50g Build!!

[jlk]

Unless something changes with your parameters (ph drops or bb stop processing amm/nitrite), you will need to keep dosing your ammonia daily when it drops below 2ppm until your cycle is complete & you are ready for fish. Then your fish will take over the job of dosing ammonia daily to feed your bb. Ask any questions you may have!

 

[GuppyLover]

Alright, after dosing 7ml amm last night my levels are 0ppm amm, darker the 5.0ppm nitrite, way darker then 80 nitrate but not 160 quite yet, and ph is still stable at 8.2. Another dose of 7ml amm?

 

[jlk]

Yep! Keep up the good work!

 

[GuppyLover]

Everything is the same. Shouldn't my Nitrite and Nitrate start going higher? I can't even keep up with how fast my tank eats ammonia, dose in the morning and by that night I'm already at 0, it's crazy.

 

[jlk]

How do your all of your parameters look right now (particularly nitrite & ph)? Are the nitrates increasing at all? Thats great that the amm is being eaten up so quickly!

 

[GuppyLover]

Alright, after dosing 7ml amm last night my levels are 0ppm amm, darker the 5.0ppm nitrite, way darker then 80 nitrate but not 160 quite yet, and ph is still stable at 8.2. Another dose of 7ml amm?

Exactly the same as in this post, I dosed more amm like an hour ago. Want me to test it again?

 

[jlk]

No, you dont need to test again! Have you done any wcs yet since starting your cycle? It may be time for one to bring your nitrites down to a readable level (2ppm or less) if you are up for it. Otherwise, just have some patience! You have a great set of amm>nitrite bacteria- we just need to wait for the nitrite>nitrate bacteria to catch up!

 

[GuppyLover]

Oh okay!! How much water should I change??

 

[jlk]

Did you get yourself a python or something similar yet to make water changes easier? If you can manage, do atleast 75% or more. Retest your nitrites after the change to see if it made any difference in their levels.

What you can try before doing any wc is a few dilution tests. Fill 1/2 tube with tank water (1/2 way to white line) & 1/2 with tap water & test your nitrites- this will be the equivalent of a 50% wc. Then try 1/4 tank & 3/4 tap (75% wc). Then 1/10 tank & 9/10 tap (90% wc). See how these tests look before deciding on % of a wc & it will give you an idea of what size wc you will need to bring your nitrite levels down. Then redose your ammonia after the wc. Hope this helps!

 

[GuppyLover]

Did you get yourself a python or something similar yet to make water changes easier? If you can manage, do atleast 75% or more. Retest your nitrites after the change to see if it made any difference in their levels.

What you can try before doing any wc is a few dilution tests. Fill 1/2 tube with tank water (1/2 way to white line) & 1/2 with tap water & test your nitrites- this will be the equivalent of a 50% wc. Then try 1/4 tank & 3/4 tap (75% wc). Then 1/10 tank & 9/10 tap (90% wc). See how these tests look before deciding on % of a wc & it will give you an idea of what size wc you will need to bring your nitrite levels down. Then redose your ammonia after the wc. Hope this helps!

I haven't yet. I've been looking all over youtube for a DIY python build but still haven't found one. I'm about to start pricing Pythons.

I'll do the water testings and see. I think I might just end up doing it the bucket way :/

 

[GuppyLover]

Well I've been super busy lately and haven't had time to do a wc, so before I did one and these are the results.

Ph- 8.2
Amm- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 5

Not sure how I got 5 nitrates, shook the #2 really good. Should I try again?

 

[jlk]

Nope, dont worry about your nitrates. When was the last time you dosed ammonia? Dose it daily for the next few days & if you continue to see zeroes, your cycled!! When your ready to purchase fish, the night before or the morning of, skip the ammonia & do a big water change with temp-matched, conditioned water. Adjust the temp if it was cranked up. Check out U-tube for how-to videos on 'drip acclimation' if your not familiar with the process.

 

[GuppyLover]

Nope, dont worry about your nitrates. When was the last time you dosed ammonia? Dose it daily for the next few days & if you continue to see zeroes, your cycled!! When your ready to purchase fish, the night before or the morning of, skip the ammonia & do a big water change with temp-matched, conditioned water. Adjust the temp if it was cranked up. Check out U-tube for how-to videos on 'drip acclimation' if your not familiar with the process.

Alright! Thank you SO much, you've been beyond helpful!! Same amount of amm? Alright, I will! Did it for my GBR once but pretty sure I didn't do it right lol.

 

[jlk]

Yep, enough amm to bring it up to 4ppm. Look forward to seeing pics soon!

 

[GuppyLover]

Here are some updated pics! Hopefully going to pick some new plants up when we go to That Fish Place to stock it, if not I'll have to order some.













Trying to get the Glosso to carpet, also have to put my background and dw in. Hoping the dw looks okay, not a huge fan of the piece I have.

 

[jlk]

Off to good start!! Thanks for the pics!

 

[GuppyLover]

Alright, so everything was going great and I got some fish last night. Drip acclimated them and when I went to test this morning my PH came out purple. I was shocked so I did two more tests and each came out different. These are the colors I got.

 

[jlk]

I am confused- these are all the colors you got on 1 ph test? Is it the high range or regular ph test? You have another tank, correct? Wash out the test tubes well (no soap-just hot water, fill shake repeat couple of times then rinse in cold water), check the ph in your other tank(s) first & see what the regular & high range tests read. Then recheck this tank with the regular & high range test & see what kind of results you get with clean test tubes. Did you do a big water change yesterday morning before getting fish? Perhaps your tap hasnt gassed out yet though it should have by today. Second concern would be an issue with the tests because these readings are all over the place. Clean the tubes well & recheck everything & let us know how it reads!

 

[GuppyLover]

I am confused- these are all the colors you got on 1 ph test? Is it the high range or regular ph test? You have another tank, correct? Wash out the test tubes well (no soap-just hot water, fill shake repeat couple of times then rinse in cold water), check the ph in your other tank(s) first & see what the regular & high range tests read. Then recheck this tank with the regular & high range test & see what kind of results you get with clean test tubes. Did you do a big water change yesterday morning before getting fish? Perhaps your tap hasnt gassed out yet though it should have by today. Second concern would be an issue with the tests because these readings are all over the place. Clean the tubes well & recheck everything & let us know how it reads!

Yes, they are all High Range ph. My 20g came out at 8.0 and the 10g came to 8.2. The 50g regular ph is 7.6 and high is 8.0. I did a 35% because I wanted to ask- can I vaccum the sand or not since I just cycled?

 

[jlk]

Ok- so the ph on the 50g came out 8? Thats fine & its right in the ballpark of your other tanks! Its expected to get a 7.6 reading on the regular ph test- this is as high as it will read. It will be the same blue shade for anything 7.6 or higher. You can lightly vac the sand if its dirty- just run the vac over the surface to pick up debris.