Need A Little Help With My Fishless Cycle

[julielynn47]

Okay, that reading was somewhere between 1 and 2.  So if I calculate on the high side and say 2, that would make it 8.   So this is good? or bad?

 

[Ch4rlie]

8ppm nitrite is perfectly fine, you're checking to make sure the nitrite is below 16ppm.
 
So the next time you test nitrite, do the same dilution is hopefully it will be a good bit lower.
 

 

[julielynn47]

Thanks!!

 

[julielynn47]

This morning I checked the nitrates in different ways.  The 1/4 to 3/4 test read .50  so that would put it at 2ppm.  
 
When I did the 50/50 it appeared to be somewhere between 2 and 5 on the color. So if I just say 2 and times that by 2 I get 4ppm.  
And the water straight out of the tank was the exact same color as the half and half.   So if I misread the color of the 1/4 x 3/4 and it really read 1, than that would put that test at 4ppm also.   
 
So I am, at this point, going with 4ppm.   Which is half what I got yesterday at around this time. If this is all correct, and I have no reason to doubt the tests, then it dropped to half what it was around this same time yesterday.   So it is now dropping at a better rate, or a least a rate I can see LOL

 

[Ch4rlie]

Sounds good actually. Getting there

 

[julielynn47]

Doing the 1/4 x 3/4 method the reading on nitrites is 2ppm this morning.   It went from 8 on Saturday to 4 yesterday and now this morning it is at 2.  
 
So hopefully by tomorrow morning it will be time for the next full dose of ammonia!
 
That color chart is really hard to read for the darker purple. It is very hard to distinguish between the colors of 2 and 5. Thanks so much for telling me about these other methods of testing.  And I am so glad I had a gallon of water in my fridge to test with.  

 

[Ch4rlie]

Definitely on the right track
 
Glad to help when I can. But yes, these colour charts are open for interpretation really, so many variables.
 
I know that if i see a colour is light red to me on that chart, my GF will probably disagree and say its something else, so there are different perspectives on colours as well as the varying amount of light that the colour chart and the test tube is under.
 
Natural daylight is apparently best but that does not really work for me, easily can be overcast with clouds one day, raining the next day and then bright sunshine the day after, all at the same time but on different days of the week so the amount of light can vary vastly which will have an affect on your perspective on what colour it is on the chart for your tests.
 
So what I do, is check my tests with the colour chart under the kitchen unit light in the same spot every time, that way its exactly the same condition and the same amount of light every time I check.
 

 

[julielynn47]

That is exactly how I  check too.

 

[julielynn47]

This morning the 1/4 by 3/4 test shows it to be at 1ppm.   But the regular tank reading is still too hard for me to judge.  So I am going to take it again later this afternoon and see if there is a change, and if not, I think I will wait until in the morning to add ammonia.    I don't want to add too soon and mess something up.
 
It wont hurt the cycle to wait until tomorrow will it?

 

[Ch4rlie]

It's fine to wait until tomorrow

 

[julielynn47]

Thanks!

 

[julielynn47]

This morning I did the tank water straight and the 1/4 x 3/4.  The tank water is still way to hard to distinguish between colors for me.  I don't know why. But the colors on the chart just do not jive with the actual color in the tube.   But it is way less dark than it was.   The 1/4 x 3/4 was clearly at 1ppm this morning. No doubt about the color there. After seeing it this morning, I think it was a bit higher than I thought yesterday, so I am glad I waited until today.  But since the instructions say "clearly under 1ppm" and it is not under , or not close enough for me, I will wait until tomorrow to add the ammonia.  I will probably take another reading this evening, and if it has dropped to clearly under 1ppm by then, I will add it tonight. But it seems to take it 24 hours to show a drop.   

 

[Gruntle]

Good to see you're remaining patient, it's very frustrating. However your colony sounds like it's definitely growing. One day soon just like magic, it will all click into place and then it's time for fish. Believe me, you won't even remember the frustration once you have a happy tribe of fish swimming about in a good environment.

 

[julielynn47]

It is  frustrating! But this morning I was able to give the 4th dose, which was the next full dose.  In 24 hours I will be able to check it. I don't think it will be cycled but it will be one step closer I hope

 
Although it is hard waiting around for it to cycle, it is way less stressful and a lot less work.  When I got my 55 gallon back in 2007 I did not even know what a cycle was. I had never heard of it before. So naturally I had a bunch of fish, and I do mean a bunch, in there and I was doing 50% water changes 2 times a day, at the end it was 3 times a day. Worrying about the ammonia killing the fish was enough for me to never want to do that again!   So the remembrance of that is helping a lot in me keeping patience LOL

 

[julielynn47]

Been a couple of days since I posted an update.  I was able to give it the 5th dose this morning!  Ammonia was a zero and Nitrites were almost at zero.   It is coming along nicely I think. I hope that it is almost there!!