I hope you can stand another fishless cycling log...

[eco23]

Thanks Eco! I tend to definitely take the time to keep testing the biofilter with the ammo. Depending on the results I'll test for 10 days to 2 weeks before deciding whether it's safe to put fish in. I hope I don't regret this decision, I just felt I had to do something after 7+ weeks of trying to cycle this tank both with and without fish.

I did see a large bag of crushed coral, but they only had the large bag for about $17 and I felt it was too much to pay for something I may or may not need and for something I would probably only use a handful of. For the most part the PH in the tank seems to be between 7.4 and 7.6, so to me it mostly seems steady, it tends to change with larger pwc. I'm going to redo some of those tests today against the distilled water to make sure I was reading the ammo in the tap water right, I'll probably retest the PH too to make sure I got the right results the first time.

Thanks for all your help! Maybe I'll name one of my fish Eco

I'm glad you're sticking with it . It'll make it that much sweeter when you get some fishie friends in there. As you get deeper into your cycle, just keep an close watch for drops of the pH every few days. I think you'll be fine, but with soft water and the low alkalinity you have, it's worth keeping a very sharp eye on.

Thanks for the fish name idea, lol. Since writing the guide I think I've got a number of illegitimate fish children swimming around, haha!

 

[eco23]

Hi libraygirl! Just wanted to check in and see how things are going

 

[librarygirl]

Hi libraygirl! Just wanted to check in and see how things are going

Thanks Eco! I didn't want to keep posting updates to keep bumping up the thread if I didn't have anything major to report. But since you asked....

So on the 29th, I did a 3 gal pwc just to get rid of the last of the bubbles/suds (an interesting note is that as soon as I put my hands in there, they pop/dissipate, so if it were truly suds from something they probably wouldn't do that). I also cut up the sponge filter and put a couple of small pieces next to my current filter pad (there wasn't much room in there to put a lot). I also added a botte of Tetra SafeStart.

The next day, May 30th, readings were:
-Ammonia: 2-3 (it was about 4 before the pwc so I dont think it went down on its own at all)
-nitrIte: 0
-NitrAte: 10-20 (which is the highest it's been so far; hard to tell the difference between those oranges but at least 10 and less than 40).
-Ph: steady at 7.6+++ (dark blue, off chart)
-High ph: 7.4

Last night (June 1):
-Ammonia: looks like it's still 2-3, I have a hard time reading this. I'm posting a pic below. Please let me know if it looks like it's too high.
-NitrIte: hm, the tube (pic below) isn't the bright blue of zero but isn't quite purple either, so I'm guessing it's between 0 and 0.25. This is what happened after I added the sponge filter and then the next day it went back to bright blue of zero, so I'm hopeful it'll turn purple but not expecting it to.
-NitrAte: still 10-20
- PH: still off chart, higher than 7.6
- high Ph: seems to have gone up a bit to around 7.8, it's hard to tell as the colors are suble, but at least 7.4 and no higher than 8

I've also added a pic of the current state of the bubbles. I have my air stone back on.

If anything looks weird please let me know. I'm hoping this tank will cycle by the end of the month. If it doesn't I'm taking it down and giving up. I think 3 months is a fair try.

Thanks!

 

[eco23]

Thanks Eco! I didn't want to keep posting updates to keep bumping up the thread if I didn't have anything major to report. But since you asked....

So on the 29th, I did a 3 gal pwc just to get rid of the last of the bubbles/suds (an interesting note is that as soon as I put my hands in there, they pop/dissipate, so if it were truly suds from something they probably wouldn't do that). I also cut up the sponge filter and put a couple of small pieces next to my current filter pad (there wasn't much room in there to put a lot). I also added a botte of Tetra SafeStart.

The next day, May 30th, readings were:
-Ammonia: 2-3 (it was about 4 before the pwc so I dont think it went down on its own at all)
-nitrIte: 0
-NitrAte: 10-20 (which is the highest it's been so far; hard to tell the difference between those oranges but at least 10 and less than 40).
-Ph: steady at 7.6+++ (dark blue, off chart)
-High ph: 7.4

Last night (June 1):
-Ammonia: looks like it's still 2-3, I have a hard time reading this. I'm posting a pic below. Please let me know if it looks like it's too high.
-NitrIte: hm, the tube (pic below) isn't the bright blue of zero but isn't quite purple either, so I'm guessing it's between 0 and 0.25. This is what happened after I added the sponge filter and then the next day it went back to bright blue of zero, so I'm hopeful it'll turn purple but not expecting it to.
-NitrAte: still 10-20
- PH: still off chart, higher than 7.6
- high Ph: seems to have gone up a bit to around 7.8, it's hard to tell as the colors are suble, but at least 7.4 and no higher than 8

I've also added a pic of the current state of the bubbles. I have my air stone back on.

If anything looks weird please let me know. I'm hoping this tank will cycle by the end of the month. If it doesn't I'm taking it down and giving up. I think 3 months is a fair try.

Thanks!

The ammo level and the "state of the bubbles" looks fine, haha.
Like I said before, the bottled bacteria products are out of my range of knowledge. There is an interesting thread we've been chatting in which may shed a little light on why no3 seems to rise without no2...personally I'm less than confident in the products, but I in no way blame you or think you made a rash decision. You can check out the thread if you'd like and see if you can wrap your head around it a bit-
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/another-cycle-question-no-nitrites-but-nitrates-154408.html

 

[librarygirl]

The ammo level and the "state of the bubbles" looks fine, haha.
Like I said before, the bottled bacteria products are out of my range of knowledge. There is an interesting thread we've been chatting in which may shed a little light on why no3 seems to rise without no2...personally I'm less than confident in the products, but I in no way blame you or think you made a rash decision. You can check out the thread if you'd like and see if you can wrap your head around it a bit-
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/another-cycle-question-no-nitrites-but-nitrates-154408.html

Thanks, I was reading that thread as it interests me since I have the same issue. The NitrAtes started showing up just after I put that sponge filter in (a week before I even thought of adding the Safe Start) so not sure if that had anything to do with it, but it's interesting. If anything major changes in the tank (I hope I hope I hope) I'll post again. Thanks for sticking with me!