Thoughts On Best Cycling In My Situation?

[rabbut]

Me again. Once again, a zero reading of nitrite on both tanks, and the slight tinge of colour on the NH3 test is now completely gone in the 180L. NH3 on the new tank is somewhere between completely clear and barely visible (I imagine it to be slightly coloured compared to the other bottle, but I really think it's mostly my imagination), so basically 0 too.
I started to think they sold me a test with fake substances, but I can fortunately second the nitrite findings on my strip tests. Nitrate is very low in the new tank, just below 10, and somewhere close to 20 in the 180L. Both tanks are well planted.

According to the bottle with bacteria, it's now time to stop dosing, the tank should be cycled. I can't find anything in my readings to contradict that. So unless something happens in the next week or so, I think the stuff works.

That's unless bacteria can survive in gravel without ammonia to feed on for a long time, and we've already established that to be impossible.

No spikes at all with fish-in cycling seems really strange to me, but perhaps it's helped to have planted tanks with low fish loads.

I'd be really interested to hear some feed-back and theories on all this. Thanks!

IMO, it is just as possible that the product diden't work, as it is possible for it to have worked. The fish load was minimal, so you wouldn't expect to greater spikes. They are lower admittedly than I expected.... so posible that it has some effect. The only real way to test would be with a full fish load in an uncycled tank, but it would take a seasoned aquarist to be able to tell when to pull the plug on the experiment for the sake of the fish, should it go wrong.

It would be nice to think that it did work, considering the price they "bactiria in the bottle" products are....

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Topazlizz]

Well. I'm not settling down to relax just yet, still expect things might happen. Today I've increased the fish load in the 180L livebearer tank substantially (the load now is 6 guppies, 6 mollies, 8 platies, 2 small ancistrus and a baby plec, as well as a betta who will be moving into his own residence tomorrow) and as I'm not using the bottle any more I will now wait for nitrite to show and THEN dose with the bottle to see if there's an immediate effect. For the sake of the fishes I'll continue with water changes of 20% twice weekly and monitor very carefully.

If you have another suggestion I'd be pleased to hear it!

(The betta will move into a 54L tank on hos own and I'll be cutting off a piece of the filter media from the 180L to go. I stuffed in a little too much in there anyway.)

 

[Topazlizz]

Still 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite in both tanks. There's now a build-up of brown patches on the back wall of the newest tank, but I also have no fish in there to clean them. Intended to move the plec over there, but the small blue acaras have spawned so I can't put anything new in there at all at the moment.
My plants aren't doing very well in either tank, turning brownish around the edges.

 

[rabbut]

A good liquid fertiliser should fix the plant browning, as it is typical symptoms of a lack of nutrients. Avoid ones with nitrate or phosphate in them, as this is what the brown algae is feeding off ATM.

Congratulations on your fish spawning. Its also good to see that the stats are remaining stable.

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Topazlizz]

Thanks for the tip! I felt reluctant to buy fertiliser without advice as I was afraid the water stats would be affected.

I may turn into a middling good fishkeeper yet - I certainly wasn't this careful monitoring my tanks the last time around. Sadly, my house now has fewer places to put tanks in as I have a collecting husband as well - guitars, not fish. So when the day comes that I feel the need to get a new 600L tank or thereabouts, there may difficulties...