Smoothys Cycling Diary

[Smoothy]

Fluval Roma 125 (standard Fluval 3 +)
Tank size = 125l
Sand substrate
Large piece of Mopani Bogwood
Planted with live plants (around 30) (dosing daily with liquid fertilizer)

Tap Water test results:
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.8
NitrAte - 0ppm

20/02/2009 day 1

Tank filled with dechlorinated water

21/02/2009 day 2

9am
Temperature 30C
6ml Homebase Ammonia added
Ammonia = 4ppm
PH = 8.0

22/02/2009 day 3

9am
Ammonia = 2ppm

23/02/2009 day 4

9am
Ammonia = 2ppm

24/02/2009 day 5

9am
Ammonia = 1.5ppm
Nitrite 0.1ppm
PH = 8.0

25/02/2009 day 6

9am
Ammonia = 1.2ppm

26/02/2009 day 7

9am
Ammonia = 1.2ppm

27/02/2009 day 8

9am
Ammonia = 1.2ppm
PH = 8.5

28/02/2009 day 9

9am
Ammonia = 1.2ppm
2pm
Squeeze of established sponge filter onto mine from LFS

01/03/2009 day 10

9am
Ammonia = 1.2ppm
NitrIte = 4.0ppm (could be higher test only goes up to 4ppm)
NitrAte = 50ppm

02/03/2009 day 11

Ammonia = 1.2ppm
NitrIte = 4.0 +
PH = 8.0

Just want to know if it's sounding normal or not

03/03/2009 day 12

Ammonia = 1ppm
NitrIte = 4.0 +

04/03/2009 day 13

Ammonia = 0ppm
ph 8.0

Added 6ml Ammonia
retest 1 hour later = Ammonia = 1.5ppm
2ml Ammonia added = Ammonia = 1.8ppm
NitrIte = 4.0+ ppm

05/03/2009 Day 14

Ammonia = 0.8ppm
NitrIte = 4.0+ ppm

06/03/2009 Day 15

Ammonia = 0ppm
added 7.5ml Ammonia
10am Ammonia = 3.5ppm
NitrIte = 4.0+ppm

07/03/2009 Day 16

Ammonia = 0.50ppm
NitrIte = 5.0+ppm
NitrAte = 5.0ppm

08/03/2009 Day 17

Ammonia = 0ppm
NitrIte = 5.0+ppm
PH = 7.6
added 7.5ml Ammonia
10am
Ammonia = 8ppm
30% water change
filled with dechorinated water
11am
Ammonia = 4ppm
NitrIte = 5.0+ppm

09/03/2009 Day 18

9am
Ammonia = 0ppm
NitrIte = 5.0+ppm
PH = 7.6
5ml Ammonia added
10:30am
Ammonia = 4ppm

10/03/2009 Day 19

Ammonia = 0ppm
NitrIte = 5.0+ppm
NitrAte = 10ppm
PH = 7.6
Added 5ml Ammonia

11/03/2009 Day 20

Ammonia = 0ppm
NitrIte = 5.0+ppm
Added 5ml Ammonia

12/03/2009 Day 21

Ammonia = 0ppm
NitrIte = 5.0+ppm
PH = 7.6
Added 5ml Ammonia

13/03/2009 Day 22

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 5.0+ppm
NitrAte - 40ppm
Added 5ml Ammonia
9pm (12 hour test)
Ammonia - 0.50ppm
NitrIte - 5.0+ppm

14/03/2009 Day 23

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0.50ppm
NitrAte - 40ppm
PH - 7.6
Added 5ml Ammonia
9pm (12 hour test)
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 4ppm

15/03/2009 Day 24

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0.25ppm
NitrAte - 40ppm
PH - 7.2
Added 5ml Ammonia

16/03/2009 Day 25

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
NitrAte - 40ppm
PH - 7.2

17/03/2009 Day 26

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
PH - 7.0
Added 5ml Ammonia

18/03/2009 Day 27

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
NitrAte - 40ppm
pH - 6.2
80% Water change
filled up with dechlorinated water
pH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
Added 6ml Ammonia

19/03/2009 Day 28

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 5.0+ppm
NitrAte - 40ppm
pH - 7.6
Added 5ml Ammonia

20/03/2009 Day 29

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
NitrAte - 40ppm
Added 5ml Ammonia
9pm 12 hour test
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 5.0ppm
pH - 7.6

