Sort Of Disappointing.

[DJ_$ure$hot]

I think (or Im hoping) that Im encountering a slight mini cycle @ the moment & hoping that its not a cycle starting all over again It all happened when I added in my new (5cm in size) Golden Blackeyed Ancistrus. He honestly creates a ####e load of waste!!! I added in a male German Blue Ram the day after. Another factor could also be that when I noticed the slight spike in Ammonia I checked the filter, which wasnt trickling through the outlet back into the aquarium so well. I checked the 1st bit of filter wool (in my aqua one ar620 filter) & it was so blocked that the water wasnt running through very good until I gave it a clean in some aquarium water. When I test the water @ the moment (roughly 20 hours after previous water change), Im getting readings less than 0.25ppm & after a water change it sits @ 0.00ppm. This started happening about 3 days ago. Anyones helpful guidance would be greatly appreciated

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Hi there DJ, your cycle only finished a week ago or there abouts didn't it...... you shouldn't be adding fish again so soon, the bacteria colony needs time to establish and settle between new additions. Apologies if we didn't tell you this when the cycle finished, I usually say it though

That being said it should just be a mini cycle, you'll have a few days of ammonia and nitrite readings, same drill as before water changes to keep it as low as possible. But once the bacteria colony is there it'll grow fairly quickly.

Plec's are definatley poop machines aren't they.

 

[DJ_$ure$hot]

Hi there DJ, your cycle only finished a week ago or there abouts didn't it...... you shouldn't be adding fish again so soon, the bacteria colony needs time to establish and settle between new additions. Apologies if we didn't tell you this when the cycle finished, I usually say it though

That being said it should just be a mini cycle, you'll have a few days of ammonia and nitrite readings, same drill as before water changes to keep it as low as possible. But once the bacteria colony is there it'll grow fairly quickly.

Plec's are definatley poop machines aren't they.

Cheers MW Im definately gonna keep a close eye on it but the levels are staying relatively low until I do a water change which is a good sign I guess.

Man, I honestly didnt know those little mofo's could poop so much

btw, you did mention that to me, but my cycle had been fully complete for just over a week & I thought just adding a couple of fish would be alright & not to much of an extra bioload for the filter to handle...

 

[Miss Wiggle]

sorry but you need to leave things at least 3/4 weeks after your cycle's done before adding any more fish.

Got to give the bacteria colony a chance to breathe!

Now, don't go rushing out for more fish as soon as this mini cycle has passed, gotta leave the tank as it is for a couple of weeks for things to stabilise.

 

[DJ_$ure$hot]

Also another thing, Im getting readings of 0.00ppm Nitrites every test... Should I be getting readings of this @ the same time as Ammonia or will that come after like in a normal cycle?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

it'll come after, or may not come at all.

generally after the cycle is done the capacity to handle high levels of nitrite is better than high levels of ammonia, this is because 1ppm of ammonia produces something like 2/3ppm of nitrite, so during cycling the nitrite builds up so the NBacs build up to a point where they can handle a lot of nitrite.

 

[waterdrop]

it'll come after, or may not come at all.

generally after the cycle is done the capacity to handle high levels of nitrite is better than high levels of ammonia, this is because 1ppm of ammonia produces something like 2/3ppm of nitrite, so during cycling the nitrite builds up so the NBacs build up to a point where they can handle a lot of nitrite.

Oh, that's interesting MW, so in your experience you are more likely to experience some visible ammonia when watching a filter react to a stocking increase, than any visible nitrite. I guess this would go along with N-bacs being slower to build up and slower to die off, at least a bit slower than A-bacs.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

purely anectodal, but i've had a couple of mini cycles over the years for various reasons, i have yet to see any detectable nitrite but i've seen ammonia. it could be that nitrite does pop up but is cleared by the time i next test.

like you say, slower to build up and slower to die off makes sense doesn't it.

just to say though, i'm not sure how/if this would differ in a newly cycled tank or a mature one, every mini cycle i've had has been in a mature tank and been no more than a 2/3 day blip. perhaps in a newly cycled tank as the colony is less established it's unable to 'bounce back' as quickly so you may see nitrite.