12L Micro Tank

[Mamashack]

Well the eBay seller is replacing the broken filter and told me to keep the other for spares (thank you very much!) 
So I decided to put it in the tank anyway 2 days ago to let the sponge start to develop and then I can put it in the replacement when it gets here.
The heater took a couple of days to get up to a temperature of 28.8°C and had to be set on 31° to achieve that, but it's got there in the end.
Got some plastic craft mesh to minimise the huge cable gaps cut into the plastic lid which hopefully will also stop any escapees once it is occupied.
 
This morning (day 9) the nitrItes have begun to appear and are at 0.25 ppm and this is only 3 days after adding the heater. There must be some juicy bacteria in that gravel!! Ammonia is down to 1 ppm, but I'm going to wait for it to drop below below 0.75 ppm and let the nitrItes get to 2 ppm before adding the next dose of ammonia as per TTA's regime.
 
I know it's not very exciting but I was a proper giddy kipper (Yorkshire phrase) when I saw the violet water in the test-tube! 

 

[Mamashack]

Well I'm doing daily tests now as there's both nitrItes and nitrAtes present. Hopefully it won't be too long before the bacs can clear ammonia and nitrItes in 24hrs!
Have just got some fishing line to tie some shoots of growing anubia to a piece of mopani wood so that the tank doesn't look too bare. Still not sure whether to bother with substrate as it will only use up valuable water space.
Any suggestions anyone?

 

[Mamashack]

Here're a few pictures to show how I cobbled together a slightly better lid for the tank.
 
 
1. Tank as bought - lid has huge gaps at the back

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2. Tank with small mesh insert to cover the gaps​

The front end of the mesh was a bit dippy so I added a larger piece of mesh to support it as follows​

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3. With larger mesh in place​

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4. All in place and I just pull the small piece forward for getting water test samples (and/or adding liquid supplements tho not doing that at present)​

 

[Mamashack]

Hmmm I'm beginning to wonder if the cycle has stalled. There's been no change in the water tests for the last 5 days.
0.5-1.0 ammonia
2 nitrItes
25-50 nitrAtes
7.8 pH
temp 27.5-28.8°
I'll leave it another day and if nothing has changed I'm tempted to start again with fresh water and ammonia. Hopefully there'll be some surviving bacteria in the filter which will kick start the cycle again if I go that route.
Just been checking my previous cycle log and was further ahead in the cycle by this time altho if I knock off the 6 days without a heater this time it's about the level (altho I was adding ammonia more often with the previous one.)
Decisions to be made!

 

[Mamashack]

Well in the absence of any change in the water params for a week, I've decided to start again. Changed 100% water - conditioned and now waiting for it to get up to temp again then I'll add the ammonia and see how it goes from there.

 

[Mamashack]

Did the deed and nothing happened for 3 days so added another sock full of mature gravel and hey presto - next day ammonia down from 2-4 to 1-2ppm and nitrIte 0.25ppm. Nothing moved for further 2 days so on 3rd day yested for nitrAtes and they are up from 2-5ppm (tap water) to 5-10ppm so there is some activity in both sets of bacteria I'm thinking!
Now I need to decide when to add the next dose (EDIT:not does!) of Kleenoff since I don't think the nitrIte level is going to go up much if the Nitrospira are active. TTA's article advises wait until ammonia less the 0.75ppm AND nitrAtes over 2ppm but I don' think it'll will do that so I'll just go on the ammonia level I think unless anyone has any other ideas?!?

 

[yinyangpete]

How are things progressing?

 

[Mamashack]

hi Pete! (This is the boring bit isn't it - I wish I had your story-telling ability!!)
The extra addition of the mature gravel seems to have done the trick.
There's been some progress I think - yesterday's results were:
ammonia 1, nitrItes 2, nitrates 40-50 (API & Salifert tests repectively)
so there seems to be activity on all fronts.

Haven't done this morning's tests yet but am hoping they will have changed a bit - seems to be progressing every other day so far (hope I haven't jinxed it by saying that! lol)
ASIDE: Just noticed I said nitrAtes in my previous post and of course I meant nitrItes!

 

[Mamashack]

Ok today's results are encouraging and I've added the 2nd dose of Kleenoff ammonia on this new-start cycle
ammonia 0.5 ppm
nitrItes 2-5 ppm
nitrAtes 40-80 ppm (all API)

 

[Mamashack]

1st day with 0ppm ammonia, still got 5(+)ppm  nitrIte and about 80ppm nitrAte. Still got to wait for those nitrIte munchers working faster, but I'm happy with the progress so far.
Have got 2x1" platy fry that don't seem to be getting a fair share of the food so I'm contemplating putting them in this tank when it's fuilly cycled to feed them up a bit. They haven't changed in size for ages altho they must be foraging to stay alive but I seriously doubt they are getting any of the food I put in.
Can anyone foresee any problems with that proposal for a few weeks til they grow a bit?

 

[Mamashack]

I've added a snack dose @ ⅓ the original dose since there was an ammonia reading of 0ppm 2 days running. That was a teeny dose of 0.15ml Kleenoff
Think the nitrIte might have been 2ppm but I honestly find it diffifcult to see the difference between the 2 colours for 2 & 5 ppm so I'm doing a ½ strength test then double the result to see if I can differentiate the 2.
Well it still looked to be 2ppm so it's probably in the 4-5 region still.
Oh well onward and upwards as they say!

 

[fm1978]

Sounds like it's getting there!
 
Good idea with the snack dose, I've never done it this way but from what TTA usually says you don't want 0 Ammo for any length of time otherwise that type of bacteria will starve.
 
Come on Nitrite eaters!
 
I think the platy idea is good, perhaps that way you'll have better control and views of what they eat. Once the tank in cycled, of course. 

 

[Mamashack]

Thanks for posting, fm! It's not exactly a gripping thread is it? lol
Let me assure you, nothing alive is going in that tank until it's fully cycled. Had a bit of a blip and had to start again, but it's progressing faster this time so am not impatient.
The little platies I have observed eating a few tiny flakes this morning, but they obviously aren't getting enough to grow. I'm pondering whether to get them some Liquifry just to give them a boost. Or will less competition on their current crushed flake be sufficient?
Anyway I guess that's debate for further down the line.

 

[fm1978]

The powdered flakes would be OK, but, how about some egg yolk and peas as well? Liquifry or worms or live food is always good, but you'd probably have to take a trip to the shops for those while you might already have eggs in the house.
 
Don't want to teach you how to suck eggs (geddit?) but I just boil for ages then sit them under a cold running tap until they cool down enough to handle. The shell seems to come off much more easily if you cool it really quickly. Then just get rid (or eat) the whites and chuck in a wee bit of the hard yolk.
 
Is it possible to turn the temp up too. I read for guppy fry they seem to grow more quickly at higher than normal temps, is it the same for platies, perhaps?

 

[Mamashack]

I'm not a Grandma yet, fm! lol But thanks for the advice!
I'm already going to LFS to get another ammonia test so it's not out the way and Liquifry would probably make the tank less cloudy than egg yolk (hopefully)
I might just try them on the crushed flake for a week and see if they make any progress then think again if they don't.
Think worms might be a bit big for them at the moment but when they've grown a bit more I could supplement with some frozen bloodworm I could chop up for them.
Haven't turned the temperature up so I might take it up a notch once it's cycled - it will be down from the cycle temp but up from what they are at now which is 24.4°C at this moment. According to Seriously Fish they are ok between 20-26° so I could try them at 25.5° and see how that goes.
Think it's going to be a while before I do that, but best to be prepared in advance.