1st cycle

[BGK21]

Filter came in today. Plan on setting up today or tomorrow.

As for the cycle, 24 hours and nitrites are 2. I expect they will be 0 in the morning.

Temp 82
Ph 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 2
Nitrate 160

 

[BGK21]

As i expected, after 36 hrs nitrites are at 0. Everything else is stable. I will dose to 2.5 and hope by this time tomorrow im at 0 again.

 

[BGK21]

Almost 24 hours and nitrites still at 2.

Temp 82
Ammonia 0
Ph maybe 7.9
Nitrite 2
Nitrate 160 - just under

Ill give it till after work and see where i am. Should be 0 by then.

 

[jlk]

Let us know how things look later on!

 

[BGK21]

Finally home from work and as i expected.....
Ph 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate - ran out of bottle 1.....will follow up tomorrow. So 2.5 or 3?

 

[jlk]

We can assume the nitrates are crazy! Lets go for 3 & hope for the same numbers tomorrow!

 

[BGK21]

Thats what i was hoping for! All about progress

 

[BGK21]

About 20 hours later, nitrite between 0.25 - 0.50. I expect it to be 0 in the next hour or two. Does that mean 3.5?

 

[jlk]

Yep! Just keep a close eye on your ph- as the amm increases, your more likely to see a crash.

 

[BGK21]

Sounds good. I checked all the readings before dosing.
All stable, Ph 7.8 - 8.0. I thought it could be 7.4 so checked the low Ph and that was definitely over 7.6. I'll check throughout the day tomorrow to make sure there is no crash.

 

[BGK21]

Ph is crashing:
Its between 7.0 & 7.2.

Ammonia is 0 and nitrites are 2 after 16 hours

 

[jlk]

I was afraid this would happen. No reason to stress! Wc when you have a chance & redose. Your just about done!

 

[BGK21]

I figured that was the response. How big of a wc?

 

[jlk]

As big as possible to restore your buffers & get you through a few days of 4ppm without crash. Fish are around the corner!

 

[rotorhead22]

What kind if fish are you thinking of getting? If you measure your KG and GH they are probably low, I.e buffering capability. If you want to have a pH of about 8 then you will need to put in some crushed coral or Aragonite for your substrate.

 

[BGK21]

I was set on a black ghost knife but it seems nothing goes with them. Maybe some cichlids like firemouth or electric blue jack dempsey, or oddballs like freshwater eel and African butterfly, definitely a pleco.

 

[BGK21]

What is KG and GH?

 

[jlk]

Gh (general hardness) & kh (carbonate hardness).
I would not be concerned with these unless you had an issue with ph or plan on keeping some exotic/sensitive species. Crashes at the end of cycle are fairly common- your bb require lots of carbonates (kh- also called buffers) to process the large dose of ammonia. As they use up the buffers the result is your ph becomes unstable. If this becomes a daily issue, we can address it. Hope this helps!

 

[BGK21]

Ph has been stable for the most part. I have an infestation of snails though! I just spent 30 minutes trying to snatch all of the eggs....anyway, back to the cycle. All are consistent after 27 hours.

Temp 82
Ph 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 1
Nitrate 80

I expect the nitrite to reach 0 in the next couple of hours, no later than the morning. I will dose to 4 once it clears.

 

[rotorhead22]

You can read about some easy ways of catching snails...If I am not mistaken, you can put a piece of lettuce overnight in the aquarium and it draws all of the snails to it. Then just remove it.