Yet More Fishless Cycling Questions

[Em29]

HI - i dosed my 90l tank on friday with ammonia and brought it up to 5ppm. Today Ammonia reads 0, ntrites 0 and nitrates 10ppm.

I am just about to dose up to 3ppm today but there is a white scum on the surface of the water....also very cloudy due to bacterial bloom. Is the white scum and thin white slimy covering over inside of tank normal

Perhaps i should clean the surfaces and do a water change??

Please advise - I am finding this stressful. Am I messing this up? I am so excited but do not want to feel guilty for spending all this money and still cannot make it work beccause I am a dunce

 

[fluttermoth]

All the stuff you're seeing is quite normal for a cycle. It'll most probably have cleared itself up in a few days, so I wouldn't worry too much at this point. Have you had your nitrite spike yet?

 

[Em29]

No - I haven't tested at all since I put the ammonia in friday - except for just now! So there may well have been a nitrite spike and I missed it

The tank smell I am assuming this is the ammonia. Yuk!!

Thank you so much for helping me

 

[the_lock_man]

All the stuff you're seeing is quite normal for a cycle. It'll most probably have cleared itself up in a few days, so I wouldn't worry too much at this point. Have you had your nitrite spike yet?

Really? Ammonia & nitrites at 0ppm in 3 days? If 5ppm ammonia has been completely processed, wouldn't you expect to see 13.5ppm nitrite?

 

[Em29]

I do not know lock man! I used the ammonia calculator on the site, tested a couple of hours after ammonia added and it read at 5ppm. I did use the Cycle bacteria that came with the tank. However....0 No2 and 10ppm No3 using API test strips (master kit to be ordered next week)

I suppose there could be a maximum of 0.25ppm Ammonia if I am not quite reading right....

I will wait until tomorrow and dose up to 3ppm again and test daily this time to get a more accurate result??

 

[the_lock_man]

Sorry, Em, I was asking Fluttermoth, as she is miles more of an expert on fishless cycling than I will ever be, but it didn't fit with what I thought I knew.

That said, now you've mentioned the test strips, they are notoriously inaccurate, so it may well be that you do have nitrite but the test strip is duff. I would suggest you get that liquid kit as soon as you possibly can.

 

[Easy]

I do not know lock man! I used the ammonia calculator on the site, tested a couple of hours after ammonia added and it read at 5ppm. I did use the Cycle bacteria that came with the tank. However....0 No2 and 10ppm No3 using API test strips (master kit to be ordered next week)

I suppose there could be a maximum of 0.25ppm Ammonia if I am not quite reading right....

I will wait until tomorrow and dose up to 3ppm again and test daily this time to get a more accurate result??

Well I didn't fully understand cycling until I learned on this site but I used to have a couple tanks and was told at the store to use that same product called Cycle. I used it on to different tanks and I never lost a fish even thoughninjust threw them in the tank with the bacteria product and the fish were always fine. So now I am setting up another tank but I had run out of the Cycle product and could not find the brand anymore. so I ended up with a different bacteria start product by top fin. I used it , threw my new fish in and they started going belly up one after another. Granted I did not have a test kit either but the point is most people seem to think the bacteria start products are mostly infective. Obviously the top fin was garbage but maybe that "Cycle" product may be one of the good ones. If you can find it.

 

[Em29]

Thank you lock man - I had heard the strips were not as accurate but as the master kit was out of stock in the last two shops I went into I thought they would be ok. Amazon have it for £23!

Easy - I used the Cycle because it came with the tank and do not think it could do any harm! I suppose it is just a question of whether or not my test strips are accurate enough. Doesn't sound like they are

 

[Easy]

Thank you lock man - I had heard the strips were not as accurate but as the master kit was out of stock in the last two shops I went into I thought they would be ok. Amazon have it for £23!

Easy - I used the Cycle because it came with the tank and do not think it could do any harm! I suppose it is just a question of whether or not my test strips are accurate enough. Doesn't sound like they are

Yea no, the test strips are tough to read but even the API master kit can sometimes be a challenge if you have any color blindness like me you have to ask the wife what colorist is! lOL

 

[fluttermoth]

All the stuff you're seeing is quite normal for a cycle. It'll most probably have cleared itself up in a few days, so I wouldn't worry too much at this point. Have you had your nitrite spike yet?

Really? Ammonia & nitrites at 0ppm in 3 days? If 5ppm ammonia has been completely processed, wouldn't you expect to see 13.5ppm nitrite?

I meant the bacterial bloom and the white 'scum'; I wasn't thinking 'bout the other stuff

I wouldn't like people to get the idea I'm an expert on fishless cycles; the only one I did was with fish food, about 20 years ago!

 

[Em29]

Yes Easy - the shades are tough to interpret!
I wish there was a easier way - roll on the times when we have computers that we drip our sample into and then it tells us what to add/ do! I would love that