happygirl65
Aquarium Advice Addict
OK, I have been here for a while reading and planning and getting lots of great and helpful advice.
I made a plan to fishless cycle, which got shot down pretty hard in my family. (Some of you may remember from prev. posts.)
Not only due to impatience on the part of my husband and kids, but due to the "wealth of experience" my mother in law has had with fish. I know what you are thinking.....here we go....I thought the same thing. I would just smile and nod telling her how happy I was that she never lost any fish during her cycle but all the while thinking she was NUTS when she said that our water already had all the biological colonies necessary for the nitrogen cycle. She insisted and I doubted trying my hardest not to tell her she was full of it.
After averting the "wintering her goldfish" incident and feeling on track again I filled my tank and tested my parameters. I was ready to start the fishless cycle as planned when my hubby tells me he doesn't want to wait....some of you may remember from earlier posts...I had him read up on the nitrogen cycle and he understood it but told me that I am over thinking all of this and that we should just do the cycle like we have in the past with a few hardy fish citing his mom's experience once again. I felt like I was pushing a boulder up a hill at this point with them.
I then posted and got some advice and decided to go ahead and get a few small fish and as many plants as I could afford to put in there to help speed things along. This included purchasing some ammo lock just incase the ammonia got out of control...which I expected due to my previous experience in years past. And I was all ready to go, daily water changes, etc and had prepared myself up for a bumpy ride.
I have had some interesting results and wanted to put this out there for you experienced folks that may be able to shed some light on what may be happening here.
OK so the basics, 55 gal tank, temp is 75, magnum 350 cannister filter and two 14 in. bubble walls along the back of the tank. Stock lighting (40W total of grow bulbs currently...with a 2x65w PC with 50/50 bulbs on the way)
The tank was running for about 1 week before any fish or plants were added. Params were as expected no chlorine (mt spring water collected from one of many small natural springs on our land, collected and pumped much like a well.) 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate, or at least they were not detectable. ph 7.4 in the tank and hard water (no accurate test available to me as of yet on hardness but we dont have a problem with any mineral deposits on household fixtures)
Day 1
I went to town and got some plants and some fish. And a brand NEW API master test kit.
4 cherry barbs
3 lemon tetras
1 large potted crypt Red Wendtii
1 potted narrow leaf chain sword
1 potted melon sword
There were two more plants but I sent them back when I realized they were bog plants
I then planted them in the gravel (which was from the nearby riverbed, washed very well before putting in the tank) placing flourish tabs under each one. I tested the params with no detectable levels of anything yet. I floated the bag and added them according to suggested procedures making sure not to add any bag water to my tank. I then added some "bacteria supplement" from a bottle I bought at Petsmart and some stress coat. This was about 6 pm
Day 2
I tested the water the next morning with no detectable ammonia, nitrite or nitrate.
Day 3
In the morning I tested ammonia only deciding that until I started seeing ammonia there would be no nitrite or nitrate. Then I went over to my mother in law's house, she gave me the filter pad I requested (I finally bought her a new one since she kept just wanting me to scoop water out of the tank and just use that to seed my tank which she thought was completely unnecessary anyway) So I put it in a gallon ziploc bag and took it straight home and squeezed all the water out of it into the bag then dumped the "squeezins" into my tank. Keeping just enough of it out to test HER water just for curiosity sake...there was 0ammonia, 0 nitrites and 5ppm on nitrate. This seemed to confirm to me that she was indeed completely cycled as I had expected. My params were unchanged but once again, I only tested my tank for ammonia.
Day 4
Today, first thing about 18 hours from when I added her "filter squeezins" I tested my ammonia....still 0 I have been expecting SOME ammonia but so far none that the test can pick up and I have been testing it twice just to be sure....and then for curiosity sake I continued....nitrite tested .25 ppm and nitrate tested at 5ppm.
So now I am thinking What the heck happened? Am I further into the cycle than I thought? I have been feeding the fish twice a day, just what they can eat in 2 min.
Could my mother in law have been correct about our water and the speed at which our tanks cycle because of it? In some of my research of the nitrogen cycle it did indicate that the same process occurs in the earth as well as our fish tanks. Her explanation was that since our method of filtering our water happens naturally via mother nature and our water percolating through the ground and then into our water collectors, and since this "ground" I speak of is heavily forested land, all the necessary bacteria for the cycle is already present and actively processing these nutrients. Does this sound completely off the wall? I am still trying to wrap my mind around it and am now more curious than ever. Or could it be that the three plants I added made that much of an impact on the ammonia levels?
And at what point should I do a PWC? I know to do it once a week after the cycle is complete but what levels of nitrite are acceptable while cycling with fish and how often should I test it...twice a day? more or less? Back when I had a tank before testing for nitrite and nitrate were not a part of the "master test kit" and I was completely unaware of it.
All of the fish are thriving, they love their new home and get along well together. And the plants all look fantastic....they appear to be adjusting well to their new environment.
If my ammonia doesn't rise, my nitrite declines and nitrate rises more over the next week...I might be forced to conclude she was right and complete the school of lemon tetras next time I go to town. I guess this is one time that I wouldn't mind my mother in law being right...lol.
