Fishless Cycling update and a couple questions

[pdw1731]

Morning everyone

Just wanted to share my journey so far (plus, who doesn't like a good "atta boy" every now and again)

The good news is that my ammo is dropping from 2ppm to 0 with about 12 hours so I'm redosing back to 2ppm twice a day. pH is holding steady at 7.5. My NO2 and NO3 are both dropping into the readable levels so i know good things are taking place and it shouldn't be much longer now before I have inhabitants. (please let this be sooner than later b/c I am tired of accidentally inhaling whiffs of the ammo !

Oh...just to make sure i understand...it is okay if i let my TopFin40 run alongside my AC50 if for no other reason other than to provide extra filtration? I'm not using the carbon in the media since i have the carbon running in my AC for now. Once i'm cycled, i plan on taking the carbon out and adding an extra sponge to the AC (sponge-->sponge-->ceramic rings). Can I use filter floss in the TopFin to 'polish the water'. If not, well, i can just use the media in there to seed the tank we are putting in my daughters room soon

thanks a million...ppm

 

[tarpon]

Haha. I have two filters in my tank if that's what you're asking? One on each end of the tank to really circulate the water. And yes to the filter floss question

 

[librarygirl]

Looks good! If nitrites are dropping on their own then it shouldn't be too much longer. Nitrate should be rising though, not sure why it's dropping unless you have live plants in the tank?

You can certainly run two filters (I do as well). I haven't tried the filter floss yet so I'm not sure but I think you can use it, you'll just have to change it out every 2-3 weeks as it will build up gunk fast from what I've heard.

 

[pdw1731]

Nitrate should be rising though, not sure why it's dropping unless you have live plants in the tank?

Really? My nitrates were off the charts and they've been slowly coming down to readable levels and then to settle in nicely around 20ppm. I was under the assumption that that is what was supposed to be happening. Color me wrong?

 

[librarygirl]

Really? My nitrates were off the charts and they've been slowly coming down to readable levels and then to settle in nicely around 20ppm. I was under the assumption that that is what was supposed to be happening. Color me wrong?

I think that's odd, but I could be wrong. Mine have been steadily rising and now they're off-chart. Nitrates don't usually leave the aquarium unless it's through water changes, plants using them, or something else (forget what it's called) but it isn't a common reason or at least not one that's noticeable enough (Eco help! lol).

Have you done any water changes recently? That could be lowering them. But if they were high and then are lowering on their own I'm not sure that's normal. Are you doing the test properly? it's the easiest test to get wrong. I did it once and I did it how I usally do it and I thought I timed the shaking right but got a 0 reading of nitrates when the day before it was around 40; I did the test again and got the correct reading. Are you putting in the correct number of drops from bottle 1, inverting the tube a few times, then shake the heck out of the 2nd bottle for 30-40 seconds (tapping it on a table will help loosen the powder at the bottom), then putting it in the tube, then cap the tube and shake it vigorously for 60 full seconds, then wait 5 minutes for the results. Also on the bottles there are a bunch of numbers; what are the last 4 numbers? That is the manufacture date, just to make sure it isn't expired (if the numbers are 0910 for example, then it was produced in Sept 2010). Do you have a nitrate remover pad in the filter maybe?

 

[pdw1731]

hmmmm

I did a pwc last week, about 80%. But other than that, i've pretty much left it alone aside from dosing ammo and testing the water. i'm doing everything according to the guide.

right now i've got
7.4pH
0-.25 ammo (down from 2ppm in under 12 hours)
bet 2-5 no2
i'm thinking 20 no3

mfg date for no3 is 02-11 both bottle. Everything was made this year except Hi range ph and that's only 12-10

the on;y thing in my filter is the sponge, the carbon pack (which i'm removing after the cycle) and the ceramic rings. I havent touched it otherwise. In my other filter, it's just the frame and the white media. No carbon or anything else inside of it.

 

[pdw1731]

i just read this.

