My Fishless Cycle Log || Everything That Has A Beginning Has An End&#3

[BIG BAD BARRY]

My personal preference is to wait for 0ppm but dosing when at 0.25ppm is fine.

 

[Gelt]

Ragtag,
We have same tanks at your cycle is 24hrs behind mine, very similar readings, what filter are you now using?

 

[Ragtagcurtis]

Re-doesed to 4ppm. Wish the cycle would magically finish

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Its going fine.
Whats your nitrite at?

 

[Ragtagcurtis]

Its going fine.
Whats your nitrite at?

It was off the chart yesterday. So I didn't think it was worth checking as I'm still not processing ammonia quickly and I believe that will always process faster than nitrite?

Should I check that as well?

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

You are now in the second stage where the nitrite goes off the scale. Your ammonia will drop quickly now.

The experts here (waterdrop), recommended that during the second stage, it is good practice to halve the ammonia dosing. That is what i did.

So when your ammonia drops to 0ppm again, redose 2-3ppm.

Are testing in the evening at the moment?
The colours on the chart and in the tube will appear different (slightly darker) under artificial lights particularly the energy saving type.
I wouldnt worry, its just easier working out the colours in daylight.

 

[Ragtagcurtis]

Ragtag,
We have same tanks at your cycle is 24hrs behind mine, very similar readings, what filter are you now using?

Hey I'm using a Eheim 2213 at the moment but have a 2217 waiting in the wings to take over when I can be bothered to set it up. I'm going to add in all the media from the 2213 plus extra and hope it doesnt effect my cycle.... Dont think it will. What are you using and what are you planning to keep?

 

[Ragtagcurtis]

You are now in the second stage where the nitrite goes off the scale. Your ammonia will drop quickly now.

The experts here (waterdrop), recommended that during the second stage, it is good practice to halve the ammonia dosing. That is what i did.

So when your ammonia drops to 0ppm again, redose 2-3ppm.

Are testing in the evening at the moment?
The colours on the chart and in the tube will appear different (slightly darker) under artificial lights particularly the energy saving type.
I wouldnt worry, its just easier working out the colours in daylight.

Well I've tested earlier tonight so that I could take advantage of the light.

The reading for nitrite is off the chart as expected. When I do redose I will follow your advice and only go to 2ppm

 

[Gelt]

Ragtag,
We have same tanks at your cycle is 24hrs behind mine, very similar readings, what filter are you now using?

Hey I'm using a Eheim 2213 at the moment but have a 2217 waiting in the wings to take over when I can be bothered to set it up. I'm going to add in all the media from the 2213 plus extra and hope it doesnt effect my cycle.... Dont think it will. What are you using and what are you planning to keep?

Fluval 305 External at the moment a great filter seeded it from a mature 240 L into Fluval U3 then U3 to 305 - worked quite well , i prefer over filtration .

planning to keep Cardinals,Harlequins,Corys,pair of Bolivian Rams, but still brainstorming my final stocking, doing the research atm , ideally probably want a plec as well (small not common!)

 

[Ragtagcurtis]

So today I have only re-dosed to 2ppm as advised. Please can anyone explain the rest of the cycle from here as I'm a little unsure of what changes with only going to 2ppm???

Thanks

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Ok. You keep going with the 2ppm ammonia dosing which will hopefully get proccessed easily within 24hrs.
So you will be testing ammonia and nitrite every 24hrs.
You are waiting for the nitrite to drop to 0ppm.
When this happens you bump the ammonia dosing level back up to 4ppm.

You are then waiting to get 0ppm ammonia and nitrite at 12hrs.
However, the ammonia will easily be processed in 24hrs and hopefully so will the nitrite after a few days.
You then start testing at 12hrs (after dosing) as well.
This where the nitrite can stick or take a while to get to 0ppm in 12hrs.
You have to keep a close eye on the ph during this time. I tested the ph every 24hrs and then every 12hrs as you use hardly any of the liquid in the kit.

Once the ammonia and nitrite are processed to 0ppm in 12hrs (double zeros), your are cycled.
On this forum, the experts advise you to do whats called a qualifying week.
This is where you aim to get ammonia and nitrite to 0ppm in 12hrs for seven days. This is an additional safeguard to make sure there are no last minute surprises.
100% water change and job done!

 

[Ragtagcurtis]

Ok. You keep going with the 2ppm ammonia dosing which will hopefully get proccessed easily within 24hrs.
So you will be testing ammonia and nitrite every 24hrs.
You are waiting for the nitrite to drop to 0ppm.
When this happens you bump the ammonia dosing level back up to 4ppm.

You are then waiting to get 0ppm ammonia and nitrite at 12hrs.
However, the ammonia will easily be processed in 24hrs and hopefully so will the nitrite after a few days.
You then start testing at 12hrs (after dosing) as well.
This where the nitrite can stick or take a while to get to 0ppm in 12hrs.
You have to keep a close eye on the ph during this time. I tested the ph every 24hrs and then every 12hrs as you use hardly any of the liquid in the kit.

Once the ammonia and nitrite are processed to 0ppm in 12hrs (double zeros), your are cycled.
On this forum, the experts advise you to do whats called a qualifying week.
This is where you aim to get ammonia and nitrite to 0ppm in 12hrs for seven days. This is an additional safeguard to make sure there are no last minute surprises.
100% water change and job done!

So once my Nitrite hits 0 and i re-dose to 4. do I then keep adding ammonia back to 4 everytime it hits 0 or do i only add 4ppm ammonia when the nitrites are at 0?

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Sorry, you re-dose when the ammonia hits 0ppm.

 

[Ragtagcurtis]

Sorry, you re-dose when the ammonia hits 0ppm.

Thanks for all the advice, i honestly really appreciate it.

The filter is now processing 2ppm in 24 hours easily but it seems that the nitrites are showing no signs of dropping.

I have a Eheim 2217 filter which is the larger version of my current 2213 and am thinking of changing to that. If i use all the media from the 2213 and some extra to fill the 2217 will that be ok or will it slow down my cycle?

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Should be fine. Just carefully transfer it across.
Put the existing media closest to where the water enters the filter and any new media after that. Transfer the water from the filter into the new filter as well (every bit helps at this stage!)

How did you measure 8ppm nitrite?

Looking good!