Smoothys Cycling Diary

[Miss Wiggle]

I can understand your frustration, we've all been there!

do you know how long it is taking to drop to 0, have you tried testing every couple of hours one day to see if it's hitting 14/16 hrs?

 

[pammy172]

I do so know what you are going through! It is painful but you will reach a stage where your nitrites are clearing consistently in much less than 24 hours if not exactly 12 for you to be able to move forward.

I agree that if the nitrites are not clearing in less than say 15 than you must keep going, but if you do see it going clearly to zero(baby blue) - no rose tinted spec's - in around 14/15 hours for a week, and your ammonia and nitrate(although they'll be cleared later) are holding steady then you should be OK to do your big water change and start to add fish. It's tedious, but worth it.

 

[Smoothy]

Thanks again for the replies

I will be able to test through the night tonight, will set my alarm to wake me up dedication right there

latest I've checked is 15 hours

 

[Miss Wiggle]

well surley you need to be up at ludicrous hours of the morning all weekend for the australian grand prix anyway?!

or is that just me

 

[waterdrop]

well surley you need to be up at ludicrous hours of the morning all weekend for the australian grand prix anyway?!

or is that just me

Yeah, we know you've been moving those people in and out of your charity place at pit stop speed, just warming up for the weekend race .. guess fishless cycling is just like a longer slower version of one of those 24hLeMans...(guess that one is only a month away, lol) ~wd~

 

[Smoothy]

well surley you need to be up at ludicrous hours of the morning all weekend for the australian grand prix anyway?!

or is that just me

Sounds like a plan to me

Thanks for the reminder

 

[Smoothy]

Stayed up a litte later than usual to test NitrIte, results are on the 1st page

Woke up this morning though and did my usual 9am tests
pH - 6.6!

I did a 80% Water Change and a good gravel vac, filled back up with dechlorinated water matched to temperature
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
Added 5ml Ammonia
pH - 6.6 still!

Thought it was weird so went and checked what it is coming out of the tap ... it's 6.6!!

It's normally 8.0 - 8.5!

What do I do? Baking Soda? how much?

Would the fact that we had a massive flood from what I presume a burst pipe in the next close to us cause this? Severn Trent have been there for a few days?

I have no idea but am now worried about my low pH

 

[Smoothy]

Ok, I think I've made a noob mistake

Just checked my tank water pH again ... 7.2

I checked my tap water straight out of the tap, didn't let it stand, am I meant to

 

[Miss Wiggle]

all good in the hood then! easily done, i've done it myself before and had a panic over nothing

 

[Smoothy]

ok ... I'm not sure if the panic is over

I've left some tap water to stand ... tested it half hour later, it's 6.6

Will this cause any problems when it comes to getting fish, and why would my tank water now be 7.2? Would it be the Ammonia I've added? there's nothing in there that could buffer it up, if anything I'd have thought it would go down with the Bogwood?

Now I'm more confused than ever

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the bogwood makes little to no practical difference so count that out. it could be the ammonia raising it as it is alkaline but it's not likely.

if there's been works going on to the water around yours I'd suggest it's maybe just a blip, if the tank is sat at 7.2 thats most important for now, test the tap daily for a few days and see if it comes back up of it's own accord, if not we can help you or you may just re-adjust your stocking choices and take fish that will like a lower pH

 

[Smoothy]

Thanks for the reply Miss Wiggle appreciated

Just glad the pH is looking ok in the tank now, last thing I need is a stall in my cycle

I'll keep testing

 

[waterdrop]

MW's comment about testing the pH for a few days, regarding the work done on nearby pipes, made me think that indeed it's always a good idea as a beginner to be getting those periodic (they don't need to be too often) entries into your logbook of what the tap water pH is. That way you can be getting an idea of what the overall range of variation and begin to feel more confident about what different species your type of water will be ideal for. With -most- beginner trop species it won't make much difference as they'll have a wide range of tolerance, but its just one more fine-tuning thing that can't hurt to be getting a feel for.

So as a beginner, one of the things you want to be doing while waiting for the bacteria, is to be doodling little lists of your species choices and doing all the background homework to find their prefered ranges of temperature and pH and writing those down in your list.. also whether the species is delicate or not, whatever you can learn. Then you just take a look at all that and be thinking what temperature represents the best compromise and how they look with respect to pH and all that sort of stuff.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Smoothy]

Thanks Waterdrop ... and for the pm

Updating the first page again now, haven't really had time for much 12 hour testing unfortunately lately

Still having 0ppm on 24 hours though and the pH is holding steady

 

[waterdrop]

Seems to be staying at 7.6 nicely now, from looking at your front page. Probably should just switch your reports to being 12 hour now, not 24 hour. The N-Bacs will overwhelm the nitrite soon.

~~waterdrop~~