Will do that change tonight after the 12 hour stats. Just a quick query though, I usually add ammonia in the mornings so should I add it straight after the waterchange tonight or add it in the morning as usual? PH at 12 hour reading better at 6.6 should I still do the water change?
Starting Fishless Cycle Thread
- Thread starter anniekins
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Day 52. Stats at 12 hours: Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0.25 Nitrate 5 PH 6.6. Checked again at 13 hours Nitrite 0. 
Carried out 75% water change hope that settles the PH. Gravel vac with sand substrate not the easiest thing for a newbie!
Carried out 75% water change hope that settles the PH. Gravel vac with sand substrate not the easiest thing for a newbie!
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Your N-Bacs seem to be pretty skint, Annie. They're insisting on 1 hour of overtime every day. 
Seriously though, looking good. Day 4 of qualifying over with good results.
The water change will have done the cycle the world of good. Do you know what the pH reading was after the water change?
I've seen the N-Bac colony do some strange things, but never stick on processing 5ppm in 13 hours. Strange.
The only thing I can think of is that maybe your filter has just enough capacity to deal with it. Can you remind me how many litres the tank is and what filter you are using?
Cheers
BTT
Seriously though, looking good. Day 4 of qualifying over with good results.
The water change will have done the cycle the world of good. Do you know what the pH reading was after the water change?
I've seen the N-Bac colony do some strange things, but never stick on processing 5ppm in 13 hours. Strange.
The only thing I can think of is that maybe your filter has just enough capacity to deal with it. Can you remind me how many litres the tank is and what filter you are using?
Cheers
BTT
Thanks for your reply BTT.
The PH two hours after the water change was a very healthy blue 7.6 reading which I was pleased about as it did drop quite a bit yesterday.
My tank is 65L and it's an Aquaone with the in hood filtration system. I would have hoped that it would have been able to cope with the demand, but time will tell that's for sure!
Will keep you posted as usual and thanks for your help.
The PH two hours after the water change was a very healthy blue 7.6 reading which I was pleased about as it did drop quite a bit yesterday.
My tank is 65L and it's an Aquaone with the in hood filtration system. I would have hoped that it would have been able to cope with the demand, but time will tell that's for sure!
Will keep you posted as usual and thanks for your help.
Day 53. Stats looking good this morning, 12 hour reading: Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 
Nitrate 0 PH 7.6.
Do I still need to do a 24 hour reading later today or is that not necessary with the above readings?
One more final question, (for now anyway). I have been adding ammonia in the morning, however, due to the waterchange yesterday it was added last night. Do I now continue adding the ammonia in the evenings or will I be able to wait until tomorrow morning to do the next top up? I didn't know if that would be too long for the bacteria. My only problem is due to work commitments I can carry out the 12 hour check am, but not a 13 hour check. What's the best thing to do?
Thanks for any response in advance.
Nitrate 0 PH 7.6. Do I still need to do a 24 hour reading later today or is that not necessary with the above readings?
One more final question, (for now anyway). I have been adding ammonia in the morning, however, due to the waterchange yesterday it was added last night. Do I now continue adding the ammonia in the evenings or will I be able to wait until tomorrow morning to do the next top up? I didn't know if that would be too long for the bacteria. My only problem is due to work commitments I can carry out the 12 hour check am, but not a 13 hour check. What's the best thing to do?
Thanks for any response in advance.
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Finally the N-Bacs have got their act together, and no overtime required.
A 24hr reading isn't necessary if your getting 0-0 at 12 hours. It's only going to be 0-0 again.
It probably doesn't matter to be honest, Annie. Do whatever suits you best. It would only really affect the bacteria if they were left for several days without ammonia. If you leave adding ammonia until tomorrow morning, it'll be absolutely fine.
If you still have concerns about leaving it so long, why not add say 1ppm of ammonia tonight to see them through until breakfast?
Hope that helps? Have you decided when you are getting the fish yet?
Cheers
BTT
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Yes, agree with BTT, your colonies are so strong now that you can "reset" your ammonia add time to anything you like, it would take a couple days of no ammonia for you to see any problem (and probably they would just back on one hour strike )
BTT, have to mention that both MW and I have been seeing enough cases of N-Bacs "sticking" at 13 hours or so that its seemed to us to be a "thing" of sorts.. a pretty small minority of cases but enough to seem real. I experienced it myself. But once it makes that final drop to double zeros, it usually seems rock solid, especially in cases where people have been patient enough to do the qualifying week type of wait.
