Cycle Journal Part 2

[CezzaXV]

Okay, high hopes for my evening test today. My morning test reveals 0ppm ammonia and 2ppm nitrite. Will it be double zeroes tonight? Pray with me people!

 

[crunch7]

Best of Luck Cezza

 

[CezzaXV]

Thanks Crunch

No double zeroes for me tonight. It looks like it hasn't even moved

My pH is ridiculously high though, wonder if this is affecting it. I dont test for nitrate every day because I have difficulty distinguising readings on the test (there are three settings for me - yellow, orange and red) so it's difficult to tell anything's happening.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

yes a very high ph will effect the cycle, which is why i keep advising people to stop messing around with bi carb and the likes, if you tank drops into into the low 6's a pinch will help, adding for the sake of it when your ph is above is just another reagent in the tank

 

[CezzaXV]

You know it's too early in the morning when you empty your 5ml syringe all over the desk instead of in the test tube.

 

[CezzaXV]

I've not been keeping this thread as up to date as I should be, but I've been writing it all down in my fishy notebook so I'm still keeping track.

I've adopted a new strategy in order to keep me sane. I'm currently doing daily 20L water changes. This is usually enough to get the nitrates down somewhere into the orange zone, so I know that when I test the next day and they're red, nitrite has been processing even though it doesn't appear to be going anywhere.

Of course, now I'm thinking that if I'm doing water changes every day anyway, I might as well get fish and complete the rest of my cycle fish-in. A 20L water change was enough just now to get my 5ppm nitrite down to 0.5ppm, so I'm sure that it'd do the trick to get a 0.25ppm close enough to zero.

I don't think I'm that impatient yet, and I don't have plants or food yet, but I'm going to the LFS either tomorrow or Thursday for some other things and the temptation is gonna be horrible!

NOT gonna get fish yet, because I'll regret it. Nitrite was in readable territory tonight (whereas it wasn't this morning) even though it was high, so hopefully it's getting there.

 

[CezzaXV]

I got my Fluval 205 today! The flow is a hell of alot more than my old filter, I must say. I managed to get the sponge from the intake over the intake of the Fluval, and I was also quite pleased that I managed to get the cartridges in the trays whole, rather than having to cut them up, as it makes it quite easy if I do have to use my old filter for a quarantine tank in the future. There's also ALOT more media than the old filter.

I didn't realise until I already had the filter running that the ceramic rings said to wash before putting them inside the filter. Whoops. Hopefully it'll be alright anyway.

Fingers crossed my cycle moves along a bit better now!

 

[friendlyfishy777]

I didn't realise until I already had the filter running that the ceramic rings said to wash before putting them inside the filter. Whoops. Hopefully it'll be alright anyway.

I made the same mistake when I first set up and the water coming out of the outtake went a creamy white.

 

[CezzaXV]

Whoopsie!

I washed out the Fluval rings as they had loads of dust on them, but I bought another bag of generic brand ones from the LFS and they seemed alright so I didn't was them out. It wasn't until afterwards I saw the label on the bag said wash before use.

 

[IanS]

So how's your cycle doing now Cezza ??

 

[CezzaXV]

I'm still half dosing ammonia, so adding 2ppm a day. It's easily clearing the ammonia in 12 hours but the nitrite is still a work in progress. I've been doing 20L water changes most days to keep the nitrates down (both so I can easily see them go up so I know nitrite is processing and to stop the pH crashing). It also keeps the nitrites down so it never goes above 5ppm so I can actually tell how much it's processing between each test.

So yeah, it's going slowly but I'm sure it's getting there. Not had any fluctuations or weird things going on, it's just a waiting game now.

 

[IanS]

I'm still half dosing ammonia, so adding 2ppm a day. It's easily clearing the ammonia in 12 hours but the nitrite is still a work in progress. I've been doing 20L water changes most days to keep the nitrates down (both so I can easily see them go up so I know nitrite is processing) and to stop the pH crashing. It also keeps the nitrites down so it never goes above 5ppm so I can actually tell how much it's processing between each test.

So yeah, it's going slowly but I'm sure it's getting there. Not had any fluctuations or weird things going on, it's just a waiting game now.

Yeah was the same here but then the nitrite all of sudden dropped, so now on 12hr testing......4 in a row now maybe fish at the weekend or early next week

Yours can't be far away now

Ian

 

[CezzaXV]

Thanks Ian, it's nice to have that reassurance

 

[CezzaXV]

I've updated the log now so it's all up to date

I've told my sister that I'm going to get my 0 on nitrite tomorrow evening. Here's hoping that comes true!

 

[The Taffy Apple]

I've updated the log now so it's all up to date

I've told my sister that I'm going to get my 0 on nitrite tomorrow evening. Here's hoping that comes true!

Best of luck Cezza the final Qualifying Week awaits you..