Desired Level
In nature nitrates remain very low, generally well below 5 ppm. In freshwater aquariums nitrates should be kept below 50 pm at all times, preferably below 25 ppm. If you are breeding fish, or are battling algae growth, keep nitrates below 10 ppm.

I dunno...i'll wait and see what happens or until someone tells me to do something diff.

 

[librarygirl]

Well nitrates, as far as I know, are kept low by you doing weekly water changes once the tank is cycled. The reason to do weekly water changes are to 1) keep nitrates low and 2) replenish minerals in the water that the fish use up. I'm not sure how/why they are dropping on their own. I've sent Eco23 a PM and linked to this thread asking for his help. Maybe he can shed some light where I can't.

 

[eco23]

+1 to Librarygirl

Are you recording the nitrAte test results at the 5 minute mark? (and of course shaking the #2 bottle for 30 seconds and the entire tube for a solid minute). The nitrAte test is definitely tricky, and if the timing is off or they're not shaken enough you get results all over the board.

The big pwc you did obviously lowered them, but unless there's LOTS of live plants, they won't be going down on their own or holding steady while you're cycling at 2-4ppm. The only way nitrAtes are lowered in a tank is from pwc's or plants using them as nutrients. Technically there's a third way...denitrifying bacteria will convert nitrAte into nitrogen gas...but it's a slow process, and in an aquarium nitrAte will always be produced faster than it is removed by anaerobic bacteria. I've heard it rumored that super high no2 can skew no3 test results...but I've never seen or heard of an example of it happening.

 

[pdw1731]

My son reminded me that i actually did 2 massive water changes in the last 2 weeks to get my no2 down to readable levels.

tomorrow, i will redo the test and shake the heck out of the bottles beforehand and then do the same to the vials.

Wish me luck and thank you both for helping me with this.

 

[librarygirl]

Good luck! Looking forward to tomorrow's update.

 

[pdw1731]

ok, after shaking vigorously for what seemed like an eternity, this mornings readings are:

.5ppm ammo
still between 2-5 nitrite (still? I'm trying to avoid another pwc...should i worry?)
160 nitrate

pdw....fishless cycling since Aug 1 2011

 

[alex07]

ok, after shaking vigorously for what seemed like an eternity, this mornings readings are:

.5ppm ammo
still between 2-5 nitrite (still? I'm trying to avoid another pwc...should i worry?)
160 nitrate

pdw....fishless cycling since Aug 1 2011

Raise the ammo back up

 

[pdw1731]

Raise the ammo back up

done but forgot to post it. thanks for lookin out though

 

[librarygirl]

ok, after shaking vigorously for what seemed like an eternity, this mornings readings are:

.5ppm ammo
still between 2-5 nitrite (still? I'm trying to avoid another pwc...should i worry?)
160 nitrate

pdw....fishless cycling since Aug 1 2011

You should be nearing the end. I wouldn't do any more pwc yet. Let's see what it does on its own. Just test daily and post here. How high are you dosing the ammonia?

 

[pdw1731]

i'm adding 10ml every morning which is giving me a reading of just a tad darker green than 2ppm

 

[alex07]

i'm adding 10ml every morning which is giving me a reading of just a tad darker green than 2ppm

Good, just dont starve the bacteria. Don't forget to continue testing for the ph as well.

 

[pdw1731]

Good, just dont starve the bacteria. Don't forget to continue testing for the ph as well.

holding steady at 7.5

 

[alex07]

holding steady at 7.5

If you see it starts dropping do a 50% water change.

 

[pdw1731]

Morning librarygirl

pH - 7.5
ammo - 0 (redosed 10ml this morning)
no2 - 5 (GET THE FRONT DOOR!!!)
no3 - 160

Hey, silly question but eh, humor me...if pwc's are effective at ridding the tank of ammo, no2 and lowering no3 drastically and one such as me has the chance to do very frequent pwc's (I work from home every day), then couldn't you 'get away' with not cycling? That is the point of cycling to establish the bio filter, right? Wouldn't the bio filter still happen over time either way?