Qualifying Week

[Little_Nemo]

According to my results I had at least 5 days of double zeros in the morning tests after adding ammonia at my evening 'hour' - but todays result showed 0.25 I was due to get some fish this weekend too

So I guess its back to the drawing board. I dont understand why its doing this though - it was processing nitrite pretty rapidly and now it seems to have slowed

 

[Skins]

I would be inclined to see what your morning results are tomorrow and saturday, if they are zero i would go ahead and stock.

Keith.

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Yeah might be an idea to re-test, dont be too disheartened, might be a funny reading

 

[waterdrop]

5 days of 12 hour drops is passing a pretty stringent test and a blip of 0.25ppm is a small enough amount that it might be a passing anomaly, so I agree that you should see what it does tomorrow and if it doesn't upward I'd be inclined to still go ahead with the plan, especially if you know the fish are available.

Also, if your first stocking is not a "full stocking" (by the rough inch guideline) then it's extremely unlikely you'll see any spikes after the big water change. The standards we use here and the qualifying week should mean your two colonies are far more robust than the bioload challange that will come from less than a full stocking.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Little_Nemo]

Thanks Waterdrop - always look forward to your replies

 

[menacer]

Yes i agree, also if your dosing to 5ppm your fish should not off load that amount from what i have read.

 

[PEneoark]

I would say you can go ahead and stock it. You should be fine.

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Having followed your results i agree with Keith and WD.
I could not see results for Ph or nitrate on your log but i imagine nitrate is pretty high now.
Full water change before fish are added is all you need now!

 

[Little_Nemo]

Having followed your results i agree with Keith and WD.
I could not see results for Ph or nitrate on your log but i imagine nitrate is pretty high now.
Full water change before fish are added is all you need now!

pH throughout the cycle has been inbetween 7.2 & 7.6 - and last nights result still showed that level. However it may drop as I'm introducing my bogwood into my tank prior to water change. And as for nitrate according to last nights test also its 80PPM>

 

[ian]

Bogwood will only drop you Ph for a short amount of time and it won't really drop it that much. My Ph sits around 6.8 (lincoln water). IMO/IME Ph is very over emphasised by people, many of the fish we keep can withstand a massive Ph swings. I always find the GH more of a problem with our water. You'll see all the nice fish in the 'soft water' section in MA. Not every MA has this kind of section. Even if you got to Brigg or Nottingham, they will have all the GBR's, Apistos etc etc in the normal sections. This is mainly to do with the hardness of our water in Lincoln. Also if you're going to stock from there, spend a little more time acclimatising as they run there whole system on softwater.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes i agree, also if your dosing to 5ppm your fish should not off load that amount from what i have read.

Hi menacer, It is true that in certain circumstances (ending of fishless cycle being very, very stubborn, stocking plan extremely understocked such as a single betta in a multi-gallon tank) it can be reasonable to run a qualifying week on a small 2-3ppm dosing. But in the vast majority of cases (including even these cases if possible) it is much better to run the qualifying week at 5ppm because it seems to make the two colonies more "robust," as opposed to just handling a larger bioload. I think of those as different things. That last push of patience to get a filter past those requirements really seems to protect against getting spikes right after adding fish and having to drop back in to a fish-in cycle.

Bogwood will only drop you Ph for a short amount of time and it won't really drop it that much. My Ph sits around 6.8 (lincoln water). IMO/IME Ph is very over emphasised by people, many of the fish we keep can withstand a massive Ph swings. I always find the GH more of a problem with our water. You'll see all the nice fish in the 'soft water' section in MA. Not every MA has this kind of section. Even if you got to Brigg or Nottingham, they will have all the GBR's, Apistos etc etc in the normal sections. This is mainly to do with the hardness of our water in Lincoln. Also if you're going to stock from there, spend a little more time acclimatising as they run there whole system on softwater.

This I totally agree with. Underlying GH is the real thing of concern with fish and it's just that pH often (but not always) tracks secondarily along with GH that has let to widespread thinking that pH is the scale of concern. pH is just much more commonly tested for. The most complete picture of all is formed by keeping extended records of GH, KH and pH through periods of tank use and forming an understanding of them, but this is usually overkill for the vast majority of aquarists and need not be undertaken unless there is a special goal or problem I think.

WD