Any insight/input/suggestions are welcome.
I made a plan to fishless cycle, which got shot down pretty hard in my family. (Some of you may remember from prev. posts.)
Not only due to impatience on the part of my husband and kids, but due to the "wealth of experience" my mother in law has had with fish. I know what you are thinking.....here we go....I thought the same thing. I would just smile and nod telling her how happy I was that she never lost any fish during her cycle but all the while thinking she was NUTS when she said that our water already had all the biological colonies necessary for the nitrogen cycle. She insisted and I doubted trying my hardest not to tell her she was full of it.
After averting the "wintering her goldfish" incident and feeling on track again I filled my tank and tested my parameters. I was ready to start the fishless cycle as planned when my hubby tells me he doesn't want to wait....some of you may remember from earlier posts...I had him read up on the nitrogen cycle and he understood it but told me that I am over thinking all of this and that we should just do the cycle like we have in the past with a few hardy fish citing his mom's experience once again. I felt like I was pushing a boulder up a hill at this point with them.
I then posted and got some advice and decided to go ahead and get a few small fish and as many plants as I could afford to put in there to help speed things along. This included purchasing some ammo lock just incase the ammonia got out of control...which I expected due to my previous experience in years past. And I was all ready to go, daily water changes, etc and had prepared myself up for a bumpy ride.
I have had some interesting results and wanted to put this out there for you experienced folks that may be able to shed some light on what may be happening here.
OK so the basics, 55 gal tank, temp is 75, magnum 350 cannister filter and two 14 in. bubble walls along the back of the tank. Stock lighting (40W total of grow bulbs currently...with a 2x65w PC with 50/50 bulbs on the way)
The tank was running for about 1 week before any fish or plants were added. Params were as expected no chlorine (mt spring water collected from one of many small natural springs on our land, collected and pumped much like a well.) 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate, or at least they were not detectable. ph 7.4 in the tank and hard water (no accurate test available to me as of yet on hardness but we dont have a problem with any mineral deposits on household fixtures)
Day 1
I went to town and got some plants and some fish. And a brand NEW API master test kit.
4 cherry barbs
3 lemon tetras
1 large potted crypt Red Wendtii
1 potted narrow leaf chain sword
1 potted melon sword
There were two more plants but I sent them back when I realized they were bog plants
I then planted them in the gravel (which was from the nearby riverbed, washed very well before putting in the tank) placing flourish tabs under each one. I tested the params with no detectable levels of anything yet. I floated the bag and added them according to suggested procedures making sure not to add any bag water to my tank. I then added some "bacteria supplement" from a bottle I bought at Petsmart and some stress coat. This was about 6 pm
Day 2
I tested the water the next morning with no detectable ammonia, nitrite or nitrate.
Day 3
In the morning I tested ammonia only deciding that until I started seeing ammonia there would be no nitrite or nitrate. Then I went over to my mother in law's house, she gave me the filter pad I requested (I finally bought her a new one since she kept just wanting me to scoop water out of the tank and just use that to seed my tank which she thought was completely unnecessary anyway) So I put it in a gallon ziploc bag and took it straight home and squeezed all the water out of it into the bag then dumped the "squeezins" into my tank. Keeping just enough of it out to test HER water just for curiosity sake...there was 0ammonia, 0 nitrites and 5ppm on nitrate. This seemed to confirm to me that she was indeed completely cycled as I had expected. My params were unchanged but once again, I only tested my tank for ammonia.
Day 4
Today, first thing about 18 hours from when I added her "filter squeezins" I tested my ammonia....still 0 I have been expecting SOME ammonia but so far none that the test can pick up and I have been testing it twice just to be sure....and then for curiosity sake I continued....nitrite tested .25 ppm and nitrate tested at 5ppm.
So now I am thinking What the heck happened? Am I further into the cycle than I thought? I have been feeding the fish twice a day, just what they can eat in 2 min.
Could my mother in law have been correct about our water and the speed at which our tanks cycle because of it? In some of my research of the nitrogen cycle it did indicate that the same process occurs in the earth as well as our fish tanks. Her explanation was that since our method of filtering our water happens naturally via mother nature and our water percolating through the ground and then into our water collectors, and since this "ground" I speak of is heavily forested land, all the necessary bacteria for the cycle is already present and actively processing these nutrients. Does this sound completely off the wall? I am still trying to wrap my mind around it and am now more curious than ever. Or could it be that the three plants I added made that much of an impact on the ammonia levels?
And at what point should I do a PWC? I know to do it once a week after the cycle is complete but what levels of nitrite are acceptable while cycling with fish and how often should I test it...twice a day? more or less? Back when I had a tank before testing for nitrite and nitrate were not a part of the "master test kit" and I was completely unaware of it.
All of the fish are thriving, they love their new home and get along well together. And the plants all look fantastic....they appear to be adjusting well to their new environment.
If my ammonia doesn't rise, my nitrite declines and nitrate rises more over the next week...I might be forced to conclude she was right and complete the school of lemon tetras next time I go to town. I guess this is one time that I wouldn't mind my mother in law being right...lol.
Any insight/input/suggestions are welcome.