Setting up a 20 gallon / will be a cycle log!

[picture_117]

Well it looks like we're at the same place!

 

[brittanykluss]

you too!!!!!?????

i changed my tank up a bit!

 

[picture_117]

Yeah!!! Ammo going down in less than 24hrs but nitrite and nitrate still super high!!

Nice!! Lots of hiding spots! Here's mine! Bubble bar is gonna be moved or taken out though.

 

[brittanykluss]

Yeah!!! Ammo going down in less than 24hrs but nitrite and nitrate still super high!!

Nice!! Lots of hiding spots! Here's mine! Bubble bar is gonna be moved or taken out though.

When I had a bubble bar I put in the back of the tank, and the fish loveeeeeeeeeeeeeedddddddd it! I had 2 cory cats, 2 black mollys , 3 guppies and they all swam in the bubbles and played it was really cute... yours is really long!!! mines like 2 1/2 inches and i stuck it under a rock :}

yah i got a lot of hiding places because i dont want any issues with my bolivian ram and dwarf gourami...

i kinda dont know if i wanna get a bolivian ram anymore! i think i wanna get a different kinda dwarf chicilid theres so many!!!

 

[picture_117]

Yeah ill probably move it to the back.
I want a GBR or some kind of cichlid!! I got a new 10 gallon so one of my gouramis is gonna stay in the old 10g I have and the other gourami is going in the new 10g!
So now I have room for a GBR or cichlid! I dont know what yet! They both look cool!!

 

[brittanykluss]

i heard gbr were kinda hard to take care of and they needed like really awesome water all the time. so i was thinking of a bolivian ram but... theres so many different kinds of small cichilid... im pretty sure anything that says apistogramma before it is a dwarf cichilid.. and theres soooooo manyyyyy different kinds!!!

 

[picture_117]

There is a bunch of cichlids! I needa do some research!!!

 

[brittanykluss]

There is a bunch of cichlids! I needa do some research!!!

did you see them all???? lol i was like whoaaa theres like 50 of them!

 

[picture_117]

I have a book explaining most of the freshwater fish and there's a bunch!! I'm pretty sure there's new ones since the book was made in 2006! And I need to make trips to the LFS! Looks like we might be done at the same time with our tanks!

 

[brittanykluss]

I hope so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[brittanykluss]

so my ammo is going to 0 over night i dose it to 4 ppm and it goes to 0 in less than 24 hrs but nitrites and nitrates are still off the chart

 

[librarygirl]

so my ammo is going to 0 over night i dose it to 4 ppm and it goes to 0 in less than 24 hrs but nitrites and nitrates are still off the chart

That's definitely a good sign. The nitrites and nitrates being high are normal.

 

[brittanykluss]

That's definitely a good sign. The nitrites and nitrates being high are normal.

should I do a pwc?

 

[lapintoxic]

Hi Brittanykluss,

I am exactly in the same process and my Nitrites & Nitrates are way high. I did multiple PWC (50% - 90%) since my Nitrite started getting high. The PWC did not do much because the Nitrites and Nitrates will be way high almost instantaneously.

I have done 3 PWC since my Nitrites and Nitrates are high (in about 3 days) just because I bought new decoration and start re-organizing everything before I put fish.
You can definitely do a PWC if you want too since it won't affect your cycle but if you do one, I would recommend doing a big 80%-90%.

It is my first cycle and I am not experimented but I have been following the article about the fishless cycle and I am pretty sure that you are doing just fine. the only difference I might have is that I am adding 4ppm of pure ammonia twice a day because it is consume in less than 12 hours.

Anyway, good luck with your cycle and I hope I provided you some help here.

Lapin

 

[pdw1731]

Hi Brittanykluss,

I am exactly in the same process and my Nitrites & Nitrates are way high. I did multiple PWC (50% - 90%) since my Nitrite started getting high. The PWC did not do much because the Nitrites and Nitrates will be way high almost instantaneously.

I have done 3 PWC since my Nitrites and Nitrates are high (in about 3 days) just because I bought new decoration and start re-organizing everything before I put fish.
You can definitely do a PWC if you want too since it won't affect your cycle but if you do one, I would recommend doing a big 80%-90%.

It is my first cycle and I am not experimented but I have been following the article about the fishless cycle and I am pretty sure that you are doing just fine. the only difference I might have is that I am adding 4ppm of pure ammonia twice a day because it is consume in less than 12 hours.

