New Tank - Aqua One Regency 120

[backtotropical]

Hi Schmill,

Glad to see your ammonia finally doing something. I could feel your frustration!

Now it has started it should just get quicker and quicker. Wait until it drops back to 0 and then re-charge it back up to 4ppm.

This may be a good time to re-read the pinned fishless cycling article to re-inforce your understanding of what is going on, and make entirely sure you know what you should be doing.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

The same thread also answers your query on the nitrite test, as you'll see from the quote below.

NOTE FOR API TEST KIT USERS: When you add the drops, if they immediately turn purple in the bottom of the tube, your nitrites are off the chart high. You do not need to shake the tube and wait 5 minutes. If you do, the color will turn green as the nitrites are so high that there isn't a color to measure them with.

Going by this, your nitrite is off the chart. Don't worry about it until you are processing 4ppm of ammonia in 12hrs.

Do however keep a close eye on the pH now your cycle is going. Particularly if you have soft water, the pH may start to drop, and if it does, you need to take action as it can stall the cycle.

No need to bother with the water change now, as the cycle has started moving.

Looking forward to your next set of results.

BTT

 

[Schmill]

Cheers BTT.

No problem with soft water here, it's hard hard hard here, filters through chalk hills - lol
I will keep an eye on the Ph though, as I do have two pieces of bogwood in the tank, (although they are not visibly leaching thankfully!)
It does look like that NitrItes might be high, but it doesn't go green after the 5 minutes, still stays purple, so I guess we'll just see what happens over the next few tests

 

[Schmill]

10th November 2008 - Day 19 (300L - Fishless Cycle)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C

Time: 18:15
High Ph: 7.6
Ph: 7.6 Will have to keep an eye on this!
Ammonia: 0
NitrIte: 1 ? (The drops go purple in the bottom of the tube within about 5 seconds, then the tube goes to 1ppm after the 5 minutes)
NitrAte: 40

So, in terms of ammonia it looks like it's going somewhere. I decided to do some extra tests for NitrIte, just to confirm to myself that it had gone 'off scale' as I thought it must have

5ml Tank Water: 'Off scale' NitrIte
2.5ml Tank Water / 2.5ml Tap Water: 'Off scale' NitrIte
1ml Tank Water / 4 ml Tap Water: 2ppm NitrIte

So I know this is only a rough guide, but it confirms that the NitrIte has gone off scale, (it 'might' be at 10ppm based on the ratios above, but that's not really of interest )

As I discovered last time my 'aged' ammonia seems to now be at a lower concentration than it was when I bought it.
Re-checking my original figures with the calculator on this site, it seems my "9.5% Ammonia" is now actually closer to 7%.
Based on that I added 20ml to try and hit 5ppm, and then retested

20ml of 9.5% (7%?) Ammonia added

Time: 19:30
Ammonia: 5

Excellent! How glad am I that I didn't have time to change 290 odd litres of water at the weekend! Now onto the next waiting game...

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Scmill,

Your cycle really seems to be getting going now. Congrats!

You should find that this lot of ammonia disappears reasonably quickly, and then just top it up again.

The reason the nitrite goes off the chart so quickly is that 1ppm of ammonia turns into 2.7ppm of nitrite, so the nitrite builds up pretty quick when the ammonia starts processing.

I see your pH has fallen slightly. Keep an eye on it. It's not only the bogwood which will lower the pH, infact the effect of the bogwood is probably negligable, especially in hard water.

The process of nitrification drives the ph down too, as the end product is nitric / nitrous acid (can't remember which). As your bacteria are nitrifying their little hearts out at the moment, it can have a considerable effect on the pH if you don't monitor it closely.

I wouldn't even bother to measure nitrite for now to be honest. Just continue to measure ammonia and pH until your filter is processing 5ppm of ammonia in 12 hours or less. Then you can move on to the next stage.

Keep us updated as usual.

