What should I expect?

[swimwithme]

Oops, my PH was 7.6

 

[swimwithme]

Oops, my PH was 7.6

After my water change

 

[swimwithme]

Unfortunately, I did not get to check my water params last night. Sick bay + sick husband = disaster evening.
Anyway, I will be checking them again tonight. If my Trites and Trates are still high, should I do another water change? Since I'm not adding ammonia, shouldn't my trites/trates lower after the pwc. (btw, I did a 95% or more wc on Sunday night, even rinsed my filters out - in tank water, of course) and my trites/trates were still very high after the water change.
I am beginning to think this is not my cup of tea. Over two months and still no cycled tank. and NO FISHIES!!!

 

[swimwithme]

Ok, just tested and my results are:
Ammo - 0ppm
No2 - >5ppm
No3 - 30ppm
PH - 7.6

 

[librarygirl]

That's better! Nitrate is rising and ammonia is back to 0. Nitrites are still high but that's to be expected. Looking back at your log it seems that nitrites started to get high on 10/21 which is about 2.5 weeks ago. Nitrites should come down to zero pretty soon hopefully. Redose ammonia to 3-4 (if you haven't dosed yet today) and let's see what happens tomorrow.

 

[swimwithme]

Yeah, i did dose ammonia back up after I tested and will check it again tomorrow.
Thanks for all your help!

 

[swimwithme]

Test results for today

Ammo - 1ppm
No2 - >5ppm
No3 - between 40&80ppm (I know, big difference, but the test was so close to both on the color chart)
PH - 7.6

Should U add ammonia, or wait until tomorrow? It's been 24 hrs since I've added any.

 

[librarygirl]

Test results for today

Ammo - 1ppm
No2 - >5ppm
No3 - between 40&80ppm (I know, big difference, but the test was so close to both on the color chart)
PH - 7.6

Should U add ammonia, or wait until tomorrow? It's been 24 hrs since I've added any.

It's up to you, you can certainly add more if you'd like.

 

[jlk]

I would dose it back to 4ppm but you wont have to add as much amm as you do when you dose from zero (because its already at 1ppm). Im keeping my fingers crossed for you!

 

[swimwithme]

Ok, so I did add ammo back in and rechecked. It's now back up to around 4ppm. I guess it's more waiting....SIGH!

 

[swimwithme]

Sigh...here are tonight's readings.

Ammo - between 1&2ppm
No2 - >5ppm
No3 - around 80ppm
PH - 7.6

 

[eco23]

Sorry if we already mentioned it (I tend to get threads mixed up), but is your tank planted? If not, now would be a great time to get started if you're interested. It's a great way to keep you occupied, and healthy plants also provide TONS of benefits you don't receive from normal filtration. It helps to keep your water clean and free of toxins, provides a natural environment for your fish, and is also an entirely different aspect of the hobby to get addicted to

 

[swimwithme]

No, it isn't. I am really interested in planting it, but I'm just not sure which plants would best suite my tank. I don't want anything that requires CO2, at least not now. I saw the anubias, which I like. What other plants require little lighting?

 

[eco23]

No, it isn't. I am really interested in planting it, but I'm just not sure which plants would best suite my tank. I don't want anything that requires CO2, at least not now. I saw the anubias, which I like. What other plants require little lighting?

There's tons of options!

In my tank I have Italian Val's, Rotala Indica, Water Sprite, Java Moss, Marimo Balls and Ambulia. I don't run any co2, and I just dose fertilizers (Flourish Comp) twice a week (plus Excel every day). There's some pics in my profile...but they're very outdated. Even my substrate is different now (I switched to sand).

The real key is your lighting. There are plenty of plants which grow under stock lights...but in order to be able to grow a wide variety it's something you'd want to upgrade. Not to mention, upgraded lights simply look 100x better. If my fixture broke...the fish would live in the dark before I put the old stock hood lights back on.

Here's a great site to give you an idea based on lighting requirements. There's TONS of planted tank fanatics on the site, so don't be shy about starting new threads in that section with any questions you have
http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide.php

 

[swimwithme]

Cool, I'll check it out!

 

[swimwithme]

Ok, I was bad and skipped testing yesterday.

My results today.
Ammo - 0ppm
No2 - >5ppm
No3 - >80ppm
PH - 7.6

Did an 80% PWC

Re-tested
Ammo - .50ppm
No2 - >5ppm
No3 - 30ppm
PH - 7.8

 

[jlk]

Is there ammonia in your tap water?

 

[swimwithme]

Is there ammonia in your tap water?

Yes, there is.

 

[jlk]

Ok, your ammonia is dropping, you have really high nitrites, & you have quite a bit of nitrates in 24hrs. How long have your nitrites been this high? If its less than 2 wks, i wouldnt despair yet...but, when i did i fishless cycle on my last tank, i got crazy high nitrites & they seem to stall the cycle at some point (the test only goes up to 5ppm so i dont know what the 'magic' number is!) and i stopped getting nitrates (they actually started dropping without pwcs). I wound up having to do crazy, down to the gravel water changes to try & get my nitrites under control. I dont think you have hit this point yet as long as you keep getting high nitrates daily! Lets see how tommorrow looks!

 

[swimwithme]

Should I add ammo today or wait?