Anyway, good luck with your cycle and I hope I provided you some help here.

Lapin

But doesn't dosing to 4 every time actually create the high nitrIte scenario? I thought the point was to dose to 4ppm in order to create a bio-load that was capable of handling anything that a normal fish load would create. But the downside is that 4pp of ammo creates a lot of nitrItes which create a lot of nitrAtes. Therefore, we would want to slowly decrease the ammo dose to 2ppm and then 1 ppm because, even if we have to redose ammo every 12 hours or so, we've created so many bb's that handling a normal fish-load is a walk in the park. Either that or dose to 4ppm every other day and even if it falls to 0, it'll be fine. That give the nitrItes time to go away instead of us adding more. Someone tell me if i'm off base here?...

 

[picture_117]

But doesn't dosing to 4 every time actually create the high nitrIte scenario? I thought the point was to dose to 4ppm in order to create a bio-load that was capable of handling anything that a normal fish load would create. But the downside is that 4pp of ammo creates a lot of nitrItes which create a lot of nitrAtes. Therefore, we would want to slowly decrease the ammo dose to 2ppm and then 1 ppm because, even if we have to redose ammo every 12 hours or so, we've created so many bb's that handling a normal fish-load is a walk in the park. Either that or dose to 4ppm every other day and even if it falls to 0, it'll be fine. That give the nitrItes time to go away instead of us adding more. Someone tell me if i'm off base here?...

I'd like to know this to, my ammo is gone in about 12 hours and no2/3 are off the charts and haven't gone down. PWC don't do anything either. I thought it was because I dose it to about 4ppm of ammo each time it's gone.

 

[pdw1731]

I'd like to know this to, my ammo is gone in about 12 hours and no2/3 are off the charts and haven't gone down. PWC don't do anything either. I thought it was because I dose it to about 4ppm of ammo each time it's gone.

Try this, do a large pwc, dang near all of it, (dont forget to dechlorinate...) and take readings. if the numbers are cool, well, cool! If not, do another one (and another till you get them down). Once you have 0 ammo and close to 0 no2 (i ignored no3 at this point), only dose to 2ppm. Now, that 2ppm will probably be gone in about 12 hours, but test if you want. You should get a no2 reading but a low one, maybe no more than .5 hopefully (depends on how low your initial reading was). You will be tempted to redose but don't do it!! Let it dance the dance until the next morning. You should, at that time, still have 0 ammo of course, but 0 no2 as well. no3 will start ramping up but that's an easy fix. Your journey resembles mine and this is what i did and i've been cycled for 3 days now. Today i'm doing a pwc, dechlore, plant straightening and temp reducing. Cuz tomorrow, i'm having company

 

[librarygirl]

You can do pwc during a fishless cycle but they aren't necessary unless the nitrites have been crazy high for a while. My nitrites were 5+ for almost 3 weeks before they came down and I did one pwc during that time.

As for the dosing, you only want to dose once in 24 hours, even if you test the water at 12 hour intervals.

The 4 PPM dose is designed to be overkill; unless you massively overstock your tank, the fish you put in won't create 4 ppm of ammonia. This way you can stock your tank at once if you want. However if you start dosing lower, the bacteria will adjust to that lower level and if you put too many fish in at the end of the cycle you could experience a mini-cycle. It's ok to dose to 1-2 for a few days to let the nitrite bacteria catch up, but I then I'd start dosing it back up to 4 again. You don't want the bacteria to get lazy and get used to the smaller dose.

 

[pdw1731]

You can do pwc during a fishless cycle but they aren't necessary unless the nitrites have been crazy high for a while. My nitrites were 5+ for almost 3 weeks before they came down and I did one pwc during that time.

As for the dosing, you only want to dose once in 24 hours, even if you test the water at 12 hour intervals.

The 4 PPM dose is designed to be overkill; unless you massively overstock your tank, the fish you put in won't create 4 ppm of ammonia. This way you can stock your tank at once if you want. However if you start dosing lower, the bacteria will adjust to that lower level and if you put too many fish in at the end of the cycle you could experience a mini-cycle. It's ok to dose to 1-2 for a few days to let the nitrite bacteria catch up, but I then I'd start dosing it back up to 4 again. You don't want the bacteria to get lazy and get used to the smaller dose.

lazy bac not good. I hear you and I understand!!