starting a fishless cycle

[awilson133]

ammo 1.0
nitrites .50
ph 6.6 (
I cant do a water change I have to go to work..will it be okay till I get home?

 

[jlk]

No problem! It will have to wait until you get home! I def think you will benefit from some cr coral when you are able to get some- your ph shouldnt be crashing this quickly.

 

[awilson133]

I didnt dose the ammo either..i probably should have. im going to get some cc on my lunch break hopefully petland carries it. I dont see why they wouldnt.

 

[jlk]

Thanks fine that you didnt dose amm! Your bb can actually go a few days with no amm (some say as long as a week). By not dosing, it will hopefully keep your ph where it is right now. The nitrifiying bacteria use the buffers in your water during the conversion process- with low level of amm in your tank, there will be less conversion happening & fewer buffers used.

 

[awilson133]

oh okay cool!

 

[awilson133]

I called "the aquarium" a small local marine shop and they have crushed coral. so I sent my mom there to pick up 15 lb bag. so ill set it in tonight!

 

[jlk]

Just make sure you do a water change first. We want your ph in its normal range & the cr coral will help keep it there. It will be a bit of tril & error to figure out the correct amount because we are aiming for stability (vs raising your ph).

 

[awilson133]

okay. so should I dose ammo before the water change or after?

 

[jlk]

Dose amm after your water change.

 

[awilson133]

lucky everything stayed where it was. I also got caribsea geomarine aragonite fromula florida crushed coral. now my ph sits at 7.0 im fine with that cause thats what my 55 gal sits at

 

[jlk]

Sounds good!

 

[awilson133]

it made my water cloudy

 

[jlk]

Dont worry about it!!

 

[awilson133]

okay! I dosed my ammo to 4.0
nitrites 1.0
ph 7.6 it actually raised cause I did a 30% water change to clear the water. so thats good.

 

[jlk]

Sounds good! Keep us posted!

 

[awilson133]

ammo 0
nitrites 1.0
ph 6.8 or 7.0 there color is really close...water change?? more crushed coral?

 

[jlk]

Some more cr coral should help (rinse it well first). Dose your amm & lets see how tommorrow looks!

 

[awilson133]

how big of a water change should I do?

 

[jlk]

A 50% change should bring it into the low 7's & hopefully some more coral will keep it there!

 

[awilson133]

okay I just got it to 7.5 added more cc. I cant get anymore in my filter..lol. how much should I dose? 2.0 or 4.0?