My fishless cycle log (fast forwarded some)

[millerb7]

Nope, just add in a normal dosage if you want to try it. Since you're not starting off with R/O or distilled water, just a minimum amount will be sufficient. There won't be any long term impact because when you do your massive post-cycle pwc it removes any traces just like when people use CC or aragonite to stabilize pH during a cycle.

Is it something I need to add after every single PWC then? Or just a one-time deal?

 

[eco23]

Is it something I need to add after every single PWC then? Or just a one-time deal?

I'd add it, see if it gets things moving and decide from there. One member recently had their cycle sitting at an absolute standstill for over a month, added Seachem Replenish and had movement within a few days. Mostly this is just theoretical and I just started recommending it recently for stubborn cycles...but so far I've seen nothing but success with it. Could it be coincidence? Maybe. But I've seen enough evidence that I think it's worth dropping a few $ on to try.

 

[millerb7]

I'd add it, see if it gets things moving and decide from there. One member recently had their cycle sitting at an absolute standstill for over a month, added Seachem Replenish and had movement within a few days. Mostly this is just theoretical and I just started recommending it recently for stubborn cycles...but so far I've seen nothing but success with it. Could it be coincidence? Maybe. But I've seen enough evidence that I think it's worth dropping a few $ on to try.

Ordered. $8 including next day delivery... it'll be here tomorrow afternoon. Tonight I add the active sponge filter as it was delivered today... then with the replenish added tomorrow I'm BOUND FOR SOME MOVEMENT!!!

haha

 

[millerb7]

Okay, active sponge filter installed... and man I probably should have gotten the 3" one and not the 4" one lol! It's a tad big for my 29 gallon tank... but now between the 2 aeration stones (5" and 10"), my AC70 filter, and my 4" sponge filter... this tank has some MASS bubblage lol!

Anyways, I'm gonna get my ammonia readings here soon... I"ll post up what they are. I obviously don't expect any change for awhile with the active sponge filter.

I'll be getting a 55 gallon probably early next year and I'll just move the 4" sponge to it to help cycle... probably even buy another 3" to put back into the 29 after I take the 4" out.

 

[librarygirl]

Okay, active sponge filter installed... and man I probably should have gotten the 3" one and not the 4" one lol! It's a tad big for my 29 gallon tank... but now between the 2 aeration stones (5" and 10"), my AC70 filter, and my 4" sponge filter... this tank has some MASS bubblage lol!

Anyways, I'm gonna get my ammonia readings here soon... I"ll post up what they are. I obviously don't expect any change for awhile with the active sponge filter.

I'll be getting a 55 gallon probably early next year and I'll just move the 4" sponge to it to help cycle... probably even buy another 3" to put back into the 29 after I take the 4" out.

Yes it is larger in person than it looks online! The 3" one I have still takes up a bit of room in the corner. I saw nitrites within a day or two with mine, but I find they are different in how much bacteria they have on them. Hopefully you got a good one. As for the air stones and sponge filter, you could purchase a gang valve (if you don't have one already) which will let you adjust the amount of air that comes through and you can then reduce the amount of bubbles if you desire. Good luck, I'll be waiting for an update tomorrow!

 

[millerb7]

DAY 25
AMMONIA: 2-4PPM - didn't dose more
NO2: didn't check
NO3: 5ppm (tap water)
pH: didn't check
Added in ACTIVE SPONGE FILTER

Seachem replenish is on order, will be here tomorrow.. I'll get to dose with that and see if it helps any.

Yes it is larger in person than it looks online! The 3" one I have still takes up a bit of room in the corner. I saw nitrites within a day or two with mine, but I find they are different in how much bacteria they have on them. Hopefully you got a good one. As for the air stones and sponge filter, you could purchase a gang valve (if you don't have one already) which will let you adjust the amount of air that comes through and you can then reduce the amount of bubbles if you desire. Good luck, I'll be waiting for an update tomorrow!

