My Fishless Cycling Log

[waterdrop]

Those bothersome hobbyists who occasionally come in! Don't they understand it's not -about- keeping healthy fish and messing with ugly filter media? It's about the singing of that gleeming row of cash registers sucking up bar codes as fast as possible! Why can't they stay at home and just go on field trips out in the muddy creeks where their darn fish live?

 

[Falling Ash]

I tested the ammonia again, it still hasn't processed, however it is much lighter so the good news is I haven't killed ALL the bacteria. The bad news is it'll probably be another 6 weeks.

 

[KittyKat]

Just noticed that you're in Lincolnshire.. did you know that ianho is in Lincoln and timmystood is in Bourne, and both are down as willing media donors? *prod prod*

 

[Falling Ash]

Ooh, I'm quite close to Lincoln

 

[KittyKat]

I reckon you should give him a shout..

 

[ian]

your media is on it's way Ash.

 

[Falling Ash]

Thanks! Should speed things up nicely.

 

[Falling Ash]

I tested at the 12 hour mark just to see if any ammonia had been processed and it hasn't, is this normal? Will it take a fews days to get going? I don't know what has happened to my cycle really, it was processing 4ppm of ammonia in 12 hours a while ago. The nitrites haven't dropped at all since they first spiked two weeks ago.

 

[Falling Ash]

Also tested pH just to make sure, it was 7.5 so no problems there, and nitrates are 10ppm. I was looking at a cycle earlier which took 80+ days so I guess I'll just play the waiting game. Edit: was getting impatient so I tested 5 hours later, still no drop at all. How has my cycle gone so drastically wrong?

Should I do a partial water change?

 

[Falling Ash]

This is unrelated but there's a smear mark down the outside of my tank, like a drop of water has run down it. But I can't remove it with a cloth, and it looks like a crack. I don't think it is though (no one has been near it over night) but maybe something in the water that has crystalised on the outside? Has anyone else had anything similar happen? It's rough to the touch which is why I thought it was grime of somekind (it's white though). There was a lot of grime and stuff in my water last night from the mature sponge that I added, and I might've splashed some down the side. But it looks like a scratch mark.

 

[Aqua Tom]

This is unrelated but there's a smear mark down the outside of my tank, like a drop of water has run down it. But I can't remove it with a cloth, and it looks like a crack. I don't think it is though (no one has been near it over night) but maybe something in the water that has crystalised on the outside? Has anyone else had anything similar happen?

Probably a mineral deposit from a bit of condesation. Try scrapping with your fingernail, that way you can tell if it is raised abouve the glass or a scratch.


A~T

 

[Falling Ash]

@Aqua Tom, yeah that makes a lot of sense, it is like the mineral deposit line around the top of the tank actually. It is raised but difficult to scratch off. Thanks.

 

[KittyKat]

Maybe it is worth trying a water change to bring the nitrites into readable levels? They could very well be processing, but not quickly enough to catch up with ammonia. At any rate, the media should help.

I have no idea why your ammonia is not being processed now.. did you do anything to the tank in your moment of rage at the nitrite test kit?

 

[Falling Ash]

Maybe it is worth trying a water change to bring the nitrites into readable levels? They could very well be processing, but not quickly enough to catch up with ammonia. At any rate, the media should help.

I have no idea why your ammonia is not being processed now.. did you do anything to the tank in your moment of rage at the nitrite test kit?

I think I will do a small one. Also there's a lot of grime and stuff on the gravel, should I do a gravel vac and get rid of it all? I think I read somewhere not to gravel vac during cycling, but I'm not sure.

There was a bit of algae on the glass so I poured some bleach and toilet cleaner in to get rid of it. Just kidding , the ammonia is 0 today, so all is not lost. I just hope I'm cycled by April.

 

[waterdrop]

Even if your pH still seems pretty high (at 7.5 still?) if it represents a drop from 8 or above (which I see in your earlier log entries) that may still mean that it is pH drop which is bothering the speed of the process possibly. The drops in processing speed due to pH are usually due to -change- in pH rather than absolute pH value. I think this is another reason why a big water change and recharge of ammonia in the later parts of the second phase or all through the third phase may sometimes help (another possibility is that the dose of fresh tap water resupplies some calcium, magnesium or other traces that may have been low in a particular person's water.) Obviously it's not a cure-all as we do see some cases that seem to be unresponsive to a water change, but I think the positives still outweigh the negatives.

~~waterdrop~~