Re-cycling My Empty 10gallon Tank...

[marcybeth0281]

Hey guys.... so, I've cycled tanks before from scratch, one fish-in and one fishless. I'm not super-knowledgeable about the science of it, but I know somewhat of what to look for.

Anyhow, I have a 10-gallon tank that my tropical community used to be in. They have since moved to a larger tank, and the 10-gallon sat empty for about 2 months. We continued with water changes and filter media changes, but it never occurred to us to keep it dosed with ammonia (don't ask me why... ) to keep the bacteria alive. So...I was advised in another thread to start cycling again and dosing with ammonia. So the other day I started. This is my log so far:

Starting stats: NH3: 0ppm
NO2: 0ppm
NO3: 10ppm
pH: 6.0
Temp: 82 degrees F
Media: Whisper 30 HOB filter/Bio-bag with carbon only
Substrate: gravel, plastic decor

added 2ml of ammonia to bring me up to 5ppm, NH3 - tested again at 24h, as follows:

7/19: NH3: 1ppm
NO2: 0ppm
NO3: 10ppm
pH: 6.0

added 2ml of ammonia

7/20: NH3: 1ppm
NO2: 0ppm
NO3: 20ppm
pH: 6.0

added 2ml of ammonia and nylon of crushed coral to raise pH (was told low pH can stunt bacteria growth). was gone next day so no test. tested again following day -

7/22: NH3: 1ppm
NO2: 0ppm
NO3: 20ppm
pH: 7.0


So....I suppose my question is that I've never cycled a tank while nitrates were present. Am I still waiting for a rise in nitrites? Am I correct in my dosage of ammonia each day? This is just a little weird for me. Why are the nitrates rising? Normally I try and do a water change if my nitrates get over 10ppm, but if I'm trying to cycle this thing, I shouldn't, right? UGH - I feel so clueless because of one silly change. Help!

 

[cowboy507]

you are doing things right. There should be a nitrite spike sometime. the nitrate wont affect the cycle at all, this just shows where all the ammonia and nitrite has gone. It looks as if you might still have some live bac in your tank, but not a lot. Just keep what you are doing, and it was good to raise the pH.

 

[marcybeth0281]

woohoo! good news. I'll keep posting as things progress or something strange happens.

 

[waterdrop]

I'd warm it on up to 84 and don't worry about the nitrates, they're not very important in fishless cycling.. more important in tank maint. later.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[marcybeth0281]

UPDATE:

this is what has happened since my last post....

7/23: NH3: 2ppm
NO2:0ppm
NO3: 20ppm
pH:7.2

added 1ml of ammonia

7/24: NH3: 2ppm
NO2: 0ppm
NO3: 20ppm
pH: 7.2

added 1ml of ammonia

7/25: no test

7/26: NH3: 1ppm
NO2: 0ppm
NO3: 40ppm
pH: 7.2

added 2ml of ammonia

7/27: NH3: 2ppm
NO2: .25ppm!!!!!!!!!
NO3: 40ppm
pH: 7.4

added 1ml of ammonia

7/28: NH3: 1ppm
NO2: 0ppm
NO3: 40ppm
pH: 7.2

added 1ml of ammonia

Sooooooo.... I suppose I'm a little confused of why the nitrites appeared and then the next day were gone. And the nitrates spiked to 40ppm randomly the day before the nitrites read. *sigh* So I'm confused. Help.

 

[marcybeth0281]

help!

*bump*

 

[waterdrop]

When you record daily test results, think of it as placing dots on a spiky little graph. What you care about are the broad ups and downs you'll eventually see on the graph, not a daily number. The daily numbers do not smoothly go from one place to the next because this is not chemistry, instead its biology, where you're tracking just end results of a very complex little microscopic system that's evolving beneath your view. Also, with nitrates, the inexpensive tests we use are just not very reliable all the time for any given test, so one always has to read them with a grain of salt.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[bkny27]

cant you take a sponge from your filter on your 48 gallon tank and put it in the ten for a couple of days to speed the process?

 

[marcybeth0281]

cant you take a sponge from your filter on your 48 gallon tank and put it in the ten for a couple of days to speed the process?

I have. It was time to change my sponge in the 46 gallon, so I cut it in half and put half in the 10g and half in my 5g hospital tank.

 

[OldMan47]

That last statement is very revealing. It is never time to change the sponge on a mature filter but it is often time to rinse one out in used tank water. A sponge is one of the best biological filters that we use and you do not want to just throw it away. That will have started a "mini-cycle" on the 46. I am well aware that filter manufacturers will tell you to change a sponge every few months but it is not necessary or even prudent to do so. Your filter clone on the 5 and 10 will have helped those tanks loads because they are now using the biofilter from the 46 to cycle. Do you have enough biofilter left in the 46 to prevent problems developing there?

 

[marcybeth0281]

Oldman....what I usually do is make sure I'm never changing all the media at once. I usually leave my sponge in for 2 months, wash it out, use it again for 2 months, then change it out. When it's time for the fresh change, I make sure my bag of carbon/ammo chips/crushed coral are not new and have been in for a bit.

I've heard mixed things about it - never really know who to trust.

Regardless, the 46g is the least of my worries - the fish are thriving and my levels are usually great despite newer or older sponges. My problem is the 5g right now (see my other topic about the hospital tank going thru the rush cycle)