~~waterdrop~~
)BTT, have to mention that both MW and I have been seeing enough cases of N-Bacs "sticking" at 13 hours or so that its seemed to us to be a "thing" of sorts.. a pretty small minority of cases but enough to seem real. I experienced it myself. But once it makes that final drop to double zeros, it usually seems rock solid, especially in cases where people have been patient enough to do the qualifying week type of wait.
~~waterdrop~~
Day 54. Great progress maintained again!!! 12 hour stats: Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0 PH 7.6
Good news, things are going well since the water change. I hope to get my fish either this Saturday or Sunday all being well of course. Will keep you posted as usual and thanks for all your advice once again.
12 hour stats: Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0 PH 7.6 Good news, things are going well since the water change. I hope to get my fish either this Saturday or Sunday all being well of course. Will keep you posted as usual and thanks for all your advice once again.
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Day 54. Great progress maintained again!!!
Good news, things are going well since the water change. I hope to get my fish either this Saturday or Sunday all being well of course. Will keep you posted as usual and thanks for all your advice once again.
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It certainly does BTT, it certainly does!
Day 56. All stats zero at 12 hours except PH 7.6. Feeling good, soooooo good!
Looking forward to the weekend now! Day 56. All stats zero at 12 hours except PH 7.6. Feeling good, soooooo good! Looking forward to the weekend now!
Noticed some dark green algae begining to appear over the bogwood,leaves and substrate in patches. Not sure what type of algae it is but do I need to do anything other than a good gravel vac and clean on the final water change to rectify it?
Looking forward to the weekend now! Noticed some dark green algae begining to appear over the bogwood,leaves and substrate in patches. Not sure what type of algae it is but do I need to do anything other than a good gravel vac and clean on the final water change to rectify it?
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
congrats for sticking it out, annie
With algae (and snails for that matter, lol) it doesn't hurt to deliver energtic maintenance (I'm saying this from the beginner learning standpoint) to the issue, just like you will be learning to be regular about your weekly gravel clean water changes. A lot of people fall into a sort of laziness of just thinking their tank will maintain its good look forever, when in fact a lot of good looking tanks have some pretty significant effort put into them during the weekly water change. The inside glass can be sponged down for algae, regardless of whether you see it yet or not. The decorations can be cleaned or even removed and cleaned and that includes bogwood unless you have a particularly difficult time resetting it or have plants attached delicately etc. Anyway, taking various pro-active steps on a regular basis is a good habit, even though there will probably be long stretches, if you're good at it overall, when the tank is clearly going great and you can safely leave it if you're away or whatever.
Having a "problem" with algae is whole different thing and calls for a more concerted approach and is beyond the scope of my post.
~~waterdrop~~
ps. Those posts up above actually look like a long skinny tank with a school of fish moving, at least on my work computer screen here
With algae (and snails for that matter, lol) it doesn't hurt to deliver energtic maintenance (I'm saying this from the beginner learning standpoint) to the issue, just like you will be learning to be regular about your weekly gravel clean water changes. A lot of people fall into a sort of laziness of just thinking their tank will maintain its good look forever, when in fact a lot of good looking tanks have some pretty significant effort put into them during the weekly water change. The inside glass can be sponged down for algae, regardless of whether you see it yet or not. The decorations can be cleaned or even removed and cleaned and that includes bogwood unless you have a particularly difficult time resetting it or have plants attached delicately etc. Anyway, taking various pro-active steps on a regular basis is a good habit, even though there will probably be long stretches, if you're good at it overall, when the tank is clearly going great and you can safely leave it if you're away or whatever.
Having a "problem" with algae is whole different thing and calls for a more concerted approach and is beyond the scope of my post.
~~waterdrop~~
ps. Those posts up above actually look like a long skinny tank with a school of fish moving, at least on my work computer screen here
Miss Wiggle
Practically perfect in every way
a lot of people experience algae problems during cycling which just disappear once the tank is cycled and settles down a bit, for some people they do carry on and you need to do a bit of research to find the source of your problem and to combat it.
for now i'd suggest a thorough clean is all you need, keep it up for a bit, if when the tanks been cycled and had fish in it for a month or so you keep getting a lot of algae returning in a week then let us know and we'll try and suss out the problem with you. but it is normal to get some algae growth, virtually every tank has it.
for now i'd suggest a thorough clean is all you need, keep it up for a bit, if when the tanks been cycled and had fish in it for a month or so you keep getting a lot of algae returning in a week then let us know and we'll try and suss out the problem with you. but it is normal to get some algae growth, virtually every tank has it.
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