Fishless Cycle - Results So Far

[stormy78]

Cheers guys! I would be going mad if it wasnt for the help people on here are giving me!

 

[waterdrop]

"edit: beat you to it, Waterdrop!"

ha you little gopher

 

[stormy78]

Day 27 (Friday 9th May)

Tested Ammonia at 8.00am
Ammonia: 0.00ppm
NitrIte: 0.00pm
NitrAte: 10
PH: 6.8

Ammonia raised to 5.00ppm

Tested Ammonia at 8.00pm
Ammonia: 2.00ppm
NitrIte: 1.00ppm
NitrAte: 40
PH: 6.8

 

[stormy78]

Day 28 (Saturday 10th May)

Tested Ammonia at 8.00am
Ammonia: 1.00ppm
NitrIte: 2.00pm
NitrAte: 20
PH: 6.8

I tested throughout the day and Ammonia is processing in 30 hours at present

Tested Ammonia at 8.00pm
Ammonia: 0.00ppm
NitrIte: 0.50ppm
NitrAte: 40
PH: 6.8

Ammonia raised to 5.00ppm

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the slow down could be due to your pH, cant remember if we've discussed this before, what's the pH from your tap? if it's higher than what's in the tank now then do a big water change

 

[stormy78]

Hi Miss Wiggle The PH out of the tap when the cycle started was around 6.8 but of late its gone back up to around the 7.6 South Staffs water say it should be. How much of a water change would you recommend? 50% 80%?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah 80%

the lower the pH, the slower the cycle. the high ammonia levels drive down the pH and you do have to watch out for it.

 

[stormy78]

yeah 80%

the lower the pH, the slower the cycle. the high ammonia levels drive down the pH and you do have to watch out for it.

I will do it this afternoon. Should I take ammonia back up to 5ppm after the water change?

 

[backtotropical]

Should I take ammonia back up to 5ppm after the water change?

Absolutely. Big water change and then top back up to 5ppm.

 

[stormy78]

Day 29 (Sunday 11th May)

Tested Ammonia at 8.00am
Ammonia: 2.00ppm
NitrIte: 1.00pm
NitrAte: 40
PH: 6.8

On advice I did an 80% water change. The result after the water change were:

Ammonia: 0.00ppm
NitrIte: 0.25ppm
PH: 7.6

Ammonia raised to 5.00ppm at 7.50pm

Tested Ammonia at 8.00pm
Ammonia: 5.00ppm
NitrIte: Did not test
NitrAte: Did not test
PH: 7.6

 

[stormy78]

Day 30 (Monday 12th May)

Tested Ammonia at 8.00am
Ammonia: 1.00ppm
NitrIte: 1.00pm
NitrAte: 0.00 ppm
PH: 7.2

Tested Ammonia at 8.45pm
Ammonia: 0.00ppm
NitrIte: 5.00ppm
NitrAte: 40 ppm
PH: 6.8

The water looks a hell of a lot clearer after the water change and the algea seems ot be dying down, fingers crossed!

Ammonia raised to 5.00ppm at 8.45pm

 

[LionessN3cubs]

Day 30 (Monday 12th May)

Tested Ammonia at 8.00am
Ammonia: 1.00ppm
NitrIte: 1.00pm
NitrAte: 0.00 ppm
PH: 7.2

Tested Ammonia at 8.45pm
Ammonia: 0.00ppm
NitrIte: 5.00ppm
NitrAte: 40 ppm
PH: 6.8

The water looks a hell of a lot clearer after the water change and the algea seems ot be dying down, fingers crossed!

Ammonia raised to 5.00ppm at 8.45pm

Stormy, your not adding ammonia 2x's a day are you? I ask because I see that the post right before this says you added ammonia at 7:50 pm. Next morning test showed 1ppm of nitrite ...but then 12 hours later the test showed 5ppm...before you added the ammonia at 8:45 pm. If you added ammonia in the morning, that would explain the jump in nitrite but then more shouldnt have been added at the nightly testing. Just curious

 

[stormy78]

Stormy, your not adding ammonia 2x's a day are you? I ask because I see that the post right before this says you added ammonia at 7:50 pm. Next morning test showed 1ppm of nitrite ...but then 12 hours later the test showed 5ppm...before you added the ammonia at 8:45 pm. If you added ammonia in the morning, that would explain the jump in nitrite but then more shouldnt have been added at the nightly testing. Just curious

No Im only adding once a day once the Ammonia shows as 0.00. If the ammonia shows as 0.00 quickly I wait until the next 24 hour period before adding more to the mix. The API test can be hard to read sometimes but the NitrIte is definatly at 5.00ppm at present. I tested this morning and ammonia was around 2.00ppm and NitrIte was at 5.00ppm.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

looks like the water change kick started it a bit then.

 

[stormy78]

looks like the water change kick started it a bit then.

Hi MW! Hopefully, its day 31 today and I'm getting grief for not having fish in there yet lol. I wont add them though until I'm 100% sure the filter is mature enough to handle a fully stocked tank. I'm thinking of having some Rams and Apistogramma's in the tank and had a few questions about male to female ratio and how I should introduce them to the tank.

Male to Female ratio, generally I see people on here with a 1-1 ratio, is this ok or would I be better to have a 1 male to 2/3 females? This applies to both the Rams and Apisto's.

Introduction to the tank, as the are both Cichlids and territorial should I introduce both the Rams and Apistogramma at the same time so that there are no established territories?

Anybody out there have any advice?