Thanks! I'm excited to see what the readings are tomorrow and over the weekend, hopefully I see some movement. I do have a 2-way gang valve... I just need to hook it up. My line running to my sponge filter is WAY to long, so I'll just take some of it and use to hook my pump to the 2-way gang valve, then the air stone and sponge filter from the 2-way gang valve (which has adjustments on it for the air flow It's a pump meant for much larger tanks so should be fine running both.

I tell you what, my 29 gallon is rather nice setup if I do say so myself... BUT NO FISH!!! hah... it's slightly depressing. My GF swears I just love staring at water!

 

[millerb7]

GOOD NEWS!!!

DAY 26 | DAY 1 ACTIVE SPONGE | DAY 0 REPLENISH
Ammonia: down to 1ppm dosed back up to 4ppm
NO2: basically off the charts, maybe at 4ppm (HUGE JUMP) from before... a relatively dark purple
NO3: About 30ppm
pH: didn't check

As you can see... today is 24 hours after I added the active sponge, and I just added my first dose of replenish (so it probably hasn't done anything yet)... so that sponge DID A LOT!

My ammonia dropped a good amount (biggest drop I have seen yet), my NO2 spiked HUGE, almost off the chart overnight, and my NO3 went up too... from my standard 5ppm (which I have in my tap water) to 30-ish ppm....

I'm heading in the right direction! Man it really does help to have some good seeded material.

I assume it will be relatively easy to see all my future tanks from here on out? I can basically buy a sponge filter and leave it in my currently set up tank for a couple weeks then move it to the new tank to seed if I understand correctly? 2-3 weeks would be long enough I guess.

I'll be letting my NO2 and NO3 get off the chart then I'll do a 50% PWC to get them readable again... then await the magical day that my ammonia and NO2 drop to 0 I'm getting close I can taste it!

 

[millerb7]

Day 27 | DAY 2 ACTIVE SPONG | DAY 1 REPLENISH
Ammonia: .25 dosing back to 4ppm
NO2: 5ppm so about off the charts
NO3: About 30ppm again
pH: 8.2

So my NO2 is rising and rising... my ammonia is dropping rapidly (3-4ppm over 24 hours) but my NO3 isn't all that high yet.

Next steps? Just wait for NO3 to get off the charts then do a 50% PWC to bring NO2 & NO3 back down to readable? Keep dosing ammonia?

I imagine I'm getting close hopefully!

 

[eco23]

Glad things are going well

Just give it some time and keep doing what you're doing. Water changes never hurt (they can help), but it's not necessary to do them more than 2-3 times during a cycle IMO. The main things to watch out for are pH drops, and any signs that ammonia isn't dropping as fast, or the nitrAte isn't rising as quickly. If either of those things happen...then it's time to get the bucket

 

[millerb7]

Glad things are going well

Just give it some time and keep doing what you're doing. Water changes never hurt (they can help), but it's not necessary to do them more than 2-3 times during a cycle IMO. The main things to watch out for are pH drops, and any signs that ammonia isn't dropping as fast, or the nitrAte isn't rising as quickly. If either of those things happen...then it's time to get the bucket

Okay, I'll check again tomorrow. My ammonia seems to be dropping a ton... it's my NO3 that I'm worried about... want to make sure it keeps climbing

 

[millerb7]

Okay did another check today... my ammonia had dropped a lot again just overnight... my NO2 is still about the same, maybe more purple... the NO3 is a tad more red today... but still not off the charts.

Just dosed more ammonia gonna wait for NO3 to get closer to being off the charts before I do my 50-60% PWC. The NO3 seems to be getting higher... just slowly.

 

[librarygirl]

Looks good! Just remember the nitrite phase can be the longest of the phases so don't get discouraged if it doesn't come down right away. Mine was 5+ for almost 3 weeks before it came down. It'll get there and it's worth it in the end. Glad things are moving for you.!

