willhart
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hi,
I am doing my first fishless cycle, I have based it on the excellent guide by ECO 23 on this forum.
My Tank is 60L (16 US Galons) The Tank was a Birthday present for my young son, and he has made the grown up decision to allow me to cycle the tank without fish, I explained the two processes to him and he chose the one that would make the fish happier, even though it means him waiting to get fish. He is only 7!
I have a really good air pump cranked right up and the tank temp is 85'F
I managed to get 8 galons of mature water from my LFS with a filter squeeze in it, i couldn't get them to give me any filter media!
I have seperated out and planted a Java Fern pot and also another easy to care plant which i have forgotten the name of! So the plant is reasonably heavily planted for a small tank.
I have the JBL Master Test Kit which i am finding great to use.
Anyway, I set up the tank and half filled it with treated tap water that was completely chlorine free according to my test. I then added the 8 Galons of mature water and let the tank settle and get up to temperature. I did add a pinch of ground up Fish Food to make sure the bacteria did not die.
All water tests for PH and Harness looked good with all levels in the normal range, No Ammonium, small amount of Nitrite, and a lot of Nitrate 80ppm, due to the mature water I assume.
Next Day I added my nice (non foaming) ammonia to 4ppm.
Day 2: 24hrs later the ammonia had dropped right off to 0.1ppm,
Water: Slightly Cloudy
NH4 = 0.1ppm
NO2 = 20ppm
NO3 = 80ppm
I dosed back up to 4ppm Ammonia.
Day 3: 24hrs on and again Amonia was right down.
Water: Cloudy
NH4 = 0.5ppm
NO2 = 5ppm
NO3 = 80ppm
Again i dosed back up to 4ppm
Day 4: Yesterday was strange, The water had gone Crystal Clear which looked great. Again Amonia had dropped off but bizarley, the Nitrate had dropped right off to 5ppm? I did not expect or understand this, i tested twice to make sure. Could this be the plants using the Nitrate?
Water: Crystal Clear
NH4 = 0.5ppm
NO2 = 5ppm
NO3 = 5ppm
Anyway, I added a few new ornaments to the tank that my son had chosen and then again I dosed back up to 4ppm, I think maybe I overdosed a bit, it may have been closer to 5ppm but i thought it would be OK.
Day 5: Today is not good i think, The ammonia has not really reduced, still about 4ppm. This is the first time it has not dropped since I started. I am worried as nothing seems to have happened in 24hrs. I did a full set of tests and all parameters are normal, i.e. chlorine, PH, Hardness etc.
Water: Crystal Clear
NH4 = 4ppm
NO2 = 5ppm
NO3 = 5ppm
Can anybody explain what might be happening. The water is still clear. I have added another pinch of ground up fish food, in case it needs some more nutrients to get going again.
the plants seem to be doing well!
I thought we had got a real flying start to our cycle, now I am worried it is stalled or even failed and i may have the full 4 weeks to wait after all?
I will post tomorrows readings as soon as I take them.
Any advice much appreciated.
Will.
I am doing my first fishless cycle, I have based it on the excellent guide by ECO 23 on this forum.
My Tank is 60L (16 US Galons) The Tank was a Birthday present for my young son, and he has made the grown up decision to allow me to cycle the tank without fish, I explained the two processes to him and he chose the one that would make the fish happier, even though it means him waiting to get fish. He is only 7!
I have a really good air pump cranked right up and the tank temp is 85'F
I managed to get 8 galons of mature water from my LFS with a filter squeeze in it, i couldn't get them to give me any filter media!
I have seperated out and planted a Java Fern pot and also another easy to care plant which i have forgotten the name of! So the plant is reasonably heavily planted for a small tank.
I have the JBL Master Test Kit which i am finding great to use.
Anyway, I set up the tank and half filled it with treated tap water that was completely chlorine free according to my test. I then added the 8 Galons of mature water and let the tank settle and get up to temperature. I did add a pinch of ground up Fish Food to make sure the bacteria did not die.
All water tests for PH and Harness looked good with all levels in the normal range, No Ammonium, small amount of Nitrite, and a lot of Nitrate 80ppm, due to the mature water I assume.
Next Day I added my nice (non foaming) ammonia to 4ppm.
Day 2: 24hrs later the ammonia had dropped right off to 0.1ppm,
Water: Slightly Cloudy
NH4 = 0.1ppm
NO2 = 20ppm
NO3 = 80ppm
I dosed back up to 4ppm Ammonia.
Day 3: 24hrs on and again Amonia was right down.
Water: Cloudy
NH4 = 0.5ppm
NO2 = 5ppm
NO3 = 80ppm
Again i dosed back up to 4ppm
Day 4: Yesterday was strange, The water had gone Crystal Clear which looked great. Again Amonia had dropped off but bizarley, the Nitrate had dropped right off to 5ppm? I did not expect or understand this, i tested twice to make sure. Could this be the plants using the Nitrate?
Water: Crystal Clear
NH4 = 0.5ppm
NO2 = 5ppm
NO3 = 5ppm
Anyway, I added a few new ornaments to the tank that my son had chosen and then again I dosed back up to 4ppm, I think maybe I overdosed a bit, it may have been closer to 5ppm but i thought it would be OK.
Day 5: Today is not good i think, The ammonia has not really reduced, still about 4ppm. This is the first time it has not dropped since I started. I am worried as nothing seems to have happened in 24hrs. I did a full set of tests and all parameters are normal, i.e. chlorine, PH, Hardness etc.
Water: Crystal Clear
NH4 = 4ppm
NO2 = 5ppm
NO3 = 5ppm
Can anybody explain what might be happening. The water is still clear. I have added another pinch of ground up fish food, in case it needs some more nutrients to get going again.
the plants seem to be doing well!
I thought we had got a real flying start to our cycle, now I am worried it is stalled or even failed and i may have the full 4 weeks to wait after all?
I will post tomorrows readings as soon as I take them.
Any advice much appreciated.
Will.
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