What A Nice Man...

[SchottayB]

Never heard of a poo-in-cycle before

I agree with the post above, adding Ammonia you can monitor what your adding.

 

[willowstwin]

right, I dosed to 4ppm ammonia at 7pm last night. Tested my water this morning and here are my readings

Ammonia : 0.5
Nitrites : 2
Nitrates : 40 (could be 60, colours or close on my dip sticks)

Is this looking alright? I'll test again at 7 tonight and redose ammonia to 4ppm

 

[raptorrex]

i think, as opposed to "pure" mulm (is there such a thing? lol) this is a portion of the liquid bed of a UGF filter. as such, not only will it carry the bacteria we need, it will also be high in nitrates and ammonia. which initially will cause you problems with testing and maintaining ammonia levels for the cycle. but its still a whole heap better than any "Bottled Cycle" products currently on sale.

 

[willowstwin]

tested at 7pm tonight before dosing back up to 4ppm of ammonia

Ammonia : 0.5
Nitrites : 2
Nitrates: 40 but again could be 60

 

[rob1284]

tested at 7pm tonight before dosing back up to 4ppm of ammonia

Ammonia : 0.5
Nitrites : 2
Nitrates: 40 but again could be 60

am i right in thinking that's borderline cycled?

 

[BigbruiserAl]

tested at 7pm tonight before dosing back up to 4ppm of ammonia

Ammonia : 0.5
Nitrites : 2
Nitrates: 40 but again could be 60

am i right in thinking that's borderline cycled?

nope i would call it phase 2, ammonia and nitrites need to be hitting 0 before its nearly cycled, if does it for 7 days then its complete

 

[raptorrex]

..

LOL, yes Miles - it's possible that their idea of "fishless cycling" isn't exactly what is promoted on here. I've heard lots of people say "yes, I did a fishless cycle...for two weeks blah blah blah" and you know darn well they couldn't have completed it that quickly.

I'm afraid it can be done in that time. 14-18 days is the time i have had to wait for a cycle. and i use no additives. however i do have an unusual method. (do a forum search for "outback soecial" under my name).
it does seem, though, that environmental factors have effect on how fast, if at all, a cycle is completed. which may explain, just, why some of us find it such a problem, yet others dont.

 

[Tizer]

Athena - I actually found a LFS which recommended Fishless "it's what we do at the begining for our tanks, it's what's done for marine and it seems the best way to us" - Coxwell Aquatics new Abbingdon. Very nice people. I will gloss over the fact that he mentioned "we've got products to help with the cycling"
Wo Hoo - I know where my fish are coming from now
Miles

oooh Coxwell only 30 mins away from me, might go for a drive at the weekend, didnt know about that place

Im glad i dont fishless cycle, sounds like a lot of hard work to me, more so than daily water changes

 

[raptorrex]

Athena - I actually found a LFS which recommended Fishless "it's what we do at the begining for our tanks, it's what's done for marine and it seems the best way to us" - Coxwell Aquatics new Abbingdon. Very nice people. I will gloss over the fact that he mentioned "we've got products to help with the cycling"
Wo Hoo - I know where my fish are coming from now
Miles

Im glad i dont fishless cycle, sounds like a lot of hard work to me, more so than daily water changes

this is a problem. as fishless cycling is no more difficult than in fish. (even with fish, you have to wait till the bacteria enter the tank, this will take the same amount of time, whichever method you use. I'll say i an not aware of any research that identifies fish as the source of any "beneficial" bacteria)
i think its down to the WAIT for your . fish. people are waiting to add stock, but will not till their stats are right. those with an in fishcycle, dont have to wait. and if things are not quite right?

benefits are ignored. like the fact you can, within rason, fully stock a fish-less cycled tank. as soon as the cycle is finished. if you tried that with an fish-in cycled tank, you would be back where you started, virtually. and the fact your fish will be less stressed. making tank start up much easier.

 

[Tizer]

Its certainly never been a 'problem' for me.

 

[willowstwin]

phase 2... WOO!! Ok. so I'm still going to take my water sample, as requested, to the fish man on saturday... Cant help getting his opinion. Plus he said he would go through what I'm looking for (I kinda know but it'd be nice to be actually shown) and then help me choose a liquid kit to buy. He still wont sell me any fish though hehe.

Really excited about checking my water later.

I'm already planning for fish now, so I have enough time to get species and stocking levels right. I'm thinking 7 neon tetras, some cherry shrimp and a dwarf or honey gourami (although I've been told the dwarf might go for the shrimp?). I'm sure this will be ok for a 48ltr...

Any suggestions on plants? I know I need some moss for the shrimp to hide in, and a couple of taller plants or ornaments for the gourami to hide in. But suggestions are highly welcome.

 

[raptorrex]

Its certainly never been a 'problem' for me.

whats "never been a problem" for you?

 

[willowstwin]

Tizer, just looked at your tiger barb tank thread (only managed half way through at the moment - I'm at work) and they're amazing little fish! May look into that if I can find room for a second tank (or buy a small stand for this first one and put a larger tank where this one is - currently n my ikea chest of drawers )

 

[willowstwin]

**testing update** (With a borrowed liquid kit)

Last night @7pm:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 80

Dosed to Ammonia - 5

Tested this morning @ 7:30am:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: verging on 120 (it was way darker than 80 but I don't think dark enough for 120)

Dosed back up to 5 ammonia and will check again at 7/8pm this evening.

Shall I do I water change now the nitrates are so high?

 

[willowstwin]

Last night @ 7pm:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: above 120

Redosed ammonia to 5

This morning 7:30am:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.1
Nitrate: 160

redosed ammonia to 5

Should I do a water change? Can I add some plants to take up some of the nitrates now?