Hello All,
I am sorry to be having to ask a fishless cycle question when there is so much information available online, but here goes again…
My tank is a newly set up 125 L Fluval with an Eheim Professional 3 filter. I measured the water going in and there is 112 L. There is a 1 cm think layer of Tropica Plant Substrate at the bottom, covered with 3 cm on washed gravel that came with the tank. There are no plants in it yet, just a plastic plant and a plastic rock. There is also a piece of boiled and well soaked bogwood. That’s it.
When I first started, I took some tap water measurements (using the API Fresh Water Master Kit), which are:
PH 7.4 / Ammonia 0.25 / Nitrite 0 / Nitrate 40
I was a bit unsure of these measurements so to test the kit (especially Ammonia and Nitrate), I tested a purchased bottle of Valpre water and the results were more normal, so the kit is fine, it’s the tap water that has the Ammonia and Nitrate readings.
I conditioned with water with the correct dosage of Tetra Aqua Safe and I set the heater to 27C and waited for a day for it all to stabilise, then started the cycling process. The Ammonia source I am using is genuine Jayes Kleenoff 9.5%
Day 1
Ammonia reading 0.25, added 1 ml Ammonia and tested, the reading went up to 1.0
I also added 50 ml of Tetra Safe Start which had an expiry date of Sep ‘14
Day 2
Ammonia reading 1.0, added 1 ml Ammonia and tested, the reading went up to 2.0
Day 3
Ammonia reading 2.0
PH had increased to 8.3
I increased the temperature from 27C to 29C
Day 4
Ammonia reading 2.0, added 2 ml Ammonia and tested, the reading went up to 4.0
Day 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
The readings remained the same, with Ammonia being 4.0
Day 16
After much reading and testing and becoming irritated I thought perhaps something was not right, my main concern being the high Nitrates in the tank, these seem to have risen from 40 out of the tap to around 60 in the tank, so I decided I should perhaps try to lower these, I removed 50% of the water, conditioned the new water before it went in, again using Tetra Aqua Safe.
After changing the water the reading were:
Ammonia 0.75, PH 7.4, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 40
Too much reading and waiting, I also put in a very very small pinch of finely ground fish flakes
Then added 1.8 ml Ammonia and the reading for Ammonia was 2.0, the PH was 8.0
*** now this is where I think it gets strange ***
Day 17, 18
Much the same readings
Day 19
The Ammonia had dropped to 0.25 (down from 2.0 to 0.25 in only 3 or so days, I thought things were getting going, finally!)
Day 20
Added 3 ml Ammonia to bring the reading up to 3.0, I would have thought that now the bacteria had developed somewhat in order to have taken care of the recent Ammonia, and that they should only be getting stronger and consuming more of it and doing so more quickly, however…
Day 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27
Much the same readings, no drop in Ammonia at all, no rise in Nitrites at all, Nitrates being the usual in the tank of around 50 to 60
This has brought me here.
I am new to this, however have done my research on the cycling process and have tried to document and follow it as carefully as possible. As far as I can tell, I have done everything as I am supposed to do. The only thing that I find strange is the high Nitrate readings (both out of the tap and even higher in the tank) and that it was very soon after lowering these by doing the 50% water change that the Ammonia dropped the first time, however I cannot understand why it has not dropped again, unless it is the Nitrates that are preventing this...
If anyone has any advice or comment please could you let me know, it would be much appreciated?
By the way, I have just taken delivery of the Pozzani Nitrate Filter and I will be hooking this up to my tap tomorrow and getting the Nitrates from the tap down to a much lower level. As I am doing this, does anyone have any advice on the best way forward? Should I scrap everything including cleaning out the filter media and start again with the “good” water? Or do a water change and leave the filter as it is, if so, how much of a water change should I do?
Lastly, could it be possible that the Tropica Plant Substrate is doing something? I have no plants in there yet but am planning on doing so this weekend when I install my CO2 system.
Am I just being impatient and over thinking and analysing this!