21/03/2009 Day 30

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
Added 5ml Ammonia
9pm 12 hour test
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 5.0ppm
pH - 7.6

22/03/2009 Day 31

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
NitrAte - 40ppm
Added 5ml Ammonia
9pm 12 hour test
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 5.0ppm
pH - 7.6

23/03/2009 Day 32

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
Added 5ml Ammonia
9pm 12 hour test
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 5ppm
pH - 7.4
11pm 14 hour test
NitrIte - 5ppm

24/03/2009 Day 33

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.4
Added 5ml Ammonia
9pm 12 hour test
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 5ppm

25/03/2009 Day 34

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
Added 5ml Ammonia
No 12 hour test

26/03/2009 Day 35

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.2
NitrAte - 40ppm
Added 5ml Ammonia

10pm
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 5ppm
12pm
NitrIte - 2ppm
1am
NitrIte - 0.50ppm
2am
NitrIte - 0.25ppm
then fell asleep

Friday 27/03/2009 Day 36

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 6.6
80% Water Change
Added 5ml Ammonia
pH - 6.6!!

Saturday 28/03/2009 Day 37

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
Added 5ml Ammonia
11:30pm 14 1/2 hour test
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 5ppm
pH - 7.6

Sunday 29/03/2009 Day 38

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
Added 5ml Ammonia

Monday 30/03/2009 Day 39

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
Added 5ml Ammonia

Tuesday 31/03/2009 Day 40

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.2
Added 5ml Ammonia
9pm 12 hour test
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 3ppm
12pm 15 hour test
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0.50ppm

Wednesday 1/04/2009 Day 41

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 6.6
Added 5ml Ammonia
2 Tbsp Baking Soda
pH - 7.8
10pm 13 hour test
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.8

Thursday 2/04/2009 Day 42

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
Added 5ml Ammonia
9pm 12 hour test
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
NitrAte - 40ppm

Friday 3/04/2009 Day 43

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
Added 5ml Ammonia
9pm 12 hour test
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6

Saturday 4/04/2009 Day 44

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
Added 5ml Ammonia
9pm 12 hour test
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6

Figured that was long enough at 0ppm for both Ammonia and NitrIte so did a 90% Water Change ready for fish in the morning

Sunday 5/04/2009 Day 45 1pm

Added Fish
3 Sterbai Corydoras
3 Panda Corydoras
1 Peppered Corydoras ( I figured I'd rescue him, he was in a tank with no other cories and getting slightly bullied)
5 Cherry Shrimp

Monday 6/04/2009 Day 46

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6

Tuesday 7/04/2009 Day 47

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
3pm
Added 10 Ember Tetras Beautiful fish!

Wednesday 8/04/2009 Day 48

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
NitrAte - 20ppm

Thursday 9/04/2009 Day 49

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
30% Water Change

Friday 10/04/2009 Day 50

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
Added another 10 Ember Tetras ... couldn't resist these little fellas, they're so active and have great character!! I love them!

Thursday 16/04/2009

All in all the cycle was well worth it as you can see ... long yes, but worth it. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped me along the way

All the fish are looking great, all active and eating well ... can't stop watching them

Now onto the next tank

 

[waterdrop]

It sounds very normal and looks to be going quite well since you are seeing the appearance of nitrites(NO2) and nitrates(NO3). Don't worry about the ammonia not dropping all the way to zero yet, that's quite common. There's no need to be adding any ammonia if its not dropped to zero, that just pumps up the NO2 and NO3 higher than they need to be anyway. Once the ammonia does start dropping to zero within a 24 hour period, then you want to make the 5ppm ammonia add on the 24 hour mark, not when its dropped to zero. (make sense?)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Smoothy]

Thanks for replying Waterdrop

Glad to see you think it is going well ... I'm getting a little frustrated seeing that 1.2ppm Ammonia

Yes ... what you've said makes sense.

So as soon as I see Ammonia drop to 0 ... top back up to 4-5ppm ... then wait until it drops to 0 again, top up again only after 24 hours has passed even if that 0 reading came before the 24th hour?

