2nd Time Around Fishless Cycling 120gal Tank

[Ann7667]

Thank you Library Girl!

 

[Ann7667]

Hello eco23,
Here are the stats for today, after dosing up to 4ppm yesterday.
7/18
pH=6.6
Amm=2.0
NitrItes=1.0
NitrAtes=20
Temp=88

So, the pH is down to 6.6 from 7.0 yesterday, the Amm was at 4.0 yesterday and is 2.0; Nitrites are up to 1.0 from 0 yesterday; Nitrates are up to 20 from 10 yesterday; Temp is up to 88 deg from 83 yesterday.

So I turned the heat down a notch.
I now have two bags of cc in the bottom of the tank.
Should I put in some finely ground up food now. I have not done that yet.

 

[eco23]

Hello eco23,
Here are the stats for today, after dosing up to 4ppm yesterday.
7/18
pH=6.6
Amm=2.0
NitrItes=1.0
NitrAtes=20
Temp=88

So, the pH is down to 6.6 from 7.0 yesterday, the Amm was at 4.0 yesterday and is 2.0; Nitrites are up to 1.0 from 0 yesterday; Nitrates are up to 20 from 10 yesterday; Temp is up to 88 deg from 83 yesterday.

So I turned the heat down a notch.
I now have two bags of cc in the bottom of the tank.
Should I put in some finely ground up food now. I have not done that yet.

Oops! Sorry I missed your post earlier. How much CC do you have in there? I'm surprised it's not holding more steady than it is. Where in the tank do you have it? I hate to say it...but I think you're gonna need to add quite a bit more so it's capable of holding the same pH value as it has when it comes out of the tap. don't be afraid to add too much...it won't have any lasting effect once you remove it when the cycle is done. It's a really big tank, so a few big handfuls will likely be what you need.

We're back on the right track...we've just got to keep it that way by buffering the water high enough to keep things stable.

A pinch of finely ground up fish food doesn't hurt. It will add some nutrients that the BB love to gobble up.

Sorry again that I missed this...I'll check back in tomorrow

 

[Ann7667]

Hello eco23,
You are right; I need to put the cc IN the Rena filter. Here are the stats for this morning:
7/19
pH=6.1
Amm=0 (well definitely not .25, but not really 0 either)
NitrItes=1.0
NitrAtes=40
Temp=89 (I turned it down a notch)
(Listen to the coach, listen to the coach!)
I will put the cc into the filter.
I will also add a little food.
I will dose it up to Am4ppm again.
and I'll check it in the morning.
I don't want to do another water change.
I'm just going to let the aquarium sort itself out.

This is becoming a little discouraging. However, I do feel like this aquarium is doing the best it can. Hopefully this post is not turning people who might be following it away from doing a fishless cycle. My example is what happens when you do enough things wrong. I'm sure it would have been cycled a long time ago if I had used the correct kind of ammonia and followed all the instructions instead of taking short cuts.

 

[eco23]

Yep, the pH is 1000000% the problem. I think you're gonna need to add a lot more CC since it's such a large tank. In honesty, there's no such thing as too much. It will only buffer to a certain point, then it will stop. It's not like if you added too much it'd shoot your pH up to 10, lol.

If you can get it in the filter that's ideal, but otherwise jam as much as you can fit into a mesh bag or even fill up an unwashed stocking and maybe hang it near the output of your filter.

Good news, bad news. The good, we know the problem, it's an easy fix, and once we get it sorted out there won't be anymore issues.

The bad, the pH crashed pretty hard. IMO/E I think it dipped low enough that it probably stunned and will shut down the bacteria for a little bit. I've seen some info they go dormant when getting to the range your pH is in...but hopefully within the next 2-3 days it will start picking back up.

The key is going to be buffering the water and holding the pH stable. Like I said, you can add 100 lbs of crushed coral in if you want, but if you don't want it in there permanently you'll want it in a mesh bag of some type.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong...but I don't think the pwc is mandatory if you add in a lot more crushed coral and some finely ground up fish food. Changing the water would restore nutrients and buffers to the water...but IMO adding crushed coral and fish food would do the exact same thing.

So try to get the CC in the filter if at all possible, make sure it gets your pH up high (at least into the mid to upper 7's would be my recommendation), add in the pinch of fish food, keep the ammo around 3-4ppm, and wait it out.

Just a fair warning, it may be a couple more days until you see any numbers moving. The pH crashes can definitely seem to press the pause button for a few days

Hope is not at all lost though. Thing's will be back to normal and I guarantee you will FLY along as soon as we can hold the pH steady.

 

[Ann7667]

Okay . . . I ON it! I'll post again in the morning!

 

[librarygirl]

Hello eco23,
... Hopefully this post is not turning people who might be following it away from doing a fishless cycle.

No, that's MY post lol

You dropped 2 PPMs of ammo in 1 day, that's a great accomplishment! To me at least and you have a purple tube so I'm pretty jealous! I bet your tank might even cycle faster than mine even though I started before you Your tank is doing great, keep at it! I wish there was a cheerleader smilie lol

 

[Ann7667]

Thanks LibraryGirl! Isn't this one cheerleading? Works for me! I've dosed it up again, put the coral in the filter, and hope all my BB made it through the crash. I'll be taking readings today, too to see how it's going. You know I can't wait a whole 24 hours. Impossible!

 

[eco23]

Thanks LibraryGirl! Isn't this one cheerleading? Works for me! I've dosed it up again, put the coral in the filter, and hope all my BB made it through the crash. I'll be taking readings today, too to see how it's going. You know I can't wait a whole 24 hours. Impossible!

If you put it in the filter, you should see results pretty quickly.

