phishfriend
Aquarium Advice Addict
Very good! Your almost there!
Ok so 3 days ago I added a huge piece of driftwood to the tank the next day my nitrites dropped in half from 5 to 2.5. Yesterday dropped even lower today GONE! I did a 75 pwc yesterday none today my water is super cloudy(I'm guessing from the driftwood) but I could be wrong? So here is my question
Ph 7.8
ammonia is at 0
Nitrite is 0
And here is what I'm worried about
Nitrate is at 0
Does this mean cycled tank or something else because of the driftwood? I'm freaking out and don't know if it should be good or bad freaking out? HELP!!
All sounds good
When.i 1st cycled my.tank,fishless cycle and i had no nitrates at the end of mine and i never did !!!!
I have real.plants in my 10 gallon.
So to me it looks like you are cycled congrats
Plus did you.boil your wood quite a few times then soak it in cool water for about a week because they can leak tannins.my.wood is mopani i have one piece in my tank and during all the boils loads of brown tea like looking water,it still can leach but mine is not too bad
All sounds good
When.i 1st cycled my.tank,fishless cycle and i had no nitrates at the end of mine and i never did !!!!
I have real.plants in my 10 gallon.
So to me it looks like you are cycled congrats [/QUOTE
Thanks!!! I hope it's real and not just from the wood. Now if I could just get my other one to start. I'm fish less cycling that one. I put ammonia in it on Thanksgiving Day and I haven't had to add any and I still don't have nitrites yet :-( I don't know if there's something wrong or that I just don't have any patients.
Ok so 3 days ago I added a huge piece of driftwood to the tank the next day my nitrites dropped in half from 5 to 2.5. Yesterday dropped even lower today GONE! I did a 75 pwc yesterday none today my water is super cloudy(I'm guessing from the driftwood) but I could be wrong? So here is my question
Ph 7.8
ammonia is at 0
Nitrite is 0
And here is what I'm worried about
Nitrate is at 0
Does this mean cycled tank or something else because of the driftwood? I'm freaking out and don't know if it should be good or bad freaking out? HELP!!
0 ammonia and nitrites are great; if they stay that way without water changes then you're cycled. I wouldn't worry about the 0 nitrate; the last large water change you did probably knocked them out. They should rise some again in time; it'll depend on how high your bioload is (how much fish you have). I have a 40 gal about halfway stocked and I only get about 5 ppms nitrate between water changes (my tank is pretty heavily planted though but even before that my nitrates never rose too much between water changes, 10 max).
The cloudiness could be from the driftwood or/and from disturbing the substrate when adding the wood. It should settle if it's from the substrate. If it's tannins from the wood (if the wood is tea colored) they'll go away eventually but depending on the type of wood it can leach for some time; water change will remove the tannins temporarily. Tannins are not harmful to fish (in fact some fish even like it).
I wouldn't worry too much yet. You had 5 nitrite on the 27th and then they went down to 2.5 on Dec 3 and on the 4th they dropped more and yesterday they were gone. It could be that the nitrite phase was ending. In between you added driftwood which probably disturbed stuff on the substrate (fish waste and leftover food) which can sometimes cause a spike in toxin levels. Hopefully it'll even out and then drop again but we'll see what happens. Try not to let the nitrite get higher than 1 before you do a water change; high nitrite levels are pretty dangerous for fish just like ammonia and most dechlorinators will only detoxify nitrite to a certain point (usually 1 ppms). Just keep an eye on things and we'll see what happens in the next few days.
Thank you so much for the help ill check it in the morning again and see where I am and keep everyone posted. I really hope it drops again. I vacuumed the bottom some today while I was doing the water change so that might be it??
I am going to cry!!! Woke up and tested
Ammonia. 25
Nitrite 5.0
Nitrate 0
I just did a water change not even 15 hours ago. I know I've got to many fish so I could move some I've got a 30 gallon that I was trying to fishless cycle and it's not doing anything I put ammonia in on Thanksgivings day and it's still what I put it with no nitrites. The fish in have in the 50 gallon is
1 chocolate cichlid
1 pleco the black one
5 gromies
2 blood parrots
1 golden severum
And a red cichlid can't remember the name of him. Would it be worth it to move anything to the 30 gallon and start fish in cycling the 30 gallon? I'm at my wits end right now with both of them.
I am going to cry!!! Woke up and tested
Ammonia. 25
Nitrite 5.0
Nitrate 0
I just did a water change not even 15 hours ago. I know I've got to many fish so I could move some I've got a 30 gallon that I was trying to fishless cycle and it's not doing anything I put ammonia in on Thanksgivings day and it's still what I put it with no nitrites. The fish in have in the 50 gallon is
1 chocolate cichlid
1 pleco the black one
5 gromies
2 blood parrots
1 golden severum
And a red cichlid can't remember the name of him. Would it be worth it to move anything to the 30 gallon and start fish in cycling the 30 gallon? I'm at my wits end right now with both of them.
Ooops apologies didn't notice your nitrite level,i think you are heading in right direction,a 50 gallon is a decent size but it depends on size of your fish whether you are overstocked or not
My golden severum is fully grown 3 or 4 inches he's a big boy. My parrots are between small and medium. The chocolate cichlid is nedium sized and everyone else are small. It just sucks I appreciate all the help just frustrating I've had this tank up before and not had this many problems. Of course I didn't have a test kit and obviously didn't know what I was doing just throw the fish in vac once a month and totally clean the HOB filter once a month with hot water never did a water change just added water as it evaporated. Of course that why I never kept a fish over 6 months except for the 2 Oscars I had. Trying to do it the right way and it's hard.
Ooops apologies didn't notice your nitrite level,i think you are heading in right direction,a 50 gallon is a decent size but it depends on size of your fish whether you are overstocked or not
What kind of sub material is best for plants? I have sand is this okay and how deep does it need to be my 50 gallon is about and inch and a half my 30 about an inch.