Second Stage Cycle Started Today Help

[Miss Wiggle]

well there's varying opinions on the accuracy of nitrate tests, i seem to remember andywg testing the same sample of water twice with the api kit and getting 0 one test and over 100 the next test or something silly like that.

to be honest i tend to dismiss nitrate results as dodgy if they ever seem to tell a bit of a funny story. obviously with nothing to compare them too we can't actually know how accurate or otherwise the nitrate test kits are, so opinion is bound to be split on just how inaccurate they are.

for me i wouldn't be concerned and think it's fine to assume the test is dodgy, but i can understand your view as well.

however there's no harm in erring on the side of caution so if you're at all confused lana then just take a sample of water for testing at the lfs to confirm the results.

 

[waterdrop]

Well rabbut, you made me go get out Oliver's aquarium log (not that there's much writing by oliver, compared to waterdrop ) thinking that perhaps my nitrate(NO3) readings were very high prior to the Big Water Change. But actually I had a few readings of NO3=40 and that was about it, thought I remembered higher. But from the nitrite spike onward I pretty much began doing 70% gravel clean water changes on weekends and I know Lana has been doing water changes. If I remember rabbut, you said you liked to avoid them, so this could perhaps be the difference.

I also had a few plants in there. MW might recall that I had just planted 6 bunches of new plants the day Oliver's tank broke and I then had to turn my workbench light on them when I set up my filter/bucket survival system in the shed. I eventually lost 3 of the 6 types but the other 3 are still with us (a java fern, sword and a wendtii I believe.) Maybe those used up a bit of the nitrate.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rabbut]

I would argue from the results that it is the nitrIte kit that appears dodgy, as that is the level that should be very "dynamic" during this stage of a cycle, and that if the kit is dodgy, then we cannot see when the cycle actually completes Just my thoughs like

WD, indeed I avoided all waterchanges in my fishless cycle, using bicarbonate of soda to keep the pH stable. In theory, waterchanges and gravel washes would only make a difference to how much nitrate rises by in a week, if you are either reducing nitrite levels in the waterchange, or using food for your cycle. If I remember correctly, you were waterchanging to reduce nitrite in your cycle? and thus that would explain our differing results

MW, my dad used to work testing water samples with the Enviroment agency, so I had access to lab grade kit untill they went onto soil samples at his lab. During that time, I sent him off with a few water samples, and the results tied with the Tetratest results, with about 2-3ppm difference between the results, everytime, with the Tetratest kit always reading higher than the lab gear for nitrate. I have concluded that wih the nitrate kit from Tetra, the higher the nitrate reading, the lower the error factor on it. Obviously we cannot directly transfer the experiment to API, but I'm fairly convinced the the Tetra kit there is accurate with it's results The rest of the tests tallied with no notable error, but they they were all 7.5 for pH or below the readable range for ammonia and nitrite, with the hobbyist test kit.

All the best
Rabbut

 

[lana]

well now been busy busy here

have not tested til now but did added 12 ml of ammonia at reg times

so readinds at 5pm were

ammonia 0
nitrites 1ish
nitrates 20 to 40
ph 7.4
kh 3 drops

temp 30C

i willl read up on the post later have to run out again

 

[lana]

530 pm readings 11 hours after adding ammonia to 3 to 4 ppm

updated: with days
day 18 fishless day 56 all together


ammonia 0
nitrites 2
nitrates 40 to 80
ph 7.4
kh 3 drops

temp 30 C

maybe adding more coral woke up the cycle


as for where the reading have been i have seen purple for so long i may be mis-reading it 1,2 ,5 all look the same after awhile

all i know as i have not seen blue at all in a long time

 

[Miss Wiggle]

don't worry if you're getting confused between all the shades on the colour chart, it can be a bit tricky matching them up. all you need to know is you want to see that clear sky blue rather than purple!!