Thanks,
Paul
I am sorry to be having to ask a fishless cycle question when there is so much information available online, but here goes again…
My tank is a newly set up 125 L Fluval with an Eheim Professional 3 filter. I measured the water going in and there is 112 L. There is a 1 cm think layer of Tropica Plant Substrate at the bottom, covered with 3 cm on washed gravel that came with the tank. There are no plants in it yet, just a plastic plant and a plastic rock. There is also a piece of boiled and well soaked bogwood. That’s it.
When I first started, I took some tap water measurements (using the API Fresh Water Master Kit), which are:
PH 7.4 / Ammonia 0.25 / Nitrite 0 / Nitrate 40
I was a bit unsure of these measurements so to test the kit (especially Ammonia and Nitrate), I tested a purchased bottle of Valpre water and the results were more normal, so the kit is fine, it’s the tap water that has the Ammonia and Nitrate readings.
I conditioned with water with the correct dosage of Tetra Aqua Safe and I set the heater to 27C and waited for a day for it all to stabilise, then started the cycling process. The Ammonia source I am using is genuine Jayes Kleenoff 9.5%
Day 1
Ammonia reading 0.25, added 1 ml Ammonia and tested, the reading went up to 1.0
I also added 50 ml of Tetra Safe Start which had an expiry date of Sep ‘14
Day 2
Ammonia reading 1.0, added 1 ml Ammonia and tested, the reading went up to 2.0
Day 3
Ammonia reading 2.0
PH had increased to 8.3
I increased the temperature from 27C to 29C
Day 4
Ammonia reading 2.0, added 2 ml Ammonia and tested, the reading went up to 4.0
Day 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
The readings remained the same, with Ammonia being 4.0
Day 16
After much reading and testing and becoming irritated I thought perhaps something was not right, my main concern being the high Nitrates in the tank, these seem to have risen from 40 out of the tap to around 60 in the tank, so I decided I should perhaps try to lower these, I removed 50% of the water, conditioned the new water before it went in, again using Tetra Aqua Safe.
After changing the water the reading were:
Ammonia 0.75, PH 7.4, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 40
Too much reading and waiting, I also put in a very very small pinch of finely ground fish flakes
Then added 1.8 ml Ammonia and the reading for Ammonia was 2.0, the PH was 8.0
*** now this is where I think it gets strange ***
Day 17, 18
Much the same readings
Day 19
The Ammonia had dropped to 0.25 (down from 2.0 to 0.25 in only 3 or so days, I thought things were getting going, finally!)
Day 20
Added 3 ml Ammonia to bring the reading up to 3.0, I would have thought that now the bacteria had developed somewhat in order to have taken care of the recent Ammonia, and that they should only be getting stronger and consuming more of it and doing so more quickly, however…
Day 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27
Much the same readings, no drop in Ammonia at all, no rise in Nitrites at all, Nitrates being the usual in the tank of around 50 to 60
This has brought me here.
I am new to this, however have done my research on the cycling process and have tried to document and follow it as carefully as possible. As far as I can tell, I have done everything as I am supposed to do. The only thing that I find strange is the high Nitrate readings (both out of the tap and even higher in the tank) and that it was very soon after lowering these by doing the 50% water change that the Ammonia dropped the first time, however I cannot understand why it has not dropped again, unless it is the Nitrates that are preventing this...
If anyone has any advice or comment please could you let me know, it would be much appreciated?
By the way, I have just taken delivery of the Pozzani Nitrate Filter and I will be hooking this up to my tap tomorrow and getting the Nitrates from the tap down to a much lower level. As I am doing this, does anyone have any advice on the best way forward? Should I scrap everything including cleaning out the filter media and start again with the “good” water? Or do a water change and leave the filter as it is, if so, how much of a water change should I do?
Lastly, could it be possible that the Tropica Plant Substrate is doing something? I have no plants in there yet but am planning on doing so this weekend when I install my CO2 system.
Am I just being impatient and over thinking and analysing this!
Thanks,
Paul
