boadams87
Aquarium Advice Addict
sammybelle said:
Did u dose amm back up yet?
Retarting fishless cycle from scratch...help!
- Thread starter sammybelle
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Did u dose amm back up yet?
sammybelle
Aquarium Advice Regular
I am wondering if I have any reason to believe that things will get moving faster this time around. Do you know if a 4.0ppm level of ammonia is harmful to live plants?
sammybelle
Aquarium Advice Regular
I only did the water change a couple of hours ago, after 10 days of the ammonia level not moving down.
sammybelle
Aquarium Advice Regular
I did not yet dose the ammonia back up. Trying to find the calculator I used last time.
boadams87
Aquarium Advice Addict
It'll start trust me, I dont have plants but have been told plants LOVE a cycling tank so don't worry.
boadams87
Aquarium Advice Addict
sammybelle
Aquarium Advice Regular
Thanks for all your help! Wish me luck!
boadams87
Aquarium Advice Addict
Ill be here. Bed will be calling in a while.
boadams87
Aquarium Advice Addict
When u did the water changes did u add dechlorinator everytime?
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Can I ask what type of amm you are using? Your testing with an API kit, correct? When you did your water change, did you dose conditioner via bucket or to your tank with a water changer?
boadams87
Aquarium Advice Addict
I had the ace hardware amm. I use the API test. I have a python water changer, I dose it my tank right b4 I reverse the flow of water. I use PRIME it's the best. It took my water 6 weeks to complete.
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
sammybelle
Aquarium Advice Regular
jlk, I am using the Ace Hardware Janitorial strength ammonia. I added about 6 drops of prime to every 3 gallons of tap water, mixed in a 5 gal bucket and then dumped into tank. I did this as many times as was necessary to refill the tank. And yes, it is the API Master Test Kit. Any other suggestions? Thanks.
boadams87, tonight's water change was my first and only water change since I began cycling my tank upon someone's advice that I do a water change to restore buffers. BTW, I keep referring to "someone" because I was posting my woes to other people's threads before I realized I should be starting my own thread, so I got advice from various people/various places whose names I don't recall!
boadams87, tonight's water change was my first and only water change since I began cycling my tank upon someone's advice that I do a water change to restore buffers. BTW, I keep referring to "someone" because I was posting my woes to other people's threads before I realized I should be starting my own thread, so I got advice from various people/various places whose names I don't recall!
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Thanks, Sammybelle! Ok, so i am on the same pg as you, you originally started this cycle on 1/31, correct? I do not think you are doing anything wrong here other than needing some patience. Can i ask if you are on city water? What type of seeded media did you get from your lfs/how much? Typically, it can take 2-3wks to first see initial drops in ammonia. Because you used the Simple Start product initially (i am not familiar with this product), its possible it may have not been sufficient to dechlorinate your water. Its also possible that you have a very high level of chlorine or chloramines in your water if you are on city water. I would add an extra dose of Prime to your tank to be on the safe side for now. You can contact your local water authority & find out the levels of disinfectant they are adding to rule in or out this possibility. Besides this, i would just have a bit of patience & keep us posted!!
librarygirl
Look It Up
I agree with Jlk; it can take a bit to see the first drop in ammonia. You dechlorinated the water first, temp is up (is it still at 82? If you can bump it up to 86 that would help a bit more), you're using the right ammonia. You're using tap water, correct?
Does the water flow from the filter cause splashing on top of the water or do you have an air stone? Bacteria love oxygen and either of these would be sufficient but if the surface of the tank is stagnant (no agitation) that can slow things down some.
What type of seeded media did you get? Was it from a tank with fish? DId it stay wet until you got it home? If so then it should help so leave it in.
Let's just wait a bit more and see what happens over the next week. Hopefully you'll see some movement.
Does the water flow from the filter cause splashing on top of the water or do you have an air stone? Bacteria love oxygen and either of these would be sufficient but if the surface of the tank is stagnant (no agitation) that can slow things down some.
What type of seeded media did you get? Was it from a tank with fish? DId it stay wet until you got it home? If so then it should help so leave it in.
