processing it but the nitrites have just been skyrocketing maybe I should have been adding less ammonia or maybe less frequently?

I diluted 1ml of tank water with 9ml of tap water and put 5ml into a test tube and tested for nitites and they are still off the chart (thats a high reading, tap water is 0).

I am contemplating a water change.

Please advise.

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, do a couple of 90% water changes (doesn't hurt to gravel clean as practice even though you are fishless) and of course don't forget to condition the water and then recharge the ammonia only to about 3ppm as you don't need all that 5ppm during the nitrite spike (and certainly not 4ppm twice a day! ) You'll be ok!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[MaxPower]

Yeah, do a couple of 90% water changes (doesn't hurt to gravel clean as practice even though you are fishless) and of course don't forget to condition the water and then recharge the ammonia only to about 3ppm as you don't need all that 5ppm during the nitrite spike (and certainly not 4ppm twice a day! ) You'll be ok!

~~waterdrop~~

I thought it might have been a bit over the top dosing twice a day but it appears my bacs have developed and reduced my high concentration of nitrites without a water change and come out all the stronger for it. They seem to now be able to process 4ppm of ammonia to 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrite in 12 hours. I do believe I'm cycled.

I still intend to change my gravel to sand at the weekend and then I will make sure my it is still cycled and when Im happy I can get my fish as I'm on holiday next week.

 

[waterdrop]

Congrats Max

 

[martinking]

Congratulations max! it didn't take too long in the end!

 

[MaxPower]

really? It felt like forever.

Thank you for all your help. I will update you all with some pictures when the fish arrive.

 

[martinking]

I'm on day 93, so just count yourself lucky!