Nitrite & Ph Problems

[fatheadminnow]

What is your water temp at?

-FHM

83F

Okay, that is good.

If you can try to raise to 84, if you can.

-FHM

 

[ranjohns]

If you can try to raise to 84, if you can.

-FHM
[/quote]

Ok, will do.

Day 94

14 hours after dosing ammonia to 4ppm, nitrites were at 2.0. For now, the significant reading will be at the hour nitrites go to 0. That will indicate growth (or no growth) in the colony. Yesterday, at the 24 hour mark and for several days before that, nitrites were at .25. This morning, 24 hours after dosing ammonia to 4ppm, the reading was 0.

Have we, at least, set the record for the longest fishless cycle?

Ranjohns

 

[fatheadminnow]

If you can try to raise to 84, if you can.

-FHM

Ok, will do.

Day 94

14 hours after dosing ammonia to 4ppm, nitrites were at 2.0. For now, the significant reading will be at the hour nitrites go to 0. That will indicate growth (or no growth) in the colony. Yesterday, at the 24 hour mark and for several days before that, nitrites were at .25. This morning, 24 hours after dosing ammonia to 4ppm, the reading was 0.

Have we, at least, set the record for the longest fishless cycle?

Ranjohns

I would say, this is taking a long time, and I give you props for keeping your head up and staying in it!

One day it will be over, and you will be very satisfied!

-FHM

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, Ranjohns is a trooper! Don't know why this tank is being so cranky!

Hasn't it been pretty heavily planted since the beginning? I suspect that might mean two things.. very, very slow cycle and much more unpredictable feedback from the tests (ie. trying to understand them, as the plants vary a lot as to when and how much ammonia etc. they will take up, leaving a lot of variability in the waves of ammonia and nitrite left over to be measured.) I do agree however that eventually you have to win out, as far as we can tell.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[ranjohns]

Thank you both for your encouragement. I'm over it. Or, maybe not! But, I not stopping now. My in-laws are coming. There's face to be saved!

A bit about the plants and the filter. I bought plants January 9 at a local Pet Smart; enough to partially fill the tank before adding water. Many of the plants turned out to be non-aquatic - they are now fully planted in dirt and growing. I replaced those on Feb 9 with plants from an on-line store and now the tank is fully planted.

Should we, at some point, talk about if I should replace my filter - the whole thing, not just the media? Or, perhaps, just the bio wheels? It is a HOB Marineland Penguin Power Filter 350B. Friends gave it to us. They used it in their tank for a short while then it sat in an empty tank for 1 year. I thoroughly cleaned the 2 bio wheels and the entire apparatus and have used them since I set up the tank. The drop-in filters are new.

On the other hand, should I remove some of the plants? Would that stabilize the process?

Thanks,

Ranjohns

 

[waterdrop]

Its funny Ranjohns, reading your sig I'm reminded that your tank is almost identical to my son's tank: Ours is a 28g with seachem flourite, live plants, overdosing excel, flourish traces and macros and really about the only thing different is that you have that Penguin and I have an eheim Pro 2222 external cannister filter which as sat rock solid on double-zero readings ever since it finished its fishless cycle.. matter of fact I ran all the tests last night and got NH3=0,NO2=0,pH=6.9,NO3=10, same as they've been for the better part of a year. Now generally it shouldn't make one whit of difference which filter you've got as long as its reasonably close to the right size for the tank, which I assume would go for both of us.. I don't know, do you suppose those biowheels sat around (I mean were they literally sitting in someones garage for a long time or something?) and got some sort of bad chemical on them or something? I really hate to think of you going to the trouble of replacing your media, or even worse, the entire filter.. but certainly if you do you'd want to be careful to seed anything new with a significant bunch of the existing media. The Penguin 350 is a -big- HOB, right?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[ranjohns]

....do you suppose those biowheels sat around (I mean were they literally sitting in someones garage for a long time or something?) and got some sort of bad chemical on them or something?
WD, it sat around in a centrally cooled and heated room disassembled inside an uncovered tank. Clean and dry. No chemicals, no smells, nothing seemed amiss...

I'll give replacing it some thought. Is your eheim Pro 2222 external canister filter quiet?

The Penguin 350 is a -big- HOB, right? Yes - 15" wide and visually intrusive..

Thanks,

Ranjohns

 

[ranjohns]

Day 94

12 hours after dosing ammonia to 4ppm, nitrites are 2.0

I bought a new bottle of API Nitrite drops. Same results.

Ranjohns

 

[fatheadminnow]

Is your pH still hovering around the same mark?

-FHM

 

[ranjohns]

Is your pH still hovering around the same mark? Yes - 7.2+

Ranjohns

 

[waterdrop]

....do you suppose those biowheels sat around (I mean were they literally sitting in someones garage for a long time or something?) and got some sort of bad chemical on them or something?
WD, it sat around in a centrally cooled and heated room disassembled inside an uncovered tank. Clean and dry. No chemicals, no smells, nothing seemed amiss...

I'll give replacing it some thought. Is your eheim Pro 2222 external canister filter quiet?

The Penguin 350 is a -big- HOB, right? Yes - 15" wide and visually intrusive..

Thanks,

Ranjohns

Yes, most Eheim Pros are "the definition" of silent, that's why they cost so much, lol. With mine I have to raise the spraybar and find water flowing to know if its working.

-wd-
edit: thing is though, I can't really see what could be so wrong with the penguin as far as the cycling goes... doesn't seem like it should really take a whole new filter.

 

[fatheadminnow]

One of these days I am going to come on here and read your post and it's going to say that the nitrite is at zero!

Should be soon!

I would do another 50% water change in a couple of days. That seemed to help a little last time.

-FHM

 

[ranjohns]

Yes, most Eheim Pros are "the definition" of silent, that's why they cost so much, lol. With mine I have to raise the spraybar and find water flowing to know if its working.

-wd-
[/quote]

If I make the switch how long should I run it along side my HOB to establish bac. colonies in the Eheim? Ranjohns



One bothersome aspect of the HOB is that bubbly foam gathers around the outflow ramp. This only started about 3 weeks ago?
Sound ok to you?

Ranjohns

 

[waterdrop]

None of this is pretty, considering how long you've been going. I'd probably consider putting some portions of the already cycling media into whatever new filter you got as that would be faster. Running the new filter on the same tank to get the seeding via the water can be almost as long as a new cycle, definately weeks I'd guess.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[ranjohns]

None of this is pretty, considering how long you've been going. I'd probably consider putting some portions of the already cycling media into whatever new filter you got as that would be faster. Running the new filter on the same tank to get the seeding via the water can be almost as long as a new cycle, definately weeks I'd guess.

~~waterdrop~~

waterdrop, I'm think I'm going to get the eheim pro 2222 unless you can recommend a different model for a 29 gal. tank? You mentioned a spraybar for your son's eheim in an earlier post. Did the spraybar come with the filter? Or, did you buy it separately? Is it an eheim product? Are there any other accessories you would recommend? Also, would you describe the location of the in and out flow lines and the spray bar in the tank?

Thanks,

ranjohns