Fishless Cycle Diary

[waterdrop]

That's a common observation. They don't seem to be smooth in the way they eat! (Maybe their Mom's don't let them snack before dinnertime! ) WD

 

[djl08]

hehe, i hope they grow up soon and eat when they bloody well like .

Same results for today. Hope i see a change soon.

- Dj -

 

[djl08]

Was having a quick look in the DIY section about making a python. It all seems pretty simple, but one thing i am confused about is how the dechlorinator is added when you are refilling the tank. Is it just added directly to the tank as its filling or have i missed something. Adding it to the tank as its filling seems a little risky to me.

- Dj -

 

[waterdrop]

When adding dechlor directly to the tank for a water change refill I add half the amount that would be needed to treat the entire tank into the splashing water coming from the waterfall created by the spraybar (the lovely waterfall sound all during a water change from the spraybar water falling through air!) Then I brace the gravel cleaner end in the tank so it won't fly up with the faucet water forces and I go down the hall and lift the faucet handle. Near the end of the fill or just afterward I add the other half of the amount needed to treat the entire tank.

In my case I use Prime, which is highly concentrated and each "half" amounts to one thread of a capful and even at that I'm probably overtreating for my tanksize but that gives you some insurance for those times when the water authority has gone nuts and dumped way too much chlorine/chloramine in there, which they are prone to do at unpredictable times! Its just like the swimming pool managers, sometimes they "spot treat" and give it a boost and a fledgling bacterial colony can take a hit from that. Also, my water changes are generally 50 or 60%, so that's another reason I like to dechlor and temp match.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[djl08]

Oh i see, it all seemed a bit risky to be adding it as your adding the water to the tank thats all. But if its good enough for you its good enough for me!


- Dj -

 

[waterdrop]

Be aware that I'm just one person and trying to steer you a nice safe middle-of-the-road course through this topic. Perhaps if I were retired, had a strong back and expensive fish, I might choose to carefully swirl my dechlor into buckets of replacement water and be super-safe, there are those that do this. At the other end we've got plenty of hobbyists with big mature tanks, changing perhaps 10% of the water, who don't bother with dechlor at all. So I consider my path in the middle and rather on the conservative side. Since its a hobby, usually each little area or action you take can have a huge range of opinions related to it. That, if you go for it, turns out to be fun in the long run, or tiring, depending on your point of view on a given day.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[djl08]

Be aware that I'm just one person and trying to steer you a nice safe middle-of-the-road course through this topic. Perhaps if I were retired, had a strong back and expensive fish, I might choose to carefully swirl my dechlor into buckets of replacement water and be super-safe, there are those that do this. At the other end we've got plenty of hobbyists with big mature tanks, changing perhaps 10% of the water, who don't bother with dechlor at all. So I consider my path in the middle and rather on the conservative side. Since its a hobby, usually each little area or action you take can have a huge range of opinions related to it. That, if you go for it, turns out to be fun in the long run, or tiring, depending on your point of view on a given day.

~~waterdrop~~

Well im using a bucket at the moment and i add the dechlor to the buckets before i add it to the tank. Perhaps im being over cautious, i just dont want to wait any longer than i have to to do the big 90% water change and add my fishies! Which reminds me i need to pick up some water conditioner over the weekend.

- Dj -

 

[djl08]

Update, Nitrite showing 0.1ppm after 14 hours. Big improvement.

- Dj -

 

[waterdrop]

 

[djl08]

Update. Same old, same old.

 

[djl08]

Rather confused by this mornings results, my Ph has dropped a little but not enough to matter. And ive actually got a reading for ammonia ( which i havent seen since my last ph crash) and 5ppm of ammonia.

Whats caused this?

 

[Luke_emma_23]

I would not mess with your pH.

Trying to change your pH and maintaining that level is a whole new ball game, I would just stick with what your pH is at.

I see what your saying, just thought it would save me some time by getting it to the optimal 8.4.

I cycled my tank with some plant it worked fine. Are you setting up for saltwater?

No its set up for freshwater, was thinking dwarf gourami's, clown loach's, and maybe a siamese fighter (love those).

As for the plants, any thoughts?

Are you intending putting the fighter in a community tank?
Wouldnt advise it!! I have 2 and they have a tank each as they are both very territorial!!

 

[waterdrop]

Oh, you can do a betta in a community tank, it just depends a lot on the community and the particular betta. Our member OM47 has had some happy combos of this. Certainly there may be more of these situations that -won't- work out than that -will-, but its possible!

Dj, I think you are just still "bouncing around." If you trace back from the top in your first post you see the long wait for the first ammonia drop, then finally ammonia is getting processed to zero, then traces of nitrite, then the nitrite spike and that keeps going for a bit. Then finally nitrite drops and you have at least one pH crash and do a large water change and that's when things start "bouncing"... which is a good thing. Basically anytime you are continuing to put ammonia in there and zeros are happening, its a good thing even if they are not happening -steadily- but instead are interrupted by NO2 that still seems to spike and then go to zero. This is just the waves of ammonia and nitrite passing through and the colonies still not being big enough to overwhelm them and our tests just being confusing "snapshots" of a point in time.

Keep an eye on things and you may need another big gravel-clean-water-change this weekend again or something. Remember, by this time you are pumping in more and more ammonia which is making it all the way through to nitrate (whether the flakey test really tells you or not (remember, the nitrate test gets fooled when nitrite is also in there!)) and whereever there's nitrate, there's a percentage of it as acid, which makes the N-Bacs uncomfortable and starts pulling the pH down, so sometimes more water changes are in order near the end for fishless cyclers with low KH and slow processing, unlike the "high pH, hard water" speedier cyclers.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[djl08]

Well the betta is something im still thinking about. Maybe or maybe not adding one to my community, will have to see how the individuals are on the day of purchase.

As for the cycle, i noticed that the flow from my filter was a tad on the slow side. So i gave it a quick clean ( in tank water of course) and it seems alot faster. Would this have contributed to the ammonia and high nitrite readings?

 

[djl08]

This evenings results are normal, i added 1 teaspoon of bicarb after i had cleaned the filter this morning. Hence the higher Ph reading this evening.