Fishless Cycle - Results So Far

[Miss Wiggle]

do another big water change, can do 100% water change if needs be, try and get the pH back above 7.

 

[stormy78]

I will try to get it above 7 MW but the PH of the tap water seems to be varying day to day. Yesterday it was 6.8 out the tap when last weekend it was closer to 7.5... its getting frustrating unfortunatly

 

[Miss Wiggle]

that's not good that it's fluctuating so much.

can't remember if we've been through this before, have you tested your kH, it could be that it needs buffering up to stabilise the pH.

 

[stormy78]

Thats the thing the water is hard and generally there has been no movement of the PH once the water is in the tank, it stayed at a steady 6.8 for weeks. Its just the tap PH that has fluctuated so much in the last week. Both KH and GH were quiet high.... I cant remember what but I did post on the forum so I can probably dig it out for you.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

no bother, if you've tested it and posted before and it's been fine then don't worry too much over it. There's always a handful of people going through fishless cycle's on the forum, each with their own history and issues, i don't have time to re-read the whole of every post and i sometimes forget people's individual circumstances!!

have you called the water company to ask why the ph is fluctuating so much, it really shouldn't be

 

[stormy78]

I just did a quick check with South Staffs online and the PH readings for the 2 closest towns were:

Minimum Mean Max

West Brom 6.8, 7.3, 8.4
Oldbury W 6.7, 7.1, 7.9

 

[waterdrop]

I just did a quick check with South Staffs online and the PH readings for the 2 closest towns were:

Minimum Mean Max

West Brom 6.8, 7.3, 8.4
Oldbury W 6.7, 7.1, 7.9

Interesting, this would tend to look like information that would reinforce the advice that Colin gave a while back: He said he tests the tap water parameters each time prior to water changes in order to be prepared to deal with different changes that might happen. I vaguely remember his comment being received in an unpopular way by some members, but it stands to reason that some water systems might be much more controlled and consistent than others.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I just did a quick check with South Staffs online and the PH readings for the 2 closest towns were:

Minimum Mean Max

West Brom 6.8, 7.3, 8.4
Oldbury W 6.7, 7.1, 7.9

Interesting, this would tend to look like information that would reinforce the advice that Colin gave a while back: He said he tests the tap water parameters each time prior to water changes in order to be prepared to deal with different changes that might happen. I vaguely remember his comment being received in an unpopular way by some members, but it stands to reason that some water systems might be much more controlled and consistent than others.
~~waterdrop~~

makes sense to me, don't recall the comment by Colin that you're referring to

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, I probably would have a hard time pulling up the Colin comment again myself, I just remember maybe it was in one of those long discussions about dechlor and temp matching in water changes that periodically take place, you know the ones where many of the pros talk of just (exaggerating here..) blasting the tank with some nice cold water from the hose out back and how nothing bad ever comes of it.. well I just remembered Colin as one who wished to be more careful, preparing the replacement water a little more carefully so as not to have a surprise loss of fish.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[stormy78]

Well I bought a different liquid test kit today and tested again. It appears that the PH is currently 7.0. When compairing it with the API kit it now seems to tally up!

 

[stormy78]

Day 34 (Friday 16th May)

Tested Ammonia at 8.00am
Ammonia: 0.00ppm
NitrIte: 0.00pm
PH: 6.8

Ammonia was raised to 5ppm

Tested Ammonia at 8.00pm
Ammonia: 0.50ppm
NitrIte: 5.00ppm
NitrAte: 40 ppm
PH: 7.0

Ammonia is neeeeeeeaaarly there in the 12 hours...... as for Nitrite who knows?!?

 

[stormy78]

Day 35 (Saturday 17th May)

Tested Ammonia at 8.00am
Ammonia: 0.00ppm
NitrIte: 1.00pm
PH: 7.0

Ammonia was raised to 5ppm

Tested Ammonia at 8.00pm
Ammonia: 1.00ppm
NitrIte: 5.00ppm
NitrAte: 40 ppm
PH: 7.0

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Yeah, I probably would have a hard time pulling up the Colin comment again myself, I just remember maybe it was in one of those long discussions about dechlor and temp matching in water changes that periodically take place, you know the ones where many of the pros talk of just (exaggerating here..) blasting the tank with some nice cold water from the hose out back and how nothing bad ever comes of it.. well I just remembered Colin as one who wished to be more careful, preparing the replacement water a little more carefully so as not to have a surprise loss of fish.

~~waterdrop~~

yup, seems we have that discussion on a weekly basis. i'm definatley an advocate of cold water from the tap, however our water round here is v good and reliable, i think particularly in some of the more remote parts of the states and australia the water is much less reliable and you should take a little more caution.

Day 34 (Friday 16th May)

Tested Ammonia at 8.00am
Ammonia: 0.00ppm
NitrIte: 0.00pm
PH: 6.8

Ammonia was raised to 5ppm

Tested Ammonia at 8.00pm
Ammonia: 0.50ppm
NitrIte: 5.00ppm
NitrAte: 40 ppm
PH: 7.0

Ammonia is neeeeeeeaaarly there in the 12 hours...... as for Nitrite who knows?!?

excellent, unfortunatley it usually takes around twice as long for the nitrite to drop to 0 as it did for ammonia...... nitrite has a tendency to linger at around 1ppm for bloody ages!! However it's ncie to know stage 1 of the cycle is v nearly done if nothing else

 

[stormy78]

Day 36 (Sunday 18th May)

Tested Ammonia at 8.00am
Ammonia: 0.00ppm
NitrIte: 1.00pm
PH: 7.0

Ammonia was raised to 5ppm

Tested Ammonia at 8.00pm
Ammonia: 1.00ppm
NitrIte: 5.00ppm
NitrAte: 40 ppm
PH: 7.0

 

[stormy78]

Day 37 (Monday 19th May)

Tested Ammonia at 8.00am
Ammonia: 0.00ppm
NitrIte: 0.25pm
NitrAte: 40
PH: 7.0

Ammonia was raised to 5ppm

Tested Ammonia at 8.00pm
Ammonia: 1.00ppm
NitrIte: 5.00ppm
NitrAte: 40 ppm
PH: 6.8