My First Cycle Log

[marsdend]

My First Tank Cycle Log​

Hi Guys!

Just Starting my log for my first tank, it is a 190 Litre Fluval Venezia with Tropical Setup.

28/07/2011
Got round to setting my tank up today, Gravel washed and added, Water added and Water Conditioner added to remove chlorine, Water a bit cloudy at the moment so im waiting for it to settle before adding the ammonia, il be adding 10ml of ammonia tomorrow as calculated for the 190L tank. Il attach picture in this thread so far.

29/07/2011 11:00
Tested the water this morning, still a bit cloudy but here are my results:
pH 8.3
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
These results are before adding any ammonia to the tank, I will be adding this when I get back from town. Photo of results are posted below.

29/07/2011 14:05
10ml ammonia added to my 190L tank, this was calculated using the calculator on this site. I will test ammonia in the tank in 2 Hours.

29/07/2011 16:05
Ok, I have tested my tank 2 hours after adding the ammonia and according to the tests its currently at 5ppm. I have included a photo in the post for you to double check and make sure I have read it right. Il test the ammonia last thing tonight before i go to bed and then again in the morning.

29/07/2011 23:30
Just tested my tank before going up to bed and the ammonia is still at around 5ppm which im guessing is a good thing as it means there is no chlorine etc in the water to eradicate the ammonia that i put in. Il do a test tomorrow and see what i get and ill update you all then.

 

[Wigster]

What test kit have you got ? Just to say it can be good to measure the parameters currently in your tank before you add any ammonia. I.e check out how much starting ammonia you have.

 

[marsdend]

What test kit have you got ? Just to say it can be good to measure the parameters currently in your tank before you add any ammonia. I.e check out how much starting ammonia you have.

I got the API master test kit, should be here tomorrow hopefully, il post the results first before adding the ammonia, what results should i post? Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites & pH?

Cheers,
Dan

 

[marsdend]

Tank so far (first day 28/07/2011)

 

[Wigster]

o.0 Crazy lines. Webcam I'm guessing?

 

[marsdend]

o.0 Crazy lines. Webcam I'm guessing?

Phone camera lol, its the air bubbles on the tank.

 

[marsdend]

First Day Test Results before adding ammonia.

 

[waterdrop]

Sounds good. You have an excellent pH to start off with (8.0 to 8.4 being the optimal range for speediest (if we can ever use that word in something that can take months, lol) autotroph growth) and I assume you'll raise your temperature to 84F/29C. It is nice to get a full line of measurements every now and then, especially at beginning and various stage changes, but each of the 3 phases of fishless cycling can usually get along with fewer actual types of tests or less frequent use of certain tests depending on the phase. In the first phase it will mostly be ammonia you're watching, but you'll want temp checks to make sure the heater is functioning properly and pH checks occasionally and then the occasional nitrite and nitrate (weekends perhaps) to just see out of curiosity. Make sure your surface water gets some movement from the filter output and don't leave too much light getting in there.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[marsdend]

Sounds good. You have an excellent pH to start off with (8.0 to 8.4 being the optimal range for speediest (if we can ever use that word in something that can take months, lol) autotroph growth) and I assume you'll raise your temperature to 84F/29C. It is nice to get a full line of measurements every now and then, especially at beginning and various stage changes, but each of the 3 phases of fishless cycling can usually get along with fewer actual types of tests or less frequent use of certain tests depending on the phase. In the first phase it will mostly be ammonia you're watching, but you'll want temp checks to make sure the heater is functioning properly and pH checks occasionally and then the occasional nitrite and nitrate (weekends perhaps) to just see out of curiosity. Make sure your surface water gets some movement from the filter output and don't leave too much light getting in there.

~~waterdrop~~

Yeah the heater is set to 30C, my tank is still quite cloudy, is this normal?

 

[Wigster]

All looks as it should be at the moment, similar results to my initial testing before adding ammonia.

 

[Tizer]

Nice start matey all looks good

Before you get too far into it, give some thought to using sand over gravel. No idea what you want to stock but substrates are quite a pain to change once you have plants and fish in there.

 

[KezJona]

My First Tank Cycle Log​

Hi Guys!

Just Starting my log for my first tank, it is a 190 Litre Fluval Venezia with Tropical Setup.

28/07/2011
Got round to setting my tank up today, Gravel washed and added, Water added and Water Conditioner added to remove chlorine, Water a bit cloudy at the moment so im waiting for it to settle before adding the ammonia, il be adding 10ml of ammonia tomorrow as calculated for the 190L tank. Il attach picture in this thread so far.

29/07/2011 11:00
Tested the water this morning, still a bit cloudy but here are my results:
pH 8.3
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
These results are before adding any ammonia to the tank, I will be adding this when I get back from town. Photo of results are posted below.

29/07/2011 14:05
10ml ammonia added to my 190L tank, this was calculated using the calculator on this site. I will test ammonia in the tank in 1 Hour.

Sounds good to me, I will start my fishless cycling tomorrow as well so will defiitely keep checking yours Best of luck with it

Kez

 

[marsdend]

Results from ammonia test 2 hours after adding 10ml to 190L tank, I read it as 5ppm, if you can confirm this then that will be great! lol

 

[jen31972]

Before you get too far into it, give some thought to using sand over gravel. No idea what you want to stock but substrates are quite a pain to change once you have plants and fish in there.

Excellent point! I want cory cats and discovered they need sand. I ended up removing half my gravel and putting down inert aquarium sand (ask your lfs for it). Fortunately I was able to do this while fishless cycling.

 

[marsdend]

Hi guys,
for some reason i cant edit my original post

I tested my tank this morning and my origional 5ppm has now reduced to 4ppm, im guessing this is good news! New pic and comparison below.

Comparison:

**Sorry, Newest test on the left**