 

[lana]

day 19 fishless day 57 all together

6:30 am readings 24 hours after 12ml ammonia added to 3ppm to 4 ppm

ammonia 0
nitrites 2ish
nitrates 40 to 80
ph 7.4
kh 3 drops

temp 30C



630 pm readings 12 hours after adding ammonia to 3 to 4 ppm

ammonia 0
nitrites 2 to 5
nitrates 40 to 80
ph 7.2
kh 3 drops

temp 30C

 

[lana]

day 20 fishless day 58 all together

6:30 am readings 24 hours after 12ml ammonia added to 3ppm to 4 ppm

ammonia 0
nitrites 2 to 5
nitrates 40 to 80
ph 7.2
kh 3 drops
temp 30C

 

[lana]

day 21 fishless day 59 all together

7:30 am readings 25 hours after 12ml ammonia added to 3ppm to 4 ppm


ammonia 0
nitrites 2 to 5
nitrates 40 to 80
ph 7..4
kh 3 drops
Temp 30C

added 12 ml ammonia

 

[rabbut]

It is amazing me how things are appearing so stable with all the ammonia going in, it realy is...

Is it the right or left tank from your sig? Has it changed much since that photo, plant wise?

It fasinates me how results can vary so much in pattern, when everything on the surface appears the same. I guess it just goes to show just how many variables can affect the cycle and how it progresses...

The ammonia is dropping within the 12 hours, which is very good for such a young cycle Does it look like there is much variation between nitrate and nitrite results test-to-test? I assume you are under a good light, that it is the same light for each test result set, every time? You'd be amazed at just how different the same test visal looks under diffrent lights...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[lana]

It is amazing me how things are appearing so stable with all the ammonia going in, it realy is...

Is it the right or left tank from your sig? Has it changed much since that photo, plant wise?

It fasinates me how results can vary so much in pattern, when everything on the surface appears the same. I guess it just goes to show just how many variables can affect the cycle and how it progresses...

The ammonia is dropping within the 12 hours, which is very good for such a young cycle Does it look like there is much variation between nitrate and nitrite results test-to-test? I assume you are under a good light, that it is the same light for each test result set, every time? You'd be amazed at just how different the same test visal looks under diffrent lights...

All the best
Rabbut

it is the tank on the left

and yes all real plants now gone

and also keep in mind i did almost 50 days fish in cycle before rehoming the fish and going fishless

yes i test in same room same spot every time

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Lana,MW,rabbut,

I'm back. rabbut, don't forget this is the tank she had "fish-in" cycled for a long time, then took fish out, added two more filters but kept the first filter (so now has 3 filters running on it I believe, one of which has been exposed to ammonia for a long, long time.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rabbut]

Ah OK. Sorry, I should get round to reading all 16 pages at some point, but don't have the time ATM

Well, it realy does mistify me that the levels are so stable. I know API are supposed to be accurate, but if they are working ATM, shurely they are only suffice to say the followin; none presant, low, medium or high, for nitrIte tests as well as nitrAte? This is no good to me, as I like to know just how bad an issue is if one crops up, not just that an issue exists Your thoughts WD, MW? You guys use API tests, so have a better idea of results consistancy with them than me, but that is how they appear to me from my end in this case at least

All the best
Rabbut

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, it does look like she had a series of days that would almost make you think she was past the nitrite spike because nitrite kept showing 1, but then the most recent several results seem to show it is still solidly in the nitrite spike stage, which is sort of where I would expect this cycle to be. Its a long, strange odyssey to follow but somehow it sorta makes sense to me where it is now, given all the different things that have happened in that tank. Sure hope the nitrite spike stage won't hang around too terribly long, given how long the overall ordeal has been with the large number of fish in there earlier and the huge number of water changes during all that!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lana]

630 pm readings 12 hours after adding ammonia to 3 to 4 ppm

ammonia 0
nitrites 2ish
nitrates 40 ish
ph 7.4
kh 3 drops

temp 30C


Welcome back WD