BTT

 

[Schmill]

Thanks BTT, nice to know that someone is reading this and keeping an 'eye' on things - lol
I've only cycled one other tank and that was a 60L about 8 months ago, so each twist and turn of the path is a new challenge to me
Oh and the ammonia is "disappearing reasonably quickly" see below for todays results

11th November 2008 - Day 20 (300L - Fishless Cycle)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C

Time: 18:10
High Ph: 7.4 ~ 7.8
Ph: 7.6
Ammonia: 0
NitrIte: max

Time: 18:30
20ml Ammonia added to raise back to 5ppm

Time: 19:30
Ammonia: 4 ~ 5

Tomorrow morning we will try a 12hr test, just to see what the Ammonia has done in that time scale

 

[Schmill]

12th November 2008 - Day 21 (300L - Fishless Cycle)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C

Time: 06:30 - (+12:00hrs since ammonia added)
Ammonia: 0.25

Time: 18:20
High Ph: 7.4
Ph: 7.2 ~ 7.6
Ammonia: 0
NitrIte: max

Time: 18:30
20ml Ammonia added to raise back to 5ppm

Time: 19:45
Ammonia: 4

 

[keenonfish]

Keep up the good work - I hope to be doing this myself soon so you are giving me an idea of what to expect!

 

[Schmill]

13th November 2008 - Day 22 (300L - Fishless Cycle)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C

Time: 06:30 - (+12:00hrs since ammonia added)
Ammonia: 0 ~ 0.25

Time: 18:40
High Ph: 7.4
Ph: 7.6
Ammonia: 0
NitrIte: max

Time: 18:45
20ml Ammonia added to raise back to 5ppm

Time: 20:45
Ammonia: 4

Over the past few days the ammonia progress seems to have been good, so hopefully this weekend I will be able to do a large water change. I'll also be doing a fairly intense gravel vac as part of the change to remove any 'dust' that got through the initial washing (as it was all 'new' gravel)

 

[Schmill]

Well the weekend has been and gone, and despite best laid plans and all that, a spot of spontaneous re-decoration of the living room meant that I didn't get my water change done, and in fact didn't get much testing done either, so not many results. For completeness though here's the log for the weekend entries

14th November 2008 - Day 23 (300L - Fishless Cycle)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C

Time: 06:30 - 12hr Test
Ammonia: 0

Time: 22:00
20ml Ammonia added Couldn't get to the cupboard for the Test, could barely get to the tank to add ammonia! Added the 20ml based on the fairly predictable tank behaviour over the last few days

15th November 2008 - Day 24 (300L - Fishless Cycle)
Today there was no access to the tank or the tests as everything is covered in plastic sheeting to protect it from paint splatter!

16th November 2008 - Day 25 (300L - Fishless Cycle)
Time: 20:00
20ml Ammonia added Couldn't get to the cupboard for the Tests again, added the 20ml based on the fairly predictable tank behaviour over the last few days.

Hopefully this evening I'll be able to do a full set of tests again, and maybe even do a waterchange, but I'm not holding my breath for that

 

[Schmill]

17th November 2008 - Day 26 (300L - Fishless Cycle)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C

Time: 08:20 - 12hr Test
Ammonia: 0

Time: 21:00
High Ph: 7.6
Ph: 7.4
Ammonia: 0
NitrIte: max

10ml Ammonia added for estimated 2.5ppm level (not tested)

 

[Schmill]

18th November 2008 - Day 27 (300L - Fishless Cycle)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C

Time: 10:00 - (+12:00hrs since ammonia added)
Ammonia: 0

Time: 20:40
High Ph: 7.4
Ph: 7.6
Ammonia: 0
NitrIte: max

10ml Ammonia added for estimated 2.5ppm level (not tested)

19th November 2008 - Day 28 (300L - Fishless Cycle)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C

Time: 22:15
NitrIte: max Might be 5ppm, but I think it's still max, should know for definite by tomorrows result.

15ml Ammonia added for estimated 3.75ppm level (not tested)

I hope those N-Bacs (NOBs) get a move on, otherwise my ammonia bottle is going to run dry before the tank cycles

 

[backtotropical]

Any updates, mate?

 

[Schmill]

Hi, sorry to BTT & anyone else who has been taking an active interest in this topic, I went away last weekend and have been unwell since, I have however been doing the tests (or getting them done!), so here are the results up to the current, and I can only appologise for the sporadic testing between the 24th and 27th

20th November 2008 - Day 29 (300L - Fishless Cycle)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C

Time: 22:30 - (+24:00hrs since ammonia added)
NitrIte: 0 ~ 0.25

Woo-hoo! A drop in the NitrItes, ok, not to zero, and it's taken 24 hours, but at least it's dropped
Going to take the ammonia additions back to proper levels now

20ml Ammonia added for estimated 4ppm level (not tested)

XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX

21st November 2008 - Day 30 (300L - Fishless Cycle)

Time: 10:30 - (+12:00hrs since ammonia added)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C
NitrIte: 1
Ammonia: 0
Ph: 7.4
High Ph: 7.4

Time: 21:15 - (+22:45hrs since ammonia added)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C
NitrIte: 0
Ammonia: 0

20ml Ammonia added for estimated 4ppm level (not tested)

XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX

22nd November 2008 - Day 31 (300L - Fishless Cycle)

Time: 09:15 - (+12:00hrs since ammonia added)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C
NitrIte: 1
Ammonia: 0 ~ 0.25

Time: 21:05 - (+23:50hrs since ammonia added)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C
NitrIte: 0
Ammonia: 0

20ml Ammonia added for estimated 4ppm level (not tested)

XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX

23rd November 2008 - Day 32 (300L - Fishless Cycle)

Time: 09:15 - (+12:10hrs since ammonia added)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C
NitrIte: 1
Ammonia: 0

Time: 21:15 - (+24:10hrs since ammonia added)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C
NitrIte: 0
Ammonia: 0

20ml Ammonia added for estimated 4ppm level (not tested)

XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX

24th November 2008 - Day 33 (300L - Fishless Cycle)

Time: 10:00 - (+12:45hrs since ammonia added)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C
NitrIte: 1
Ammonia: 0
Ph: 7.2
High Ph: 7.4
NitrAte: 40

Time: 22:00
20ml Ammonia added for estimated 4ppm level (not tested)

XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX

25th November 2008 - Day 34 (300L - Fishless Cycle)

Time: 09:45 - (+11:45hrs since ammonia added)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C
NitrIte: 1
Ammonia: 0

Time: Late PM sometime...
20ml Ammonia added for estimated 4ppm level (not tested)

XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX

26th November 2008 - Day 35 (300L - Fishless Cycle)

Time: Late PM sometime...
20ml Ammonia added for estimated 4ppm level (not tested)

XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX

27th November 2008 - Day 36 (300L - Fishless Cycle)

Time: 11:15
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C
NitrIte: 1
Ammonia: 0
Ph: 7.2
High Ph: 7.4
NitrAte: 40

Ok, so now it seems like things might have really slowed down with the N-Bac growth, and I am way past the point it was recommended to do the water change, but I am actually feeling a bit healthier today, so lets do the water change and gravel vac
- Filter disconnected, gently rinsed with tank water, single top layer of fine filter floss removed as clogged with gravel dust.
- Filter refilled and primed with existing tank water (30 deg C ish), but NOT switched on, (taps reclosed when primed).
- 100% water drained and gravel severly sifted to stir up as much silt as possible to vacuum out with the water.
- Tank Refilled with cold water, (approx 15 deg C), with dechlor.
- Filter pump switched back on.

A little worried about the amount of time the filter was off for, and also how cold the water was when I refilled the tank, but neither of these could easily be avoided
I kept the filter full of warm tank water whilst it was off, so hopefully that kept the bacteria safe.
I had been planning to mix hot / cold water from the kitchen tap to refill the tank, but even the hoselock 'multi-tap adaptor' doesn't adapt my tap properly... bleedin typical - lol
Ah well fingers crossed and come what may...

Time: 22:00
Water Temperature: 20 deg. C
20ml Ammonia added for estimated 4ppm level (not tested)

 

[Schmill]

28th November 2008 - Day 37 (300L - Fishless Cycle)

Time: 10:30 - (+12:30hrs since ammonia added)
Water Temperature: 28 deg. C
NitrIte: 0.25
Ammonia: 1
Ph: 7.6
High Ph: 7.6

So 12 hours after adding the ammonia it would seem that, (as long as it DID raise to 4ppm, I probably should have checked!), it's dropped by 3ppm, and processed nearly all of the NitrIte that produced as well. Hopefully then things aren't going to be too bad, perhaps just a slight knock to the A-Bacs from the water change.

Time: 22:30 - (+24:30hrs since ammonia added)
Water Temperature: 30 deg. C
NitrIte: 0
Ammonia: 1

Well the tank is now back up to cycling temperature, and the remaining NitrIte has now been gobbled, but theres still that 1ppm of Ammonia hanging around. Well I won't add anymore tonight and hopefully it will be gone by the morning

 

[seanie112]

we had one of these tanks long time ago tho lol