My Fishless Cycle (Add And Wait Method)

[BethK]

Thank you Beth, I think I want to come to UK and be a kid!

Come over to mine, big garden, massive paddling pool and sun lol

I'll stop highjacking the thread now

 

[LondonguyJ]

PH had dropped to borderline 7.0 in less than 24 hours so I did a 100% water change and waited for the temp to get as high as possible before my hourly add. I'll do a 12 hour test for ammonia in the morning.

Ammonia was 0 Nitrate was also 0 before the water change so I'm hoping the cycle will not be affected.

 

[LondonguyJ]

Ammonia was 0ppm 8 hours later. Nitrite 1.6ppm

I nearly missed my train this morning

 

[waterdrop]

A lot of people would like to have progress as good as yours! WD

 

[LondonguyJ]

A lot of people would like to have progress as good as yours! WD

My nitrite was fully processed in 19.5 hours yesterday (personal record.) The n-bacs are getting stronger/numbers are building but it seems like it'll be a gradual drop as opposed to that big overnight drop I was had read about. It seems as though I test my aquarium so often I no longer need the colour chart

Hopefully soon they chop through the nitrite in 12 hours or less

I forgot to mention that my aquarium temp is now at 30C do you think I should turn the temp down?

 

[waterdrop]

OK, , now I'M the one confused. We had that whole interaction about the transition to the third phase and I thought, good, that's out of the way.. but now I look at your log and realize you haven't changed anything. You are still dosing only to 3ppm. Why?

There must be some misunderstanding here about the benefits of 5ppm final dosing? The 3ppm thing was only a variation to try and get through the 2nd phase a little more quickly, but you want to be sure toward the end that your colonies are able to gobble up a 5ppm concentration. That's the level of biofilter function that survives the drop-back at the end of the fishless cycle and doesn't spike on the new fish. Does that make sense?

If you don't start moving up to 4ppm and then 5ppm then you are just adding wasted days in my opinion.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[LondonguyJ]

You're right WD

I have not upped my dosage and continued to add 3ppm because that's what I have been doing for sometime. I see no point in raising the dose until my n-bacs have processed 3ppm in 12 hours or less.

I came into work extremely early just so as I can leave early to go home and test my aquarium 8 hours before the 24 hour slot.

If the number have dropped significantly then next week I'll up the dosage. But for now I'm keeping everything as is

J

 

[LondonguyJ]

So even though I get time in lieu it appears that half day yesterday was wishful thinking

Anyways the ammonia has cleared with 9 hours to spare. 3 hours before I hit 12 hour processing.

Hopefully when I raise the dose to 5ppm it'll process within 24 hours and I'll finally start to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel

 

[LondonguyJ]

I think something is wrong with my filter.

It's shooting bubbles out of the first hole in the spray bar. I haven't changed my setup at all, it's been the same way for 50 days so I'm pretty sure something funny is going on in my filter. I hope it's a massive expansion of n-bacs but I'm just not that lucky.

 

[LondonguyJ]

Haven't been able to do a 12 hour test until today. My nitrite has fully processed in 13 hours. So I guess that's close enough. Tonight I'll be adding 10ml of ammonia to raise my count 5ppm

*Finger crossed*

 

[OldMan47]

It sounds like you are on your way to starting your qualifying week now. Congratulations on your progress so far.

 

[BethK]

Fingers crossed that it's not long now x

 

[LondonguyJ]

Cheers Oldman47

But in actual fact I am nowhere near my qualifying week. I tested my aquarium this morning for ammonia and found 1.something of ammonia present (.something as I'm at work and don't remember the chart) and my nitrites at 3.3

Which means my A-bacs have gone backwards and nitrite will still be present at the 24 hour mark

Today was the first time my patience with this process was tested and I couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed.

*Goes to order another bottle of ammonia from boots*

 

[OldMan47]

I fully understand your frustration that led to ordering more ammonia. If you are qualifying, maybe it was just a spike. We often see small reversals during the qualifying week. It is the reason we want people to use one.

 

[LondonguyJ]

Cheers oldman47

I'm pleased to announce my frustrations have now dissipated

But seriously, this morning I found that my a-bacs processed 10ml of ammonia in 9 hours so I'm guessing they needed to adjust after being on a diet of 3ppm.

I'm not sure what my nitrite processing time is as my add hour is quite late and since raising the dose, I've only been able to test at the 24 hour slot. Though I should be home in a few hours and better able to gauge where things stand.

J