Morning update:
Day 11, 5/10/11 - 07:00 - pH: 8.3, NH3: 0ppm, NO2:
0ppm, NO3: N/A, temp 80F. (I adjusted my heater incorrectly after the water change... this is something I am going to need to fix before I have fish.)
Interestingly, the nitrites from last night (~0.50ppm) were processed in less than 12 hours. That is encouraging to me, whether it is considered a "seeded" cycle or not. Either way, I was able to observe
some movement with nitrites. I think that I will continue to do water changes when the nitrites go off the scale, partly because of what Dr. Tim observed regarding the concentration that works best for nitrospira, and partly because I could still use the practice.
Also, my 5 year old son had a good time (for a while) helping me with the water change. He was "all in" for the first bucket to come out of the tank. The second bucket confused him. He didn't know why we were removing MORE water! And he was good with the first bucket to go back into the tank, but quickly lost interest on the second. I can only imagine how he will feel when we will be filling the 56 gallon tank, instead of a
mere 10 gallon!
I upped the ammonia back to ~2ppm this morning. I will be very interested to see where the nitrite is tonight. (According to what I have observed recently, the ammonia should be all processed (or very close) by then. So, if 1ppm turns to ~2.7 ppm of nitrite, then I am interested to see where the nitrite reading will actually be. If it can process 0.50ppm overnight, then perhaps it can process a little more? Even if not, my math tell me that ~5.4ppm of nitrite should be made available today for the N-bacs, and if they process 0.50 ppm, the nitrite should be high tonight, but not off the scale. If I get a reading near 2-3ppm, I will be thrilled/shocked!
waterdrop,
Thanks for checking in again. I agree with your hypothesis regarding the time frame claimed by these BB products. They all claim, although some more subtly than others, that their product will instantly cycle a tank.
SafeStart's instructions say:
Directions: Shake well. Add entire bottle to aquarium. Aquarium is then ready for fish.
First, they don't say how many fish. Second, they don't say that any further attention is necessary for the cycle. They make it sound like the cycle is now complete. If a person were to add a full bioload to their tank at once, which would fit within the directions of use with this product, they would immediately be causing ammonia spikes and causing their fish to suffer. It is AMAZING that this type of misinformation is acceptable. That would be like an automatic cat litter box claiming that you can just turn it on, and forget about the cat waste for an undisclosed number of cats. That would probably be considered inhumane to the cats. (And honestly the owner would find out soon enough that the claims are baseless when the odor started to seep into all parts of the house.) With fish, the dangers aren't noticed by most novice fishkeepers until the fish are either dead or beyond hope of recovery. (These would be the same folks who have no clue about what "cycling" a tank really means... aka me, about 3 months ago!
)
I guess what I am saying is that while these products might actually be delivering some bacteria and that this could diminish the duration of a fish-in or fishless cycle, they should never be counted on to completely cycle a tank immediately as they are, and as sales people seem to want customers to believe. Maybe they fear that if they are honest about what needs to be done, they will lose customers, because it may be too much hassle for some people who buy fish. But, that would be akin to not talking to a dog owner about needing to walk the dog multiple times a day - or giving it access to the backyard, and letting it exercise! I would think that they could actually make MORE sales in the long run by being truthful. First, the initial investment would be quite large - trust me on this one! I have spent over $100 so far on stuff, and don't even have the full size tank I will be getting. This was spent on filters, tubing, test kits, ammonia, a heater, water conditioner, fish maintenance supplies, etc. I still haven't purchased substrate, lighting, FISH, food, nets, decorations, plants, etc. All in all, I've figured that I will be spending about $500 for all this when it all finished. And then there will be the ongoing costs, like more food, more test kits, more de-chlorinator, medication, fertilizer (maybe), etc. If I found a quality LFS around me that would be honest and up front about all this, they would get ALL my business. But, as of right now, I've only one a single LFS employee (manager of the fish department at the Petsmart) who was willing to spend 10 minutes talking to a guy about fish and all of the interactions, etc. of different species and what they would want/need. This conversation started when I asked if they carried a hardness test (with drops, not a strip). We got to talking about what my plans were for the tank, etc. He walked away having made a sale (although backordered) of the tank and stand I want for my dining room. With me feeling comfortable about buying fish from that store, and a general good feeling about it. My favorite thing that he said was: "I don't know about that, I've never done it. But I think..." HONESTY! Wow. It was nice. A local, independent store I went to had the owner himself trying to push a bacterial additive product I'd never heard of on me, because he didn't carry one that I was interested in. When I asked how he knows it works, his only answer was, "Well, I'm selling a ton of it." That's not proof of anything other than a bunch of people buying it at his direction (primarily because it's the only one he carries).