Fishless Cycling

[Nosnibor]

interesting. from what ive read, cardinals are just as sensitive to water conditions. Plus, they are like 2-3X more expensive

Strange, I've read up a lot and the difference seems to be the look (the Cardinal have a red mark the full length of their underneath), the size (they get to 2" where the Neons grow to 1.5"), the price (more fish for more money I guess) and that they were a little more hardy than the Neons - oh and they are a little more harder to get hold of in fish suppliers.

This was also confirmed with a couple of well established people on this forum. It might be worth creating a fresh topic regarding just this. I'd love to find out the definitive answer.

It will be interesting as I'be near the end of my fishless cycle and I think I will post my wish list on the forum for people to comment on - fingers crossed eh

Martin

 

[tlef316]

interesting. from what ive read, cardinals are just as sensitive to water conditions. Plus, they are like 2-3X more expensive

Strange, I've read up a lot and the difference seems to be the look (the Cardinal have a red mark the full length of their underneath), the size (they get to 2" where the Neons grow to 1.5"), the price (more fish for more money I guess) and that they were a little more hardy than the Neons - oh and they are a little more harder to get hold of in fish suppliers.

This was also confirmed with a couple of well established people on this forum. It might be worth creating a fresh topic regarding just this. I'd love to find out the definitive answer.

It will be interesting as I'be near the end of my fishless cycle and I think I will post my wish list on the forum for people to comment on - fingers crossed eh

Martin

i think the hardiness is certainly up for debate. it makes sense that the cardinals would be a little tougher, since they arent as mass produced as neons. As for finding them, im pretty lucky. ive got a great LFS about an hour from my house with a great selection of fish. They've got a whole tank full of them if i want.

 

[tlef316]

quick update: Not much change in the last 3 or 4 days. The tank can "eat" 3-4 ppm of amonia in 12-14 hours. nitrites are holding steady at around 2ppm. Out of curiosity, i checked nitrates today, and they are somewhere between 5 and 10. Is it possible that my cycle has stalled? Amonia is still going away at the same speed it was 3 or 4 days ago, and i havent even made a dent in the nitrites.

Im probably just being impatient. I kinda thought the end was near once my tank starting eating up the amonia in half a day. Do i just have to be more patient with the nitrite?

 

[Nosnibor]

quick update: Not much change in the last 3 or 4 days. The tank can "eat" 3-4 ppm of amonia in 12-14 hours. nitrites are holding steady at around 2ppm. Out of curiosity, i checked nitrates today, and they are somewhere between 5 and 10. Is it possible that my cycle has stalled? Amonia is still going away at the same speed it was 3 or 4 days ago, and i havent even made a dent in the nitrites.

Im probably just being impatient. I kinda thought the end was near once my tank starting eating up the amonia in half a day. Do i just have to be more patient with the nitrite?

I was going through the same my friend, best bet is to check your pH, if it drops too low (below 5.5 to 6.0) then the bacteria will stop developing and even die off I had that and I did a 25% water change and it kicked it all off again.

Up until yesterday my Nitrite was not going below 0.5mg, we installed all the plant life and today the Nitrite has just fallen more and more. Looks like tomorrow will be the shopping day for al the fish.

Good luck buddy

Martin

 

[tlef316]

quick update: Not much change in the last 3 or 4 days. The tank can "eat" 3-4 ppm of amonia in 12-14 hours. nitrites are holding steady at around 2ppm. Out of curiosity, i checked nitrates today, and they are somewhere between 5 and 10. Is it possible that my cycle has stalled? Amonia is still going away at the same speed it was 3 or 4 days ago, and i havent even made a dent in the nitrites.

Im probably just being impatient. I kinda thought the end was near once my tank starting eating up the amonia in half a day. Do i just have to be more patient with the nitrite?

I was going through the same my friend, best bet is to check your pH, if it drops too low (below 5.5 to 6.0) then the bacteria will stop developing and even die off I had that and I did a 25% water change and it kicked it all off again.

Up until yesterday my Nitrite was not going below 0.5mg, we installed all the plant life and today the Nitrite has just fallen more and more. Looks like tomorrow will be the shopping day for al the fish.

Good luck buddy

Martin

good thought, but thats not the case. My water is about 7.2-7.4 out of the tap. I just checked it, and its closer to 7.6. If anything, i may eventually have to take steps to lower it. Thanks for the idea though

 

[tlef316]

ok, now im really starting to think that my cycle has stalled. I just tested my water (about 18 hours since i last added amonia) and there is still some in the tank. (albeit a very small amount) For the past week or so, all amonia has been gone in 12-14 hours. What should i do? Nitrites are still at 2. Am i stalling?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

possibly stalled, do a 30% water change, add ammonia back up to 5ppm and test over the next 12 hrs

fingers crossed

 

[tlef316]

just did a 2nd test. This time it showed no amonia. Now im really confused. Still do water change?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes, it won't do any harm and may do some good.

 

[tlef316]

yes, it won't do any harm and may do some good.

ok thanks.

 

[tlef316]

did 30% water change (first one ever, no spills ) and added the amonia. Lets see how we do tonight

 

[tlef316]

well, it doesnt look like the water change did much at all. The amonia went away in a little more than 12 hours again, but nitrites havent moved. Still at 2 ppm. Im really starting to wish i hadnt done this fishless cycle. It just really doesnt seem like its worth the effort

 

[ziggyboy]

Just out of curiosity, would it be more effective to run a new filter in an established talk for a few days (or even a week) or borrow the filter media?

 

[Robris]

Is Ammonia bottles hard to find or do all fish shops sell it? I havent asked yet but will need to get some when i cycle my new tank in about a week

 

[ziggyboy]

Don't use cloudy ammonia you buy from Woolworths or Coles. They contain surfactants which will kill your fish later on after you finish your cycling. I heard someone tell me that pure ammonia without detergents/surfactants are not for sale in NSW anymore because they can be used for making bombs. They seem to still be widely availabe in Queensland so your best bet is to order online: https/www.onlyoz.com.au/superior-power-am...res-p-2146.html

That link is for a product called Power Ammonia which, according to QLD fishkeepers, only contain ammonia (10%) and water.