Started The Cycle

[WayneVT08]

My water cleared up over night so that's good. I turned on the filter this morning and started filling my 5 gallon bucket. I added enough ammonia to raise the ammonia reading to about 7-8 ppm. oops. Then I multiplied that by 11 to find out how many drops of ammonia would be needed to raise the ammonia reading of the tank to 7-8. It came out to be 241 drops. I did that give or take a few drops and now I play the waiting game, I'm not gonna mess with the sand as I don't want to cloud the water. I might add some new plants while it's cycling so I can try to fill it out more and I'm going to be adding my terracotta pots tonight after i cut them in half. That's when I should have some pictures for you guys.

I'll just keep bumping this whenever theres a change in the readings or when I need help.

As of right now my readings are

ammonia: 7-8 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 0 ppm
pH: 7.5-8.0

 

[WayneVT08]

My terracotta pots were just cut in half, i rinsed them with warm water, anything else I need to do before I add them into the tank?

 

[WayneVT08]

Just tested the water, I think the ammonia dropped a little cause I don't remember the test being that light, so I checked for nitrites and nothing, so maybe I was wrong.

Ammonia: 6-7 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm

I should have pictures before I go to work but if not I'll get them on Monday since I work all day tomorrow.

 

[doresy]

This all sounds good, keep this up and you'll be ok

Don't waste your nitrIte and nitrAte test for now. After three or four days test for ammonia again, it should start to drop. When it gets to near 1ppm top up with ammonia to 5-6ppm and test for nitrIte (some should be showing by then) Now test daily for ammonia and keep it to around 4ppm. You can test for nitrIte every other day and it should start rising. When your ammonia levels start to drop from 4 to near zero in 24 hours your nitrIte levels will go through the roof. At this point you could test for nitrAte as it should be showing now. Test for NitrIte as well as ammonia daily now and wait for it to start dropping. (this will take AT LEAST double the time it took for your ammonia levels to drop to zero)

When you are at the point where you are dropping ammonia from 4 to zero in 10 or less hours and your nitrIte is down to 1 but still there then get excited as you are NEARLY there. It is not uncommon for the levels to hold at this for sometime but don't worry, keep adding the ammonia or all your hard work will be undone!

You will do a test one day and there will be zero ammonia AND zero nitrIte and after all those test before you think did I do the test right! Test for nitrAte to check the nitrgen cycle has completed (it should be very high)

At that stage you must do 1 of 2 things. EITHER continue to add ammonia OR do a massive water change (basicaly all of it) to get rid of most of the nitrAte then add fish as soon as tempurature has raised to chosen level. Most of your chosen fish should be added in one go to make sure bacteria is fed. Don't forget to always dechlorinate all added water

While you are cycling it would be a good idea to post on this forum what fish you are considering and how many. Not forgetting to state tank size, filter system etc.

Good luck and no cheating now!

 

[WayneVT08]

haha doresy, i basically have that exact same thing printed out in my stand right now. I think it was your thread that is under there. So I do know what to do, but I don't know if I'll test at all tomorrow. Maybe just monday morning then I'll post results. And this thread is just going to be used for my cycling process and any other things I need it for.

Tank size: 55 US gallon
Filtration: one Top Fin power filter Model 60 I think. I'm thinking of buying another for the other side of my tank as it seems that side doesnt get much circulation. It's only $33 for that same one.

Stocking list goes as follows:
x2 angelfish (they are really small when I get them, maybe 1" high and 1" long.
x4 clown loaches (about the same length as the angelfish when I get them, at most 1 1/2")
x16-20 Tetras of somesort or Zebra Danios, I'm not sure on those.
x6 Hatchetfish

 

[rdd1952]

If I were you , I would consider a partial water change to get the ammonia back in the 4 to 5 range so you can measure it on the chart. Most charts I've seen don't go above 6 and anything above that makes it hard to tell if it is being processed. Also, rather than counting drops, try using one of your test tubes. It seems that 1ml of ammonia will generally raise 5 gallon to about 5ppm. It's a lot easier than counting drops.

 

[WayneVT08]

so for a 55 gallon tank i would need 11 ml?

 

[rdd1952]

so for a 55 gallon tank i would need 11 ml?

Probably closer to 9 or 10 ml to allow for displacement of water by substrate and other items in the tank. A 55 gallon probably only has 45 to 50 gallon in it depending on how deep the substrate is and what is in the tank. Internal filters for example take up room as do decorations. The actual amount you need depends on the concentration of the ammoni you use but you can test it in a bucket by adding 1ml to 5 gallon and then testing it.

 

[WayneVT08]

I might have to do that when I wake up tomorrow. Maybe monday morning.

 

[WayneVT08]

Ammonia went down a little bit, maybe one ppm between 4 ppm and 8 ppm as my tester doesnt have 6 ppm. Weird. But most of the greens look the same to me, so i could be wrong.

 

[WayneVT08]

I tested this morning and no change in ammonia, same color and all.

Ammonia: 6-7 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm

AND today I went out and spent some money on another filter. So now it has two TopFin Model 60's.

 

[JamieBailie]

Sorry I cant be of any help, But am I right in thinking you shouldnt have the filter switched on untill the water is clear when cycling? (sorry for hi-jacking)

 

[WayneVT08]

The water is clear.

 

[JamieBailie]

I know, I was just asking because I have always turned my filters on as soon as i've put the water in. I'm thinking i've maybe been doing it wrong and thats why my water is still cloudy after 4 weeks.

 

[WayneVT08]

Probably, mine was pretty cloudy, then I just turned off the one filter at that time and let it sit over night and it cleared up.