 

[millerb7]

Looks good! Just remember the nitrite phase can be the longest of the phases so don't get discouraged if it doesn't come down right away. Mine was 5+ for almost 3 weeks before it came down. It'll get there and it's worth it in the end. Glad things are moving for you.!

Yeah I'm getting excited. I hope to be able to get some fish by this weekend. My ammonia is dropping like crazy now... just need more NO3 now I think probably tomorrow it'll be time to do a 50% PWC to get my NO2 & NO3 both readable again as the NO2 is off the charts and the NO3 is close to being so.

 

[librarygirl]

You can do a pwc if you want to, but it isn't necessary unless nitrite have been off-chart for a long time (weeks) or unless PH drops. My nitrates were 160+ for a long while and as I said my nitrites were 5+ for over two weeks. I think I did one water change during that time (maybe two, I had a PH drop in there somewhere). Don't be discouraged if you do a pwc and nitrites shoot up again. It's normal and as I said it's the longer of the phases so it could be some time before they come down ( I hope it's this weekend too but I have to say I don't think it will be. Hope I'm wrong though!).

 

[millerb7]

Okay well what color is the NO2 when it's WAY off the charts?

Mine was a dark purple yesterday, and today it's a weird light blue/purple color... so it's either SUPER off the charts... or it's at 0.25ppm... any ideas on that?

My NO3 is around 80ppm now... ammonia was 0ppm again within like 16 hours or so.

 

[millerb7]

Well checked again this morning after I dosed to 4ppm last night:

Ammonia: 0.25ppm

Didn't check anything else.... I was in a rush. But unless that light blue/purple means "off the charts" in NO2... my ammonia and NO2 are basically 0 now. I of course dosed ammonia back to 4ppm again before I left for work, I'll check again when I'm home.

 

[librarygirl]

It depends....did the drops turn purple as soon as they hit the water in the tube and then change to light blue over the 5 minutes? In this case, they are way off-chart and you should do some 100% water changes to get them down to a readable level on the chart (<2).

If the drops were light blue when they hit the water in the tube and then slowly darkened to the bluish-violet of .25 then yes they have dropped but not at 0 yet (but should be close).

Let me know which it is.

 

[millerb7]

It depends....did the drops turn purple as soon as they hit the water in the tube and then change to light blue over the 5 minutes? In this case, they are way off-chart and you should do some 100% water changes to get them down to a readable level on the chart (<2).

If the drops were light blue when they hit the water in the tube and then slowly darkened to the bluish-violet of .25 then yes they have dropped but not at 0 yet (but should be close).

Let me know which it is.

There was no purple at all when the drops hit the water. I thought I screwed something up as just 2 days before they were 5ppm+. I will double check again today when I'm off work but I'm 99% sure there is no hint of purple at all when the drops hit the water.

 

[librarygirl]

There was no purple at all when the drops hit the water. I thought I screwed something up as just 2 days before they were 5ppm+. I will double check again today when I'm off work but I'm 99% sure there is no hint of purple at all when the drops hit the water.

OOh that could be good news! Another few days of testing will let us know for sure either way. That's how it happens usually: nitrites are 5+ one day and 0 the next. I'm glad I was probably wrong; there's a good chance you'll have fish this weekend!

 

[millerb7]

OOh that could be good news! Another few days of testing will let us know for sure either way. That's how it happens usually: nitrites are 5+ one day and 0 the next. I'm glad I was probably wrong; there's a good chance you'll have fish this weekend!

That would be so amazing. I tell you what this active sponge and the replenish did WONDERS for my cycle.

I'll be testing all levels of the water today when I get home to see if the ammonia came down from my 4ppm dose I did this morning... also to double check on the NO2 levels to make sure it's really near 0 and not off the charts... and to see if the NO3 is higher.

What it seems though is the ammonia is 0.25ppm and NO2 is 0.25ppm as well basically overnight... and the NO3 keeps climbing to where it's almost off the charts.

If that's the case, then I'm getting close... just need to get that ammonia and NO2 to 0 overnight instead of the 0.25ppm it's getting to now.