Let's just wait a bit more and see what happens over the next week. Hopefully you'll see some movement.
sammybelle
Aquarium Advice Regular
librarygirl: the seeded media I got was one of those cartridges which was pretty gunky and has what I think is carbon still inside it. But what I am not sure of is what was in the tank it came from, now that you mention it! As I look back, it came from a half-filled, but running, tank. I suppose it's unlikely that there were actually FISH in there! Hmmm...the stuff was definitely wet and I even tried to keep it warm for the ride home; I put in into the tank shortly after I dosed the tank with Prime and allowed it to circulate. Now I'm wondering if I should get rid of the seeded material, I hope I haven't done more harm than good!
jlk, I am using city tap water. I have seen water quality reports in the past where all contaminant readings were pretty good, but I'll have to find out for sure when I call the water dept. tomorrow.
I redosed the tank with ammonia last night. My ammo reading after the WC and before re-dosing was 0.5 ppm. I used the calculator and it said to use 7.xx ml of ammonia. Since I already had the 0.5 reading, I thought maybe I should use less to start off, so I added 5ml which seems to have brought it right back up to 4ppm. I did this only around 9 hours ago, so I'll retest tomorrow. Thanks, everyone!
jlk, I am using city tap water. I have seen water quality reports in the past where all contaminant readings were pretty good, but I'll have to find out for sure when I call the water dept. tomorrow.
I redosed the tank with ammonia last night. My ammo reading after the WC and before re-dosing was 0.5 ppm. I used the calculator and it said to use 7.xx ml of ammonia. Since I already had the 0.5 reading, I thought maybe I should use less to start off, so I added 5ml which seems to have brought it right back up to 4ppm. I did this only around 9 hours ago, so I'll retest tomorrow. Thanks, everyone!
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
This information def helps- the 'seeded' filter may have just been simply a dirty filter if there were no fish in the tank to feed the bacteria with ammonia. No harm done! Keep us posted & dont hesitate to ask any questions!
sammybelle
Aquarium Advice Regular
Wow, I think I'm finally making some progress!
On 2/11 I did an 80% WC because ammonia wasn't moving from 4.0 after 10 days or so. After that WC I dosed the ammonia back up to 4.0, so here's what's been happening since:
2/13 ammonia 2.0ppm, dosed back up to 4.0
2/14 ammonia 1.0, nitrite greater than 0 but less than 0.25. Dosed ammonia back up to 4.0
2/15 (a couple of hours ago) ammonia 0.5, nitrite 2.0, pH 6.4. Did 50% water change to restore pH to 7.2. Dosed ammonia back up to 4.0.
I can't believe I had no movement on anything for 10 days and now things are really starting to happen! Am I on the right track? It almost seems too good to be true now.
On 2/11 I did an 80% WC because ammonia wasn't moving from 4.0 after 10 days or so. After that WC I dosed the ammonia back up to 4.0, so here's what's been happening since:
2/13 ammonia 2.0ppm, dosed back up to 4.0
2/14 ammonia 1.0, nitrite greater than 0 but less than 0.25. Dosed ammonia back up to 4.0
2/15 (a couple of hours ago) ammonia 0.5, nitrite 2.0, pH 6.4. Did 50% water change to restore pH to 7.2. Dosed ammonia back up to 4.0.
I can't believe I had no movement on anything for 10 days and now things are really starting to happen! Am I on the right track? It almost seems too good to be true now.
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Your doing a great job so far!!! Im glad you have seen great progression! Your right on track & your almost done with the amm>nitrite phase. The nitrite to nitrate phase does take most the most patience, so hang in there! I would start checking your nitrates as well to see if theres any increase (compare them to your tap level of nitrates). Just make sure you continue to monitor your ph for drops & do big water changes with temp-matched, conditioned water to re-establish your buffers if you notice your ph start to drop. Good work & keep us posted!!
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sammybelle
Aquarium Advice Regular
My tap nitrAtes are 0 and my tank nitrAtes are 10 or 20 ppm! There's hardly a difference in color between 10 and 20 on my API color chart, but definitely not up to 30.
So, is it the pH that primarily dictates the next water change? If the nitrites and nitrates get really high but pH remains steady at about neutral (I dunno, maybe this is an impossible scenario) should I still do a 50% WC? Or only when the pH starts to drop?
So, is it the pH that primarily dictates the next water change? If the nitrites and nitrates get really high but pH remains steady at about neutral (I dunno, maybe this is an impossible scenario) should I still do a 50% WC? Or only when the pH starts to drop?
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