The Start Orf A New Begining!

[Tuppers]

Day 31: Fishless Cycle on 16G/60L - 24 Hour tests

Tests tonight for 24 hour test @ 19:45 hrs

Temp 29.5C
PH 7.4
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 40 (somewhere around there anyway!!)
dKH not tested

Added 2.5ml to tank I am unable to test 1 hour after tonight off to work in a second. So I will test in the morning! See you all soon!!

 

[Tuppers]

Day 32: Fishless Cycle on 16G/60L - 12 Hour tests

Tests today for 12 hour test @ 09:30 hrs

Temp 29C
PH 7.4
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 40+ (really not usre about this one but around here, find Nitrates very hard to tell!!)
dKH not tested

Well seems to be back on course but will stick to the usual treatment tonight!

 

[Tuppers]

Day 32: Fishless Cycle on 16G/60L - 24 Hour tests

Tests today for 24 hour test @ 17:30 hrs

Temp 30C
PH 7.4
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 20+ (really not usre very hard to tell!!)
dKH not tested

well carry on then chaps!! See you all tomorrow!! 2.5ml added will try and get a test in before work!

 

[rabbut]

That's better, back to dropping in under 12 hours

 

[waterdrop]

Oh good! Looks like you've been getting off to an excellent "qualifying" week while I've been gone. Are you getting all planned out and set up with all the proper materials and instructions for your uncle (?) while you are gone? You'll want to be sure you have enough ammonia and that the right dropper or syringe is used for ammonia etc.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Tuppers]

Day 33, 34 & 35: Fishless Cycle on 16G/60L

12 test 16/11/08

Temp 29.5C
PH 7.4
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.25
Nitrate 40+ (somewhere around there anyway!!)
dKH not tested

24 test 16/11/08

Temp 29.5C
PH 7.4
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.00
Nitrate 40+
dKH not tested

12 test 17/11/08

Temp 29.5C
PH 7.4
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 1.00 or 5.00 (this one really depended on the light source!!! Confused the hell out of me!! I would like to think it was 1!!)
Nitrate 40+ (somewhere around there anyway!!)
dKH not tested

24 test 17/11/08

Temp 29.5C
PH 7.4
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.00
Nitrate 80+
dKH not tested

Tested 1 1/2 hours after got 2 or 4ppm ammonia (again the light does not help!!) and def 5ppm Nitrite

12 test 18/11/08

Temp 29.5C
PH 7.4
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite AGAIN 1.00 or 5.00 (this one really depended on the light source!!! again hopefully it was 1 but then maybe not!!)
Nitrate 40-160 (I would say closer to 40 but again that BLOODY light!!)
dKH not tested

24 test 17/11/08

Temp 29.5C
PH 7.4
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.00
Nitrate 40-160 (I would say closer to 40 but again that BLOODY light!!)
dKH not tested

Right I think I am not quite cycled and the two week holiday is make or break now!! I can now see that my Ammonia and Nitrites are def being sorted in 24 hours and this is probably less as I have tested the tank at around 12-13:00 hrs on a couple of occasions and the results show 0.00 for both! So I am looking at a turnaround of 16-18 hours I would say!

Well my plan of action is the following! Hope you guys approve!

Do a 90% water change Thursday, add some baking soda and set my uncle off with that! I think by doing this as the Nitrates are high it will stop a stall while I am away, I will also hopefully stop a PH crash too. Plus this hopefully means that I will come back to a cycled tank that just requires a 90% change on the Sunday and i am back into checking if the tank is DEFINATELY cycled!!

Yes I have sorted my uncle out, The bottle and spoon are ready for him!

what do you guys think of my plan?

 

[rabbut]

Sounds good.

Cycles for other people always confuse me... Why has your tank suddenly un-cycled itself when nothing substancial has changed since the last time it dropped ammonia and nitrite in 12 hours? Any ideas what knocked it back a bit? Done anything different since before the slow down? Slowing down after the waterchange is understandable, and to be expacted in most cases IME, but with nothing to influence it Oh well, such is life as they say

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Tuppers]

Yes I know what you mean! But hey! At least its not that far away!!

Well I have tested 1 hour after adding 2.5 ml test time 19:40

Ammonia 2-4 ppm (right in the middle i would say!)
Nitrite 1 ppm (I would say!! But thn its tough to tell!!)

I have noticed on my CO2 thingy that some white fluffy stuff has started to produce! blocking the nozzle used a cheap tooth brush to brush off? Is this a good or bad thing or am I just reading too much into it?

i am wondering that with me increasing the amount of NO3 that I may have had the wrong bacteria growing as i was nearly hitting 8ppm at one stage and this produces the wrong bacteria??? with me now bringing the dose down I wonder if I am now getting the right bacteria where as before I wasnt??? or am i really really wrong??

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, I agree! Cycles are confusing things and there is a period after you read the Add&Wait that you think it must all be straight-forward, but I too found that there were plenty of confusing things and that at least interaction with other people helped one to plow along with it even if all of it couldn't be readily explained!

