New Tanks: 240l And Biube - Advice Please

[grholden]

Hello everyone,

New to the forum

Just re-set up a biUbe that I had previously used and also just got a 240L Juwel Rio. Both are currently going through 'wait and see' fishless cycling.

At the time of writing this post (Wednesday 31st October, 8pm-ish), it looks like things are really starting to happen with the 240L, but not as much with the biUbe (which, admittedly, was set up well after).

Fishless Cycling Readings

There are tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet for each tank.

Obviously, there is little happening with the biUbe at the moment, but I'd be grateful for any feedback on the 240L.

Thanks,

grholden

 

[JordanOsborne]

I'm not sure what kind of advice you are seeking. Can you be a bit more specific with your question?

 

[sadguppy]

Welcome to the forum and glad to see you're taking the fishless cycle route. Any idea what you want to stock yet?

 

[grholden]

I'm not sure what kind of advice you are seeking. Can you be a bit more specific with your question?

Just to take a look at my readings and offer opinion on whether they're normal and what the next thing I need to do is really? Very new to cycling

Welcome to the forum and glad to see you're taking the fishless cycle route. Any idea what you want to stock yet?

Thanks!

I already have another smaller tank with three clown loach, one angel, two neon tetras and three Pakistani loaches. I know 240l are considered by some to be too small for clown loaches, but I have read in some places that they are sufficient.

Thanks for the friendly welcome

Sorry, forgot to add the link to my current readings! Hope this works: Fishless Cycle Readings

 

[grholden]

Just taken a PH reading of about 9! Is that usual!?

Thanks for any assistance anyone can offer.

 

[grholden]

Hi,

I would be grateful for any advice relating to my (strange!) readings – I think this process has stalled or something?

As you can see, my niTRITES and niTRATES stayed pretty constantly for over a week (from around about 31[sup]st[/sup] October to 9[sup]th[/sup] November) at 5ppm each. This is despite ammonia being topped up and reducing accordingly. I started to test pH as I was told to do that and you can see the results.

Yesterday I was told to do a 90% water change, so I re-tested everything 30 minutes after that and my nitrates SHOT UP!? Is that normal? I added the correct amount of dechlorinator afterwards.

Just tested again this morning (approximately 12 hours after the water change) and you can see my readings (ammonia 4ppm, niTRITES 5ppm, niTRATES 20 ppm and pH 7.5).

I really am not too sure where I’m at now – I had good, expected readings at one point, but now it looks like things have gone weird?

Any advice is really appreciated,

grholden

 

[fluttermoth]

I think your cycle looks pretty normal. The high nitrate could have come from your tap water. Even if it's normally low, it can sometimes be high for a few days.

Have you thought about donating some of the media from your already cycled tank to seed the new filter? You can take a 1/4 of the media from a mature filter, without it affecting the donor tank, as long as you feed sparingly for a few days and replace the media with new, to give the bacteria somewhere to re-colonise.

You should always dechlorinate before adding the new water, not after. Whilst older, very mature tanks and filters can cope with a small amount of chlorinated water (lots of people don't use it for water changes of 50% or less), cycling tanks are a bit more delicate and need careful nurturing.

 

[grholden]

Thanks for your response. I hadn't realised about dechlorinating before adding new water, so that's something new that I have learnt!

I have already put some rocks etc in from the cycled tank, do you think a squeeze from the sponges would be a good idea (despite the fact that they might be dirty etc)?

 

[fluttermoth]

A squeeze from the sponges might help. but the bacteria do cling on to the media quite strongly, so you won't get much of a head start that way. A piece of the media would really help though.