Can someone please check

[librarygirl]

No dramatic changes overnight and no casualties.

PH - 7.8 (Did PH High test)
Ammonia - 0.25
No2 (NitrIte) - 0 - 0.25 (Very slight purple tinge)
No3 (NitrAte) - 10

Will do a further PWC 50% tonight.

Should my NitrAte begin climbing from 10?
Once cycled will I still have to do PWC and how often, do you just test weekly and monitor Ammo and NitrIte?

Your nitrates are probably not rising much b/c of all the water changes, which is fine. You don't want to let them get above 20 with fish, 40 max.

Once the cycle is done you'll keep an eye on ammonia and nitrate, regularly at first then when you're sure they're staying at 0 you can check those once every couple of weeks (or anytime you add new fish). What you'll want to check weekly are nitrates; those are removed by weekly water changes to keep them below 20; they don't leave the tank any other way and letting them build can be toxic. Plus your fish will be using up nutrients in the water that a pwc will restore. You should also monitor PH too to make sure it stays steady as sudden fluctuations can be harmful to the fish.

 

[earwig999]

Just did 1 test tonight followed by a 50% PWC again.

PH - 8.0 (Did PH High test)
Ammonia - 0.25
No2 (NitrIte) - 0
No3 (NitrAte) - 10

It appears my Nitrites have lowered themselves without a further PWC so something must be working (slowly).

I made a right mess with the PWC tonight though, I wedged the syphon pipe in the corner between the filter and tank, coiled up the excess whilst I went to get rid of the dirty water and whilst I was gone the pipe fell off and began syphoning itself!! (Why is it when I want to start a syphon it won't work unless I suck on the end, but when I don't want it to it just start on its own?)

Been trying to find a Python but can't source them in the UK. Have seen a few DIY projects for them so might have a play at the weekend.

2 remaining Danios are doing ok, look happy. The pearl was a bit lethargic last night sat at the bottom but I treated them to a skinned pea and he is much more perky tonight.

Female RCS is ok always out in the day, but the male (he is smaller and more transparent) I have trouble finding, but keep seeing him around.

The Bristlenose Plec prefers to sit on the rubber suckers of the heater, very rarely goes around the bottom of the tank.

Thanks for all your support so far.

 

[Catfish22903]

Generally, I find that more smaller water changes are less stressful on the fish than fewer, larger changes. It might be worthwhile to change 10% in the morning, and 10% in the evening for a few days. 50% is more than I would feel comfortable doing.

 

[sillygirl423]

I would think the toxins in the water would stress the fish more than the water changes IMO/E. I did 50-75% changes everyday for 2-3 weeks when my tank mini-cycled and didn't have any problems.
Btw: that's how I ended up at this wonderful forum, LFS said it would be fine to add 12 fish at once to my 55g tank. Big NO-NO!!! Darn pet stores.

 

[librarygirl]

I agree with SillyGirl, toxins are more stressful than water changes to fish.

 

[earwig999]

Am I doing something wrong?

My NO2 is consistently showing zero now but ammo is at 0.25 - 0.50 every 24hrs.

I am PWC 50-75% each day, which does drop the ammo to zero but NO3 remains at 10ppm ever since I started testing.

I need the NO2 bacteria to come through to keep my ammo down, but since my 1st test it hasn't wanted to show up again.

I think I have the three bacteria working in the tank but I'm producing more ammo than the NO2 bacteria can handle and because the NO3 is already at 10 it is killing off (converting) the NO2 before it gets chance to convert the ammo. If that makes sense? lol

I also added a piece of bogwood yesterday hoping my Bristlenose would come down from off the top of my filter and it might help lower the PH of the water, but no on both accounts so far.

 

[sillygirl423]

You will always show NO3 the only way that comes out of the water is with pwc, don't worry you're not doing anything wrong, you're NO2 will catch up and keep you're ammo at 0. Its all patience from here. One morning you'll wake up and ammo and NO2 will be gone. Have you read the thread about fish in cycling?

 

[earwig999]

I've read it and others many times. It just seemed strange I had NitrItes and then they went.

 

[librarygirl]

Your nitrites only showed very little and just once, right? It could be that the water changes aren't letting them rise higher, which is fine. You may not have gotten to the nitrite spike phase yet; in that case they will rise on you and fast when it does happen, so keep monitoring them.

Nitrates should be lowering when you do the water changes, though, are they staying the same before and after water changes?

 

[sillygirl423]

Hey how's everything going?

 

[earwig999]

it seems to be going very slowly. PWC 50% every day. Ammo hovers around 0 - 0.25 (looks like a wee, yellow but hint of green) and NitrItes are still always Zero (light blue, no purple). NitrAtes remain at 10 (dark orange).

I added some bogwood and my PH has lowered slightly from 8.0 to 7.8

I guess now it's just a waiting game. I'm going to stop PWC every day and check every other day to see if the ammo builds up to 0.25-0.50, and then hopefully I might see some more NitrItes

 

[sillygirl423]

Yeah it basically all waiting now, no fish lost though right? You're doing a great job keeping the toxins low, I am sure your fish appreciate it very much

 

[earwig999]

Well, no PWC for 3 days. Just tested and everything has remained the same.

PH High - 7.8 to 8.0
Ammonia - 0 to 0.25 (Very mild green hint)
NitrItes - 0 (No purple tinges whatsoever)
NitrAtes - 10 to 15 (a bit darker orange than normal)

As it's the weekend and I'm still showing a slight Ammonia level I shall do a 50% PWC later but will leave it for another 3 days to see if anything changes.

I have started having my air curtain on during the evenings and overnight, but switch it off in the day as the tiny air bubbles make the tank look hazy. Since I got my bogwood, I never see my shrimps anymore unless I am cleaning out the tank.

All fish are well and accounted for -

1 zebra danio
1 pearl danio
1 bristlenose catfish
3 glo light tetra
2 Red Cherry Shrimp (1 m and 1 f)

I am also still using my old filter, so currently have 2 filters running a Fluval and the new Interpet that came with the tank.

 

[earwig999]

Took a sample to the LFS to test and their kit (JBL I think) showed no ammo, no nitrite and about 10 nitrate.

They did PH hi and norm and it was about 7.4 ???

They suggested doing a test on my normal tap water to get a base to work from.

Photos below of tap water - It appears the only variation I get from tap to tank water is a slightly higher PH (darker) and a slightly higher NitrAte. My ammo and NO2 look exactly the same.