My Fishless Cycle.

[Joinerlavin]

should I add anymore ammonia today or just leave it?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yup top up after water changes

 

[Joinerlavin]

ok I will put more in now up to 4ppm, how come that if I did a 80% water change there is still 10ppm of Nitrates.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

what was it before and whats your tap water nitrate content?

 

[Joinerlavin]

didnt test it before, should have done.

tap water was 0 for everything else, but Nitrate was 1ppm

 

[Miss Wiggle]

don't fret, it's normal for nitrate to be 150ppm+ at this point in a cycle, so if yours was up towards this levl you would expect to have 10ppm left after an 80% water change.

 

[Joinerlavin]

just gutted now because it was all going so well and was going to get the fish this sat

 

[Miss Wiggle]

patience is the hardest part of cycling!

 

[Joinerlavin]

tell me about it.

 

[waterdrop]

Nitrates(NO3) have a way of seeming to "hang about" even through large water changes sometimes. I've observed this myself, even through double large water changes, and seen numerous references to it among members describing their water changes and water stats, but I've never seen any good explanation for it. Certainly the expectation is that NO3 is a completely dissolved substance and should dilute out just like ammonia and nitrite(NO2) but I still have a bit of a non-logical stubborn thought that somehow it doesn't seem to dilute as easily in the typical aquarium for some reason... (for what that's worth..)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Joinerlavin]

kinda get what your saying lol

 

[Joinerlavin]

bump, check day 27?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

pH is dropping quickly, you need to do another big water change to bring it back up today.

 

[Joinerlavin]

noooooooooo lol, how much today?

 

[Truck]

@MW cant the OP add some bicarb to the tank to raise the PH? that is what i do in a fishless cycle to bring the PH up