Should I Believe What I'm Seeing?

[CKutz]

So I'm doing a fish in cycle (unfortunately). and I've gotten tired of watching my fish suffer through this cycling process (won't make this mistake again). I decided to give this bacteria supplement method a try...seemed to be tons of controversy over it, but doesn't seem like it hurts anything except your wallet.

This isn't the best experiment, but just some general info.

My tank has been cycling for two weeks now, a 5 gal, aand a 10 gal. Still reading ammonia in both consistently (test strips are expensive so I decided to wait to test nitrite and nitrate till ammoia dies down).

Yesterday:
5 gal - ammonia: 6 ppm (had one fish in early on but he died so i just left the tank running and figured w/e waste and food was in there could start the cycle and never changed water, then due to heavy bioload on ten gal, decided to put a few fish in the 5 for a little while)
10 gal - ammonia: ~1 ppm (maybe 1.5)

did a big water change in both tanks, about 50%.
Then added API's Stress Zyme and Top Fin Bacteria Supplement. I know i should have just tried one for experimentation purposes..but i just want something to work to save my fish. I added both of these in their directed amounts.

Today (about 19 hrs later) :
5 gal - ammonia: ~0 ppm
- Nitrite: ~0.5 ppm
- Nitrate: ~10 ppm

10 gal - Ammonia: ~0.15 ppm (somewhere between zero and .25)
- Nitrite: ~ 1 ppm
- Nitrate ~ 80 ppm

I think I'm going to leave the water in both tanks another day before doing a partial water change to see what happens. maybe the low levels of ammonia are because of the big water change so hopefully another day will bring it up if it's there.

 

[CKutz]

I just looked at my filter (one of my loaches disappeared, figured she was in the ornament but just had to check) and there is a lot of gray stuff on the sponge. checked the other one and it has it also. looks like what is typically on a sponge..maybe these products really do have the bacteria in them that they say they do.
hmm..bummer i can't determine which thing it was that worked though..oh well. cycled tank for around $10 sounds good to me.


p.s. after all kinds of coaxing, i finally got the loach out by dropping one of his buddies in the hole in the ornament. figured they'd either team up and get out, or i'd have to break open the ornament...obnoxious little buggers...

 

[TigerIssey]

Looking at the water stats you put up, you did a 50% water change which will have diluted the ammonia present. I would say after 2 weeks you are probably coming to the end of the first stage of the cycle anyway and have some ammonia processing bacteria present. Any that was not taken care of has probably chemically been reduced by probably the sress zyme.
The part of the process that takes the longest is usually the development of nitryfying bacteria. I would say that over the next couple of weeks you will still get a nitrite spike. You will need to do a water change of 50% when the level gets to 0.25 as nitrite is very toxic to fish. I would do water changes on both tanks as they are both over 0.25.
I really doubt these bottles will actually do much in the way of adding bacteria, they may improve the conditions slightly whilst cycling but you will still need to do probably daily waterchanges to keep nitrites low.

 

[CKutz]

yup i'm planning on keeping up with the water changes

Today, two days after initial readings, and without a water change:

5gal -
ammonia: 0"ish" ppm
nitrite: 0.5 ppm
nitrate: ~60 ppm

10 gal -
ammonia: 0 ppm
nitrite: 1 ppm
nitrate: 40 ppm

 

[rabbut]

Tests done with strips yes? If so, with all due respect, I will stubonly refuse to believe the nitrIte and nitrAte results. If you haven't done a waterchange yet on the 10g, the results show you why. Where did 40ppm of nitrate go overnight? NirtAte is the end product of the nitrogen cycle in Freshwater tanks, so rises constantly when the filter is cycled. Plants used it? Well, you'd have to have so many plants in there that you can't see and fish/decor/open water in the tank for 40ppm to be used in 24hrs... A 50% waterchange would bring that level close to 40ppm from 80ppm though...

In short, strips aren't accurate and repeatedly give false highs and lows. You need liquid kits for reliable results, you just can't get them from strips

All the best
Rabbut

 

[CKutz]

Yea, i noticed that also...i figured it was probably just that i estimated badly..but I believe they aren't very accurate. i have a liquid ammonia test kit, but not for the other stuff, i didn't know they weren't very accurate when i got it...what a drag this stuff is so expensive and half of it doesn't work right.

I'll try and get a hold of a liquid kit eventually.
This isn't a great experiment anyways..just sorta..for what it's worth...the main thing being that my tanks have been continously producing ammonia..so although it should be dying down by this time, it hasn't...and for it to go from very measurable amounts, to zero....is interesting. just makes it seem like if these products aren't gonna put you back too much then they might be worth trying out if your cycling, they might help..doesn't seem like they hurt.

 

[rabbut]

It's great that ammonia has dropped off for you now, as that is possibly the most "dangerous" stage of the Nitrogen cycle You would expect ammonia to drop to zero arround the two week mark in a cycle anyway, so if they bacteria supplients did or diden't help in your case is hard to say. They rarely set you back though IME

All the best
Rabbut