And not to make Librarygirl suicidal...but this is the second fishless cycle for Ann in that time. She basically finished, and realized she had ammo full of soap and everything else under the sun...so she had to break it down, clean it and start over

They should make a motivational poster for perseverance and put a picture of you guys on it

 

[librarygirl]

If you put it in the filter, you should see results pretty quickly.

And not to make Librarygirl suicidal...but this is the second fishless cycle for Ann in that time. She basically finished, and realized she had ammo full of soap and everything else under the sun...so she had to break it down, clean it and start over

They should make a motivational poster for perseverance and put a picture of you guys on it

I know, I followed her other post. She'd be done by now if it weren't for the ammonia, but at least she found out before the fish got in there. I had a suspicion something was off when she was adding 4 cups of ammonia to get a reading

 

[Deckape]

I would do a pwc just for general principle. It couldn't hurt and with all the work and time you've invested already.... Sorry Ann

 

[Ann7667]

Maybe I SHOULD do a water change . . . but I just can't right now . . . I don't know how to explain it. I really can't. I'm at a tipping point. . . I don't know exactly what tipping point, but I need to see what the TANK can do. It's not like there is anything BAD in there. It just needs to have the pH ratcheted up and the temperature down. So I've added crushed coral to the filter (it's always liked crushed coral before and it raises the pH) and turned down the heater, given it more ammonia to eat and a tiny amount of very finely ground up food for some extra nutrients. The tank should be able to do something with that. The tank is probably a little more stable that I am right now. So I'm staying here, where it's safe .

 

[Deckape]

Maybe I SHOULD do a water change . . . but I just can't right now . . . I don't know how to explain it. I really can't. I'm at a tipping point. . . I don't know exactly what tipping point, but I need to see what the TANK can do. It's not like there is anything BAD in there. It just needs to have the pH ratcheted up and the temperature down. So I've added crushed coral to the filter (it's always liked crushed coral before and it raises the pH) and turned down the heater, given it more ammonia to eat and a tiny amount of very finely ground up food for some extra nutrients. The tank should be able to do something with that. The tank is probably a little more stable that I am right now. So I'm staying here, where it's safe .

I know and that tank isn't as important as your well being. I am sorry you're stressed. Here is an international hug....

 

[Ann7667]

Thank you Wayne! And that was a little "tongue in cheek", but the chair does look attractive right now.

 

[Deckape]

Thank you Wayne! And that was a little "tongue in cheek", but the chair does look attractive right now.

Glad I could cheer you up some!

 

[Ann7667]

Hello eco23,
7/20 Water Stats:
pH=6.6 - (up from 0 yesterday)
Amm=2.0 (down from 4.0 yesterday)
NitrItes=2.0 (up from 0 yesterday)
NitrAtes=30 (down from 40 yesterday)
Temp=86 (down from 88 yesterday, and 1 heater is on; the other is off)
So, I'll take another reading tonight and see where the Amm is because I don't want it to go to zero. If it's at 1.something then I'll redose up to 4.0.

So eco, what is that badge - Barcelona Hockey or Rugby?

 

[eco23]

Hello eco23,
7/20 Water Stats:
pH=6.6 - (up from 0 yesterday)
Amm=2.0 (down from 4.0 yesterday)
NitrItes=2.0 (up from 0 yesterday)
NitrAtes=30 (down from 40 yesterday)
Temp=86 (down from 88 yesterday, and 1 heater is on; the other is off)
So, I'll take another reading tonight and see where the Amm is because I don't want it to go to zero. If it's at 1.something then I'll redose up to 4.0.

So eco, what is that badge - Barcelona Hockey or Rugby?

First...the fact you live in Oregon and actually recognize a FC Barcelona badge astounds me, lol (you're British though, right?) I'm addicted to European soccer which is rough cause I'm the only (American) guy I know who actually likes it. Just the football (soccer to us) for me. If I tried to follow rugby as well as foreign league soccer my wife would probably disown me, haha. My last avatar was of Messi celebrating after scoring the goal in the Champions League...but probably only like 3 people on the site actually know who Messi is

Second, I'm glad we've got things moving again . I don't know why we can't get the pH up with the crushed coral. I assume you have a lot in there?

Id like to see the pH higher since your natural tap water value is much different...but as long as your numbers are moving I'm happy.

 

[Ann7667]

I'm originally from Washington D.C., but I googled the initials on the badge, (actually, there were lots of responses for the initials, but many of them were not umm, complimentary) and that didn't work so I googled the description of the badge. Google knows everything!

On the cc, I put in at least two cups of the cc into the top layer of the Rena filter so the water is going through that constantly. Hopefully the pH will slowly climb. If it doesn't within a week, I'll add more cc.

 

[Ann7667]

I was going to check the water last night, but forgot -
Water stats for Thur 7/21
pH=6.6
Amm=0
NitrItes=0
NitrAtes=20
Temp=87
I dosed Amm to 4ppm at 8am on 7/21.

 

[eco23]

I was going to check the water last night, but forgot -
Water stats for Thur 7/21
pH=6.6
Amm=0
NitrItes=0
NitrAtes=20
Temp=87
I dosed Amm to 4ppm at 8am on 7/21.

Umm...stupid question I'm sure you've been asked 100 times already (including by me)...are you using an API Master test kit?
Some of this stuff isn't making sense to be honest. No2 dropping to zero would seem to indicate good things...but the timeline and the levels don't completely add up for me.

As for the nitrAte...the only way it can drop is by water changes or having a heavily planted tank which absorbs it (there's another way, but it doesn't really occur in aquariums). Is it possible it's a faulty reading?