My In Fish Cycling Progess Diary Day 6 Results.....

[mrvillicus]

PH 7.6
HIGH RANGE PH 7.4
AMMONIA 0.25ppm
NITRATE 5.0ppm
NITRITE 5.0ppm

day two

PH 7.2
HIGH PH 7.4
AMMONIA 0.25ppm
NITRITE 2.0ppm
NITRATE 10ppm

Day Three

PH 7.0
HIGH PH 7.4
AMMONIA 0.25ppm However, its extremely close to being 0 now
NITRITE 1.0ppm
NITRATE 0ppm

Day Four

PH 7.0
AMMONIA Oppm
NITRITE 2ppm
NITRATE 10ppm

DAY FIVE

AMMONIA 0ppm
NITRITE 0pmm
NITRATE 10ppm

The day 5 results are following a full 100% water change so im hoping if I do constant changes after today itll stay at 0

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Just for clarification, you have done a massive (>75%) water each and everyday so far, haven't you (as you are cycling with fish in the tank... or at least that is how I read your title)?

As soon as ammonia or nitrite give a 0.25mg/l reading, a considerable amount of water needs to be changed, failure to do so will cause short and long term damage to the fish. Yes, pH and temperature have an effect on the levels of true toxicity, I'm just trying to keep things simple here.

 

[KISSfn]

Agree with N0body Of The Goat and I hope you're not using test strips.

 

[mrvillicus]

its an api test kit and everyday has an 80% water change

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Now that your ammonia is being processed fully you'll find the nitrite a lot harder to keep down (as more is being produced) I reccommend a nice big 100% change and after that you should be able to keep it down to 0 with your normal 75% changes.

 

[mrvillicus]

well almostawesome ive done another set of tests, the ammonia is back to 0.25ppm and nitrite is lower ive just done an 80% change so ill see what results appear tomorrow, great fun this cycling lark haha

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Yeah, it is a lengthy process for sure!

I do still encourage you to just change out as much water as you have to in order to get ammo and nitrite to 0 though, don't wait until another day doing, one water change, one water test per day thing. It's just keeping those levels high indefinetley. Wouldn't it be nice to have them both down to 0? You can then have a hope of getting them both to 0 when you do your changes every day. You'll see a difference in your fishies' behaviour.

Also you should test both before and after your water change that way you know what you have achieved and you'll see that at your current levels, one 80% change isn't going to cut it.

 

[KISSfn]

I had to do twice daily huge waterchanges during those dark days. Luckily it was on my 50g tank.

 

[mrvillicus]

haha kissfn its a nightmare and thanks almostawesome really appreciate your help again

 

[KISSfn]

Can you get some mature media from a friend, LFS or someone on this forum section http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/150631-list-of-members-willing-to-donate-mature-filter-media-to-newbies/

 

[mrvillicus]

on the list both people on my list are inactive no worries ill do it the hard way

 

[mrvillicus]

DAY FIVE

AMMONIA 0ppm
NITRITE 0pmm
NITRATE 10ppm

The day 5 results are following a full 100% water change so im hoping if I do constant changes after today itll stay at 0

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Brilliant! I have a feeling that you'll find it much more manageable from here on out. You'll still need to do big changes but at least you'll be able to reach 00 with one change now

 

[mrvillicus]

would you recommend doing 50% changes daily almostawesome? i have a feeling that tomorrow the ammonia will be back up as well as the nitrite but the fish seem a bit more active and my tank is crystal clear! check out my thread theres pics included

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/396320-a-beginners-journeyupdate-new-pics/

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Yeah I saw the pics, it is looking good

It depends on what you get in your results tomorrow. Then we will really know where you are because you'll know exactly how much has been produced in 24 hours

There's a perfectly logical way to work out how much water to change but I don't feel like thinking about it haha. Let's say that if you get .25 tomorrow, do 50%, if you get .5 do more like 70-80%. I think that should cover you.