fishless cycle diary- I think I'm almost there!!:)

[Botanica]

okay here are today's results:

ammonia- 0
nitrite- 0-0.25ppm
nitrate- 5ppm
ph... right this is weird, when I first tested the ph on the liquid kit it went bright yellow as soon as the drops went in and did not develop into anything but a bright yellow, I emptied it and retested and it is now leaning more towards 6.6 which means it has dropped 0.2 in 24 hours :/ I don't know why the colour went so bright can dodgy tests happen? :s

I'm wondering now if I should do a WC, the good news is that my nitrite further dropped last night too

what do you all think?

I just had a weird pH test happen yesterday. It has been suggested to me that it may be from one of the glass tubes not being washed out enough from the last test.

 

[dannehhx]

I just had a weird pH test happen yesterday. It has been suggested to me that it may be from one of the glass tubes not being washed out enough from the last test.

i think your right... i just double checked my ph level again and its at 6.8 so maybe a had off readings this morning? eitherway looks like its all moving in the right direction!

 

[dannehhx]

Yes, a water change when you have some free time (temp match & condition) to help rebuffer your water and redose your ammonia. The ph will continue to steadily drop and your on the threshold (6.5) of where ph may become an issue in a cycling tank. Your numbers look good otherwise!

i think im going to have to save the water test till tomorrow morning as i have a busy evening ahead... also turns out that i may have had leftover tap water that made my test tubes inaccurate when testing ph this morning as my ph is now 6.8 again

i will double check in the morning if readings are all good then hopefully this won't be on too much longer!

 

[dannehhx]

okay I have had a busy morning ! here are the post-results:

ph- 6.3
ammonia- 0
nitrite- 0.50ppm
nitrate- 20ppm

so I have been out early to my LFS and bought a bigger heater, set it to 80 degrees, did a 75% WC as my ph dropped again, I have re dosed and here are the current ph and ammonia after 30 minutes:

ph: 7.6
ammonia: 2ppm

my tap water parameters are:
ph: 7
ammonia, nitrite & nitrate: 0ppm

hopefully this won't be too much longer

 

[jlk]

Thanks! We will need to keep a close eye on your ph here- if it starts dropping on a regular basis, it may need to be further addressed. Keep us posted!

 

[dannehhx]

Thanks! We will need to keep a close eye on your ph here- if it starts dropping on a regular basis, it may need to be further addressed. Keep us posted!

okay, is there anything I can do to keep the ph buffered around neutral ? should I invest in a powder buffer?

 

[jlk]

I think natural options are easier & more stable and you will not have to worry about dosing & checking, possible fluctuations, etc. Adding some crushed coral, argonite or even crushed seashells in a mesh bag/piece of pantyhose to your filter will help to stabilize things but I dont know if this necessary yet or will be necessary at all. Lets just keep an eye on things for now & if your ph proves to be an issue, its a fairly simple fix.

 

[dannehhx]

today's results!

ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0.25ppm
nitrate: 10ppm
ph.... 6.4

okay, just rang my LFS and I may be getting a handful of their crushed coral and see if that helps, I really can't do WC's everyday as I only have buckets and my water supply is 4 rooms away from my tank it's too heavy!

is it normal for crashes to happen so often? I feel like I've messed it up it was going so well aaaw!

 

[dannehhx]

little update...

ph seems fine, took it in to be checked by LFS's and both said 6.8-7 and seen the colours on the test :/ i also adjusted my air stone as it was making extreme bubbles, temp is up at 82 degrees, nitrite also showing only minute amounts, between 0-0.25 (but definatley closer to a sky blue colour)

i'm so used to the tank without fish that is going to be a shock when i finally do get them! lol

 

[jlk]

Redose & keep us posted!!!

 

[dannehhx]

today's results!

ammonia- 0
nitrite- 0
nitrate- 10-20ppm
ph- 6.8

!!

yessss I'm gonna re dose and see if it drops tomorrow !!

 

[jlk]

Looks great!!! Keep us posted!

 

[dannehhx]

I'm going away for the weekend so won't be able to post for a while but will let u know when I can !

 

[Botanica]

today's results!

ammonia- 0
nitrite- 0
nitrate- 10-20ppm
ph- 6.8

!!

yessss I'm gonna re dose and see if it drops tomorrow !!

Woohoo!!! . Congrats!

 

[dannehhx]

okay so had a busy weekend with the tank
the readings have stayed as 0 ammonia and nitrites and nitrates !

so now it is home to 6 cardinal tetras, 2 female platy and a male swordtail and .... 7 platy fry !!

all is great everyone is eating well and happy thank you all so much for your help I couldn't have done it with confidence without this forum !

 

[jlk]

Congrats!!! Make sure you are keeping a close eye on your parameters for atleast the next 2wks or so. Newly cycled tanks can be a bit tempermental and occasionally there may be a 'hiccup' which can be easily handled with a few extra water changes.

 

[Illetrop]

hi guys so ive been cycling for a little over a week now,, my ammonia is being lowered, but my trites are realllyyyyy up, i dosed ammonia up to 4.0 last night, this morning went down to 0/1.0 . read in an article to back off on the ammonia dose so just dropped a few drops. didnt say anything about a water change just to wait till i see the trites go down, any "better" suggestions, or should i just wait? i got a 90 gallon with live plants, plants are doing very well, and my nitrates are starting to show, any advice would be super awesome ! :
)

 

[jlk]

hi guys so ive been cycling for a little over a week now,, my ammonia is being lowered, but my trites are realllyyyyy up, i dosed ammonia up to 4.0 last night, this morning went down to 0/1.0 . read in an article to back off on the ammonia dose so just dropped a few drops. didnt say anything about a water change just to wait till i see the trites go down, any "better" suggestions, or should i just wait? i got a 90 gallon with live plants, plants are doing very well, and my nitrates are starting to show, any advice would be super awesome ! :
)

Stop dosing ammonia for a few days & see if nitrites drop/nitrates increase. If they dont, then do a big water change to drop your nitrites down to a readable number (under 2ppm) and only add a small amount of ammonia @1ppm.

 

[Illetrop]

Ill do that thanks again.!