Fish In Cycle

[HM Dragon Devil]

Hey guys there were no test yesterday as i changed 20l of water.

Todays test are looking the same as usual.

Temp 25.5
pH 8.2
Ammo 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40

I've been trying different settings on my camera and took a better shot that is closer to what i'm actually seeing.

Cheers,
Dean.

 

[OldMan47]

Your 7.8 pH is reminiscent of my own tap water. At least that is what I see when I inspect the color at the top of your picture against the card. The center of the color stripe compared to the card colors is how I read a test. The color will be a little darker toward the tube edges because of shadows being cast but I ignore that as simply interference with the proper colors. Your nitrites and ammonia look just fine at or near a nominal zero. I am reading your nitrates as 40 ppm using the same technique. For a fish-in cycle, this chemical test set is very promising.

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

Oldman47, yeah my tap water pH is around 7.8, but i've been reading my test as 8.2.

Todays test are looking promising also, although i think the nitrate is slightly higher, i think the color looks deeper.

I have been having to changing 20l of water every 2nd day (which would be today), but from the looks of the parameters i can skip it. It's going to be interesting to see tomorrows test results.

06/05/12
Temp 25.5
pH 7.8
Ammo 0
Nitrie 0
Nitrate 40+

Dean.

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

...And todays results:

Temp 25.5c
pH 8.2 (still think this looks 8.2)
Ammo 0
Nitrie 0
Natrate 40+

This is the third day since i last changed 20l of water.

Dean.

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

Hey guys excellent results again today, they look pretty much the same as yesterday. I'm a little concered about the nitrate though, as i can't really interpret between 40 and 80. I'm almost tempted to do a water change, but 'trying' to hold off because i think the cycle is really close to being complete.

Temp: 25.5c
pH 8.2
Ammo 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40+ (40 & 80 look the same to me)

Dean.

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

Ok so it's day 5 since my last big water change. I think the test results are still looking good. What do you think guys?

Temp 25.5
pH 8.2
Ammo 0
Nitrire 0
Nitrate 40+

Cheers, Dean.

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

Well guys not so good news unfortunately , after testing today i broke down and changed 20l of water due to excessive nitrates. But on the upside i do believe my tank is very close to being cycled, or could be even cycled.

Results after w/c

Temp 25.5
pH 8.0 - 8.1
Ammo 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 30

Dean.

 

[JDs4me]

I'm not saying a single word Dean; no way I'm going to jinx anything here.....

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Nitrates rising is a good sign. Just need to do regular water changes to keep on top of them.

I would say your tank is cycled. Just check every day for 7 days to be sure your ammonia or nitrites dont spike.

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

I'm not saying a single word Dean; no way I'm going to jinx anything here.....

Haha hey, JDs4me. I think it's safe to say the 'word'

Nitrates rising is a good sign. Just need to do regular water changes to keep on top of them.

I would say your tank is cycled. Just check every day for 7 days to be sure your ammonia or nitrites dont spike.

Yeah things are looking good.

Thanks,
Dean.

 

[JDs4me]

Go on then... you first!

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

Did someone say cycled!? :lol

 

[Staxx]

my nitrates are never 0 for some reason there seems to be nitrates in my tap water(tested it) of around 5-10ppm. as bad as it sounds ive stopped testing the water cuz it just makes me paranoid so now i just do water changes religiously every couple of days just to make sure. while my new filter picks up the slack

 

[JDs4me]

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

my nitrates are never 0 for some reason there seems to be nitrates in my tap water(tested it) of around 5-10ppm. as bad as it sounds ive stopped testing the water cuz it just makes me paranoid so now i just do water changes religiously every couple of days just to make sure. while my new filter picks up the slack

Staxx my tap water has around 30ppm of nitrates. And fully established aquariums will have Nitrates, as this is the end-product of denitrification, unless ofcouse your aquarium is heavily planted or something.

Hehe! Well, JDs4me it took around 6 weeks to cycle, i'd say that's a typical fish-in cycle. Anyways I just purchased a 3w moonlight LED spot light for my tank, it has 3 clear 60 degree lenses.

Dean.