Thanks again

 

[waterdrop]

Right, two of the things often confused are that in the very beginning, the very first top-up of 5ppm can sometimes take on the order to two weeks to actually drop to zero and a lot of people think they have to add more ammonia before that but they don't. The other thing confused is that people think they either need to top up to 5ppm whenever ammonia drops to zero or at the 12 hour mark, when in fact you always wait to your standard 24 hour mark.

To say this another way, its very common for people to choose their "24-hour mark" or "startpoint" either in the morning or in the evening. Its usually chosen so that if you look 12 hours ahead, that will be an hour when you are usually home and do a 12 hour check. Anyway, once this "startpoint" is established, that's when you would add ammonia, if and only if ammonia dropped to zero sometime in the previous 24 hours. Even if ammonia dropped to zero in less than 12 hours, it won't hurt the bacteria to wait for the next 24 hour mark (or "day" as it were.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

Very nicely put WD. I usually use more words to try to say that.

 

[Smoothy]

well it's day 12 wednesday 4/3/09

checked my ammonia this morning and it was 0ppm

i added the 6ml of ammonia to supposedly top it back up to 5ppm ... checked it again 1 hour later ... result was 1.5ppm thought it was a bit weird so put an extra 2ml of ammonia in ... checked another 1 hour later ... 1.8ppm

can someone tell me why this would happen? ... i'm sure my filter isn't processing the ammonia that quickly is it?!!

nitrite is of course still sky high ... off the chart

ph is 8.0

any ideas?

 

[Spanerman]

what concentration of ammonia are you using?

 

[Smoothy]

The Homebase brand ... 9.5 % ... same as the site calculator.

It was fine at the start getting it up to 4ppm

 

[Spanerman]

hmm, strange then...i doubt it could proccess the ammonia that quickley

 

[waterdrop]

Its always important to only use the calculator as an aid to finding a starting point. The easiest, reasonably accurate test is to put 2 gallons in a bucket, calc the 2g amt, syringe it in and then test to see if your ammonia came in low or high and then work out the refinements with similar retesting.

The concentrations can have been not what they say to begin with or they sometimes change with shelf life or you sometimes find a slip-up in what you're doing.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Smoothy]

Thanks for the reply waterdrop

But i used the calculator at the start and it worked out fine ... it's only been 13 days since i did that ... surely the Ammonia couldn't have "gone off" that quickly?

 

[waterdrop]

Don't know. Are you using mature media? (ok, now I remember the "squeeze" from LFS sponge...)

Well, you've had ideal conditions with pH etc. and its been a dozen days or more and got that nitrite trace really early, so its entirely possible that you've got a very healthy new colony of A-Bacs and are beginning to experience really fast processing of your ammonia - definately a possibility I'd say. The little bucket test might help confirm that yes, you're getting the right amount in there and its just being eaten fast. Have you checked how your nitrite(NO2) has been doing?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Smoothy]

Thanks again for your reply ... I really eppreciate it

I'll be sure to do the bucket test ... and report back tomorrow morning.

My NitrItes are still off the scale ... I'm using the Interpet liquid tests ... it only goes up to 4, but the drops instantly turn purple when adding to the tube and then stay there ... much darker than the 4 colour

 

[OldMan47]

You have a mature bacteria population from the standpoint of ammonia so you are skimming the first few ppm off fairly quickly. That is something that I would find encouraging. The nitrites being off scale means that you cannot determine how well those bacteria are processing the nitrites. It does not mean they are not doing their job.

 

[Smoothy]

Thanks again for the replies

I'm now even more confused though

I did the bucket test this morning ... I added 0.53ml to 10 litres as per the calculator ... it gave a reading of 1.0ppm

So ... I added another 0.53ml ... that still only took it to 2.0ppm

So ... I added another 1ml of Ammonia to the bucket ... 4.0ppm

This is telling me I need to add 4 times as much as the calculator is telling me to amount to the 4ppm I want to be adding!

My Ammonia has "gone off" that much in 13 days of only opening the bottle a few times? ... and then I only have the lid off to syringe the amount out ... 20 seconds tops.

What do I do ... add 4 times what the calculator is telling me ... but who's to say it won't go off even more than it has done already ... or go buy some more Ammonia and hope the same thing doesn't happen again?

What does this mean for my cycle?

So many questions

Or am I just testing wrong

By the way ... todays readings ..

9am Thursday 05/03/2009 Day 14

Ammonia = 0.8ppm
NitrIte = 4.0 + ppm

Hope someone can help