50 gallon rebuild

[aoessand]

hi all well this is going to serve as my build log if thats alright. ive had my angles plus active filter in the tank for 3 days here is the results:


ph 8.2
ammonia 0.25
nitirite 0
nitrate 10

kind of worried about the high ph as at some point i would like to get some live bearers mollys perhaps?

i guess i should start putting more ammonia in to boost up the bioload? i havent put any in yet so far this is pure angles plus filter only.

advice on weather to put ammonia in or not would be great, also sorry got the long post.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

hi all well this is going to serve as my build log if thats alright. ive had my angles plus active filter in the tank for 3 days here is the results:

ph 8.2
ammonia 0.25
nitirite 0
nitrate 10

kind of worried about the high ph as at some point i would like to get some live bearers mollys perhaps?

i guess i should start putting more ammonia in to boost up the bioload? i havent put any in yet so far this is pure angles plus filter only.

advice on weather to put ammonia in or not would be great, also sorry got the long post.

Hi.
If you don't have fish you need to dose ammonia. The angels plus sponge contains live bacteria that need to be fed.
pH of 8.2 isn't anything to worry about. As long as its stable most fish can adapt.

 

[aoessand]

ok thanks is Calculator accurate for the amount i need to put in? the tank is 48x16x15=50gallon? it says i should put in 7.57ml of ammonia.

 

[aoessand]

so i went ahead and put hte 7.57ish ammonia in im supposed to test in an hour to make sure im at 4ppm ammonia right?

 

[jlk]

Yep, the calculator is pretty accurate! You can go ahead & recheck your ammonia so you can see what 4ppm looks like. Your ph is nothing to worry about. Heres the fishless cycling link if you havent already read it:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html

 

[aoessand]

yep ive read it thanks though, always like some reassurance lol, it was dead on i boosted it up to 4ppm with the calc recommendation

 

[aoessand]

day 2
ph 8.0 - kind worried its already dropping
ammonia 4.0 - kinda worried it didnt drop
nitrite between 2.0 & 5.0 - happy thats up
nitrate 40ppm - worried it jumped so high in one day

thoughts, suggestions? should i do a water change? say 25% 50%? or is everything ok?

 

[jlk]

Let everything be & lets see how things look tommorrow. Your getting conversion because you have high nitrites & your nitrates really jumped! We will see how your ph looks tommorrow & the rest of your numbers before considering a water change.

 

[aoessand]

Day3
ammonia 1 - woot it dropped 3points over night
nitrite 5
nitrate 40-80 - its kind of in between but i would say closer to 40
ph 8.2 - back up .2 maybe yesterdays test was messed up or something?

going to dose ammonia back up to 4 in a few minutes, on the calc do i just put 3ppm since it already has 1ppm in it?

 

[jlk]

Bare with me, my computer crashed & I haven't figured out how to work this new cell yet. It looks like your right on track- continue to dose ur amm when drops to 2p or lower. Add enough to bring it back up to 4.

 

[aoessand]

thanks again JLk

Day 4
Ammonia 0.25- first day its dropped sooo much
Nitrite 5.0
Nitrate 40-80 same as yesterday im leaning more towards 40 still so i guess its ok?
Ph 8.2 - seems to be the norm

 

[jlk]

Thats great!!! Keep up the good work & keep us posted!

 

[aoessand]

so i just added some new plants 2 java fern, which when i broke open the lil petsmart package turned into 4 plants! rofl also added a couple Anubis nanas at least thats what petsmart called them, they looked like the pictures ive seen of them so im guessing they are.

 

[aoessand]

Day 5 and the nitrites are dropping
ammonia 0.25
nitrite 2.0 not sure if this is good or bad
nitrate 40
ph 8.2

also is just rinsing the test tubes in tap water ok? im just wondering why the ammonia is still showing up i rinse the tubes after i use them then let them air dry till the next day.

 

[jlk]

Have you tried comparing your tank water's ammonia level to some distilled water (which has true zero amm)? It may give you a better idea of how close to zero you actually are. Your nitrites dropping is a very good sign of progression & your ph is holding steady! So far, so good!

 

[aoessand]

no i have not but i also havent checked my tap water im going to do that tomorrow

Day 6
Ammonia 0-0.25 - i would say its def yellow but might be a small tint of green course that could be light refection.
Nitrite 2.0
Nitrate 40-80 not 100% sure its either so i put both rofl
PH 8.4 - would plants/light <108w 2x54 fluorescent T5 HO 6700k> cause this to rise?

 

[jlk]

I am not a plant expert but I have the same lights & plants,too. I believe theres some variation in ph in the day vs night cycle but I honestly never check it. I am not worried about .2 difference in ph though if we see drastic ph swings, it just means its time for a water change. Looks good otherwise!

 

[aoessand]

pretty sure i need to do a water change

Day 8
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 2.0-5.0
Nitrate 160 - going to do a 50% water change as im pretty sure this is bad, also am i correct when i expect a 50% water change to drop me to 80?
PH 8.2

im also going to add a few more plants after i do the water change i already have them, couple of amazon swords and nanas.

 

[jlk]

The crazy high nitrates are to be expected. Because this is a fishless cycle, they are nothing to be worried about. Before you purchase fish, they will be addressed. Your fine to do a water change though- just make sure you temperature match & properly condition the water. A 50% may not drop your nitrates much if they are beyond 160ppm- keep in mind, the test only reads up to 160 & anything beyond this will still read 160 even if its 300 (or higher). I would do a big water change just to refresh your buffer levels & keep everything moving forward.

 

[aoessand]

i did, i took it down to till just about my Anubis tops. im going to test them nitrates again in about an hour to see where they are, my other parameters are getting closer and closer to 0s so thats good, the ammonia is just like a barley green tint so its below 0.25 but not quite yellow either. and the nitrites are getting closer and closer to 2.0 and below. i managed to keep the water pretty close withing +/- 4 degrees so i hope thats ok and i dosed seachem prime before i put any tap water in. that was an exercise haha my old gravel cleaner was all nasty and the hose turned yellow so i didnt want to put that into my fresh clean tank so it was bucket fun time! wish my drift wood would hurry up and get here so i can get my tank setup right how i want it, but i guess its a good thing it isnt fully set up yet since im going to have to do like a 90% or even 100% water change before i add fish right?