My First Fishless

[finalfantay85]

Just added a teaspoon now and my pH is back up to what looks to be 8 but it's a bit difficult with that colour chart. Thanks Truck

 

[finalfantay85]

Ok tonight's results are currently cooking but it looks like the pH has stayed at 8 after adding the bicarb.
Other than that...no change

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Hi there. well done, off to a good start.... try to stick toplain sodium bicarb in the future... baking powder got other stuff in it too which isn't useful...at least that was the advise I was given....check my "lily rose's fishless cycle" thread to check

 

[finalfantay85]

Thanks for that. I'm not too sure if it was baking soda or sodium bicarb cos my parents helpfully ripped that part of the label off when they opened it to cook their cabbage

Anyway i'm gonna be keeping a close eye on the pH for the time being. Can't believe it crashed 2 points in 3 days!!

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, that's correct, needs to be baking soda, not baking powder (as that may have additional ingredients.)

Water with a KH of zero on 1 degree can crash really fast. (you don't need to be measuring that though, just doing some baking soda adds will probably slow down the crashes enough so that you can just monitor pH and see it coming.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[finalfantay85]

Hmmmm other than my pH crash nothing seems to be happening.......I'm not exactly known for my patience lol

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Hi there, you need to put bicarb of soda in the tank to bring up the pH to around pH8.( 1tsp per 5 gallons)
You are still in the very early stages and dramatic pH changes can shock the bacteria ( if there are any yet) into a sleeping state, they will wake up again, but it can take a good while to see any drop in ammonia. I know its frustrating, just keep looking at pictures of the pretty fish you would love to have to keep you focused. x

 

[finalfantay85]

Thanks i did that, brought it back up to 8 a few days back when i noticed but i'm still waiting for the ammonia to start to drop. I'm just not a very patient person lol

 

[LilyRose Tank]

HA Ha lol.tell me about it, I'm so impatient I'm testing too often ( not recording them all) nearly finished first api master kit ammonia test bottles. lol
Especially when I see beautiful betta females in the lfs today, they were beautiful, cream bodied with either red, blue, red and blue, turquoise and red, coloured tails, and one was tri coloured absolutely stunning, crowntails too i believe, oooo come on hurry up and cycle!!!!! lol

 

[waterdrop]

Each phase of fishless cycling has something to drive your patience crazy:
Phase 1 (Pre Nitrite Spike): It can take up to two weeks or sometimes even more before that first dose of ammonia will drop all the way to zero ppm.
Phase 2 (THE Nitrite Spike): The nitrite spike itself can seem to last forever for some people.
Phase 3 (Post Nitrite Spike): The "sticking problem" can occur where Nitrite (or, rarely, ammonia) will go down to just a trace at 12 hours but will seem to just stick there for many days and won't completely drop to zero in 12 hours so you can start your qualifying week.
(Qualifying week): Of course it can be very frustrating if you get a mini-spike during the qualifying week but that's exactly what its there to check for!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[finalfantay85]

Ok this is driving me up the wall now, the ammonia level hasn't moved at all from the first dosing. What is going on?
The pH level is ok it's not crashed again so I have no idea

 

[waterdrop]

You've not been listing your tank temperature and you've not posted your results in the log the last few days. Are you going to update?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

At 8 days in, you are just starting and cannot expect to see much yet. It rarely takes less than 2 weeks for the first ammonia dose to drop out. Once it starts moving for you, it will quickly become a zero on ammonia each day, but the first start can be frustrating. As long as your pH is not dropping out the bottom, it will happen for you if you are patient.

 

[finalfantay85]

WD - i've not been around much between working long hours and being ill so haven't updated but nothing has changed.

Oldman - The temp is 29C and i dosed the tank with ammonia on the 21st of Jan and the pH crashed and was raised back up on about day 4. The results just aren't up to date cos of work and being ill. I dosed it up to 4ppm when i started the cycle and it's still 4ppm now

 

[waterdrop]

ok, fair enough, sounds like you are doing all the right things so now its just a matter of waiting for signs of the first drop happening --wd--