Migthegreek - Fishless Cycle Log

[OldMan47]

It is worth a try Mig. I would be a bit surprised but I know these things never go by any schedule we might write.

 

[Deleted member 55926]

OK, so am I using 2ppm or 4 again?

 

[OldMan47]

If you believe that the nitrite spike has passed, you bring the ammonia levels back to 5 ppm at the start of each day.

 

[Deleted member 55926]

OK, I'll leave it at about 3 for today, just in case.

 

[Deleted member 55926]

I think the nitrite spike must have passed because the 3-4ppm from last night was at 0 ammonia, 0.3 nitrite this morning - and that is after only about 9-10 hours.

To get the dosing into a more convenient cycle I have added 5ppm again this morning, so I can test at proper 12 hour intervals every evening when I get back from work.

 

[Deleted member 55926]

I'm really confused. Here are my results from the last couple of days:

Day 1 - PM

Dosed 3-4ppm

Day 2 - AM

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0

Dosed 5ppm (I had to switch to morning dosing because I was away for the weekend and it is more convenient for me)

Day 2 - PM

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.5

Day 3 - AM

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0

Dosed 5ppm

Day 3 - PM

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 5


My nitrite seems all over the place. One day it's spiking to 5, the next it's to 0 or nearly 0, the next it's back up. The randomness doesn't even seem to directly coincide with the change in dosing pattern. For the first time today I saw the nitrite test drops turn slightly purple in the bottom of the tube instantly, then they went to bright pink. I read this means it is off the scale, and it should turn green when you shake it (which it didn't). It went bright pink, although I am having trouble telling if the pink is 1 or 5, as they seem quite similar (with 2 different from both).

Also, I have an important question: what is the point in going from 2ppm/24h during the nitrite spike, then suddenly trying to clear 5ppm/24h? I'm finding it hard to make sense of that. I'm sure my tank can process 2ppm in 12 hours, because it was doing that last week, but why would that mean it can suddenly handle 5 in the same time frame?

Advice please. What should I be dosing tomorrow morning?

I'm so confused

 

[waterdrop]

To my eye you're just over-watching it and over playing with it. None of it is very critical and none of it happens very fast. It's really just very slow and boring and better thought about on a weekly basis, although you want to keep testing, dosing and recording data on a daily basis. Someday off in the future you'll be able to look back at your graph and see that that "oh yeah, that was just the nitrite jumping around at the beginning of the nitrite spike," or "oh yeah, that was the nitrite spike being very short and beginning to sputter out for good." Right now you probably just can't tell. The "fine tuning" thing of lowering the dosing during the spike is just that, fine tuning. I like to advise doing it and would probably have advised just like OM47, which was as good as one could have done without a crystal ball. Since the nitrite has shown a spike again I'd just drop back to 3ppm and continue with that for a while. Any bit less than 5ppm that you can sustain for a while will help to lower the amount of overall nitrogen you're dumping in and will help the growing conditions to stay better longer.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Deleted member 55926]

To my eye you're just over-watching it and over playing with it. None of it is very critical and none of it happens very fast. It's really just very slow and boring and better thought about on a weekly basis

Yeah, you're probably right - I've been over-watching it since my nitrite appeared to hit 0.

In any case, I think I have discovered the potential cause of the problem. I was using some plastic measuring spoons that had been relegated from the kitchen to the aquarium cabinet, to dose the ammonia. However, after becoming suspicious, I tested the volume of the 2.5mm spoon using a hospital syringe (my girlfriend is a nurse), and low and behold, the 2.5mm spoon holds about 1.3mm... I think the 5mm spoon probably holds about 4mm so shouldn't be the end of the world there.

Anyway, I'm now dosing with the syringe and have binned the spoons.

 

[OldMan47]

That is a good idea Mig. You do want reasonably accurate dosing so that you can compare one day to the next and have it be meaningful.

 

[waterdrop]

Sigh, I love this forum... its like learning about the "unreliable narrator" in literature class

 

[Deleted member 55926]

That's what you get for using dodgy equipment, I guess. I'll start recording results afresh and see where my tank is REALLY at

 

[Deleted member 55926]

Day 19

Have been dosing 4, then 3ppm the last couple of days, and nitrite has come back down to 0.

By the way, can anyone answer my previous question: what is the point in going from 2ppm/24h during the nitrite spike, then suddenly switching to 5ppm and seeing if it'll clear in 12 hours? I'm finding it hard to make sense of that. I'm sure my tank can process 2ppm in 12 hours, because it was doing that last week, but why would that mean it can suddenly handle 5 in half the time?

 

[OldMan47]

Once you are processing 2 ppm, you want to build the entire bacteria population big enough to move 4 or 5 ppm in 12 hours. To get there, you need to dose that high. Once the nitrite spike has passed, you know that you have some significant nitrite processors so it is time to start the ramp up to higher levels again.

 

[Deleted member 55926]

Once the nitrite spike has passed, you know that you have some significant nitrite processors so it is time to start the ramp up to higher levels again.

Yeah, but what I'm saying is that every time the nitrite spike drops, I increase my dosage and this just causes another nitrite spike. I don't get it.

I have plotted my dosing pattern out, to reflect this, including adjustments taking into account my incorrect measuring spoons:



I had a very confusing patch in the middle, where I had various problems and lack of understanding, but I was still following the general concept of dosing as suggested (reducing when the nitrite spiked, and increasing when it hit 0). But as you can see, every time I have dropped off, then increased the dosage, the nitrite spikes once again. For the last few days I have just stuck to a regular cycle of 5ppm every morning. I will just continue this and see what happens.

When I am finished (if I ever get this right), I will make some suggestions for the fishless cycle guide, because there are a few things that aren't made clear in it that I think would really benefit anybody like me who really doesn't have a clue and is trying to get it right.

 

[OldMan47]

What you have is enough bacteria to process the nitrites from 2 or 3 ppm of ammonia back to zero in 24 hours but not enough to keep up with the full dose of ammonia. Since we are trying to gradually develop a bacteria colony capable of dealing with 4 or 5 ppm of ammonia, the rise after we increase the dosing is not unexpected. When the nitrite processors catch up with the ammonia processors, both will be at zero in the 24 hour period and we can start to look for even shorter processing times. Chances are good that you can already process the ammonia to zero in 12 hours and are just waiting for the nitrite processors to catch up.