By now Tuppers, I would assume the amount of ammonia that gets your tank to 5ppm is a very well-known quantity to you, regardless of what device you use to measure it out. So I've been thinking of any things that your uncle might need. One would be to have him add small amounts of tap water (should be too small to need conditioning even) if evaporation is significant, that would keep the volume the same so that the amount of ammonia added wouldn't become higher than 5ppm. And of course it goes without saying that you'll work out with him that accuracy and regularity is important for the ammonia additions (each day.) And finally, I suppose the only crash insurance that might be needed would be if you talked with him halfway through and/or had him possibly test pH and add some baking soda, or even just had a packet of baking soda for him to add on the middle weekend regardless of any measuring, as it probably wouldn't be possible for there to be too much in this situation.

Blips of nitrite showing up when you're wondering if you've hit the qualifying week at least have one nice aspect: you just keep on doing the same old thing and eventually the darn thing has got to get more robust!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rabbut]

If you sky the KH with baking powder, NO3 will be of little concern over the time you are looking at The pH won't crash, and I have never had a bacterial die off in that time This said, I only ran without waterchanges untill the cycle completed, so only added mebe 2-2.5 weeks of constant ammonia (You're away for 3 weeks if I remember right)...

The White fluffy stuff on the bubble ladder will be yeast if this is a DIY CO2 system (can't remember what you are using, but it sounds like it) It could be a risk while you are away, an exploding yeast bottle is very messy Yeast rarely puts enough pressure into the bottle to explode it, unless the blockage is serious, and forms shortly after starting up, and if it is left for a long while (a few hours) with out inervention A pop bottle can take 40psi of pressure easily in a water rocket, and yeast CO2 preduction appears to slow with pressure IME

Idealy, you want to put a smaller bottle in there to act to collect yeast, very close to the yeast bottle to prevent blockages happening. The small bottle has two holes in the lid. One is connected to the yeast bottle and dropped in untill a couple of inches above the base of the bottle. A 45o cut is made the the base of this pipe to avoid blockages. Yeast will fall from the pipe if presant into the little bottle where it is collected and removed from the gas pipe. The supply to the tank is inserted such that it is as close the the lid as possible You'd be supprised how much yeast you can collect with that divice if used properly with a high CO2 output from your yeast bottle

HTH
Rabbut

 

[waterdrop]

Well rabbut, they may be off to Cuba(!), who knows?

 

[Tuppers]

NOT QUITE YET WD!!!!! 5 in the morning friday my time!!

Day 36: Fishless Cycle on 16G/60L - 12 & 24 Hour tests

Tests last night at 19:30 just prior to water change

Temp 29.5C
PH 7.4
Ammonia 0.00
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 80+
dKH not tested

Changed nearly 100% of water and added bicarb then waited for 1/2 hour and tested water at 21:00 and got:

Temp 27.0C
PH 7.8-8.0
Ammonia 0.00
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 5-10
dKH not tested due to adding bicarb

Then added 2.5 ml of ammonia and tested 1 hour later and at 22:00 hrs I got:

Temp 27.5C
PH 8.0+
Ammonia 4.00
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 10
dKH not tested due to adding bicarb

Tests this morning at 07:30 hrs
Temp 27.5C
PH 8.0
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 40
dKH not tested

and at 08:30 hrs the ammonia had dropped to 0.00 so I think we may be back onto a winner!!! So hopefully in four and a half weeks time I will have a lovely setup for my fishes!!

I will test and add some ammonia later and try to post results prior to leaving for Cuba! So if I dont post later to you guys! Have a great time where ever you may be! I will see if I can get some pictuers of the corals and fish over there!!

My uncle is set and ready to go! So fingers crossed!!

 

[waterdrop]

Looking and sounding good Tuppers! Have a GREAT time, if we don't catch a few more entries from you. If the plane curves down the US east coast you can look down and find my North Carolina by seeing the thin strand of "Outer Banks" at the edge of the Atlantic.

I'm sure your uncle will do great!
~~waterdrop~~

 

[Tuppers]

Hi there guys and gals!! I AM BACK!!!!!!!!!! How is everyone??

Well all went well with the holiday and I am now married!! My uncle did great and the tank was more than ready for some inhabitants though I did decide to leave it for another two weeks for my driving course! Well this is where my new WIFE broke it!! I hadnt made it back in time to catch the tain home so asked if she could sort out the ammonia and well she broke it good and proper!! Some how the nitrite bacteria colony just died off and I would say a large portion of the ammonia bacteria colony too!! Dont know how she did it!!

I have since then I have been cycling and have just entered my qualifying week!! At last!!

So I have a few qurestions!! (AGAIN!!)

End of the qualifying week 100% water change and then add fish?? Is this correct??

Also I have a elite tank (link)

http/www.seapets.co.uk/products/aquarium...m-high-60l.html

I am wanting to upgarde the lighting really but not sure what to do in order to do this. Can anyone suggest anything? I was gonna get something like the new arcadia lights where the lights are on a stand but I dont have a rim cover and I am getting shrimp in the end so dont think it would be suitable for the little jumpers!! Any help would be much appreciated!!

 

[rabbut]

Welcome back!

Correct, 100% waterchange, re-fill, get fish

If you haven't already, I'd look to replace the filter/filter media in an Elite tank before lighting The supplied filters contain Zeolite and can realy mess with the bio-filter in a tank

Arcadia do realy good florescent light units and florescent lamps. Their halides are rubbish though, no reliability to them If you get something like cherry shrimp, they will breed quicker than they jump. I added 10 to a 60l tank and ran it for a further 6 months. When I stripped it there were nearer 110 Three bodies were all that I found behind the tank This said, I could never see more than about 5 at a time

All the best
Rabbut