Fishless Cycle Params - Please Review

[boadams87]

Im with Kl its btr than not having amm and ur bb dying and having to start over.

 

[calfishguy]

Dose it to like 7 before leaving and add the shrimp it should do for how long will you be gone.

 

[jlk]

Have another little question/concern...

I have to go out of town for a few days this week and I won't have anyone to monitor my cycle.

Any suggestions?

You can throw some raw shrimp in as suggested. Your bb can actually go couple of days without food & survive without a problem. The longest i have ever let a cycled tank go without amm is 4 days but i suspect you could actually go as long as a week. I wouldnt worry too much!!

 

[thegundog]

Today's readings 02-17-12:

AMMONIA - .25

NITRITES - .5

NITRATES - 10.0

PH: 6.8 - 7.0

TEMP: 80F

I think a 50% water change is now appropriate given the PH drop - your thoughts?

 

[jlk]

Yes, thats a pretty hefty drop from 8- time for a water change when you have a chance! Otherwise, things look good!

 

[jlk]

Forgot (had to look back through your thread)- the ph drop is the most likely reason your amm didnt zero out completely. Bit of a shock for your bacteria but they should recover quickly when the ph is bumped back up.

 

[calfishguy]

Yeah they should Donald sure to dose the ammonia back up.

 

[thegundog]

I returned from my trip yesterday (gone 3 days) and here are the readings of: 02-19-12

AMMONIA - .25

NITRITES - 2.0

NITRATES - 5.0

PH: 8.0

TEMP: 80F

I dosed ammonia back to 4.0

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Todays Readings: 02-20-12

AMMONIA - 2.0

NITRITES - .5

NITRATES - 5.0

PH: 6.8 - 7.0

TEMP: 80F

First time in 8 days that ammonia has not dropped overnight to .25.

What are your thoughts based on these most current readings?

Thanks!

 

[jlk]

Your ph drop is the biggest reason for things to slow down in respect to your ammonia. Time to bump it back up again with a water change. After the water change, lets drop your amm back to only 2ppm for a few days to see if things stabilize with less conversion happening. Make sure you really bang & shake those nitrate bottles for a full min or two before testing because they are quite finicky- you really should be seeing an increase in nitrates if your nitrites are dropping from 2 to .5. Do you have live plants in this tank?

 

[thegundog]

Your ph drop is the biggest reason for things to slow down in respect to your ammonia. Time to bump it back up again with a water change. After the water change, lets drop your amm back to only 2ppm for a few days to see if things stabilize with less conversion happening. Make sure you really bang & shake those nitrate bottles for a full min or two before testing because they are quite finicky- you really should be seeing an increase in nitrates if your nitrites are dropping from 2 to .5. Do you have live plants in this tank?

Sounds good...

I shake the crap out of Nitrate bottle #2 - 2 full minutes, I've heard of the issues if you don't and I follow the timelines on the directions with a timer.

Tonight I checked the ph and ammonia twice to confirm as the readings just seemed a little different tonight.

No plants in this tank.....

THANKS for the quick reply!

 

[jlk]

Thanks! Sometimes a testing error is to blame but this is not the case here. Lets give the lower dose after a wc a try for a few days & see how things go!

 

[thegundog]

Todays Readings: 02-21-12

AMMONIA - .25

NITRITES - 2.0 - 5.0 (definetly that shade)

NITRATES - 40.0 - 80.0 (definetly that shade)

PH: 8.0

TEMP: 80F

As suggested, last night I dosed ammonia to 2.0 to allow the ph and other paramaters to return to "graph".

Monitoring ph is big in this process.......

Go to 4.0 tonight on the ammoia dose or keep it in the 2.0 range again?

 

[jlk]

Lets dose to 2 for another night. Your getting some great nitrite conversion & your ph is staying stable which is great!

 

[calfishguy]

The end is finally here

 

[thegundog]

Todays Readings: 02-22-12

AMMONIA - .00

NITRITES - 2.0

NITRATES - 10.0

PH: 7.0

TEMP: 80F

I dosed ammonia to 2.0 last night, if I had dosed to 4.0 I think my ph would have dropped lower than the current 7.0 - it probably would have dropped down into the mid 6 range....

Do I need to tote some buckets of water tonight?

 

[jlk]

If you have the time, yes, a water change is in order. That was a hefty drop & I would expect to see another drop if you redosed ammonia without a water change. Good news is your nitrite levels are starting to fall down to more readable levels & you still have great amm conversion happening so you are in the home stretch! You may want to consider getting a python/similar type water changer/grav vac to make your life a bit easier....

 

[thegundog]

After the water change tonight should I dose ammonia back to 4.0?

 

[KlcoKN]

I've heard adding baking soda can reduce ph crashes as it buffers the water, haven't done a ton of research on it yet tho, anybody do this? pros/cons? Would it help gundogs ph?

 

[thegundog]

I think the ph drop indicates good things are happening....

With the last tank I cycled I had similar PH crashes - it was at the end if the cycle....

I have heard of hobbyist adding baking soda to stabilize water parameters on tanks that are already cycled.

 

[thegundog]

You may want to consider getting a python/similar type water changer/grav vac to make your life a bit easier....

I know they do make life much easier.... but I would need the 50 footer which I think is about $50, that equates to 5 new PEACOCKS! and I'm kinda over budget as usual....

I have a window nearby so I just run the hose out the window and drain away.

Then I add water with my buckets through a powerhead that I no longer use in a tank.

Takes a little longer but it works pretty good.

I missed a Python a month ago on CL for $10.00!!!!