Green Goddess's First Fishless Cycle (240 Ltr)

[waterdrop]

Hang in there GG! Yes, the 26C will make things a little slower than 29C would be but just think of this -- 50 days is a lot more than 20 days and 20 more days will take you out to 70, where we see a lot of stubborn fishless cycles finally turn the corner. You should be a good deal past halfway for that kind of case.

Have your nitrates(NO3) gone right back up to 110 again? Your nitrite and nitrate seem to spike really quickly. That's a shame because I picture your large tank as a lot of water to change if one wants to do a "kickstart" water change with ammonia and bicarb recharge.

Maybe I should go back on what I said about the filter media. Maybe next time we should indeed give them a gentle squeeze and empty the filer box so we get excess nitrates out of there.

WD

 

[greengoddess]

Hi WD

I haven't done a nitrate test for quite a while. It didn't seem worth the effort because after the last two water changes the nitrate was back up to 110 within 24-48 hours. I think the high nitrite result must be affecting the nitrate result. I have just about run out of N03 test solution so I have a complete API test kit on its way. I've been using a Nutrafin test kit so far so it will be interesting to see how the results compare, especially the nitrate reading.

I am also going away on holiday on 14th May for 10 days and I was hoping to have my two goldfish settled in their new tank before I go... now I am getting doubtful. There will also be nobody around to continue the cycle when I'm on my hols

I'll just have to hope that things get moving over the next few days. I have a little heater for my 25 litre tank that is not being used. Do you think it's worth sticking it in my 240 litre tank to try and boost the temperature a little?

Would using any of the tank water or water from the filter from my 25 litre tank help speed up the cycle in the large tank?

 

[waterdrop]

Not sure a heater that small would have any effect on a tank that big! Let's hope we start to get some better results soon. WD

 

[greengoddess]

Hi WD

There have been a few developments here. My API test kit arrived so I did a full range of tests to see how the results compared to my Nutrafin kit. According to the API kit, my nitrite and nitrate leves are both ZERO

. I couldn't believe it so I did the tests again and I got the same result. I have now decided that the nitrite and nitrate levels must have been so high that the API kit couldn't cope. As soon as I added the nitrite drops the water went dark purple but then gradually went clear after 5 minutes. My logic tells me that if the nitrite level really was zero then the water wouldn't have gone dark purple straight away. My Nutrafin kit still says the nitrite level is 3.3 (maximum)

The API pH test confirmed that the pH is 7.5 which is fine.

So, seeing as the nitrite (and possibly the nitrate) level was so high I decided to do yet another full water change this afternoon. I also added an additional (small) heater to the tank two days ago but the temperature is still struggling to get above 25.5 celcius now. I have another theory on that... the main tank heater is held within the filter and pump housing. I told you a few days ago that the small woolly pad in the filter was all clogged up. I wondered if the clogged pad was reducing the flow of water through the filter which would also mean reduced flow past the heater causing a drop in temperature. Anyway, I took it upon myself to rinse out the pad in tank water.

I've just dosed the new water with ammonia so we'll have to wait and see what happens. I hope my actions haven't harmed the cycle

One last question: Would squeezing out the water from the sponges from my existing 25 litre tank into my new 240 litre tank help speed up the cycle?

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, with the API nitrite(NO2) test you can tell a lot by the color of the initial drops. Usually when its going to end up begin zero, the drops will be bright aqua blue in the bottom of the test tube. When its going to be "off the chart" high, they will be dark shiny purple or even sometimes a weird metallic green sort of look. The very high nitrite is then described in various ways over the 5 minute wait as going clear or grayish or greenish/grayish... that sort of thing. If if were zero it would go a beautiful clear light blue, very unmistakable once you've seen it.

To address your other questions, no I don't think you will have hurt anything by going in to deal with the media in your filter, sometimes you just have to do those things. Your theory sounds good, maybe your change will improve things! And by all means, anytime you have some other filter that can be cleaned out in a fishless cycling tank's water then do it, it certainly can't hurt!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[greengoddess]

Thanks WD

Sounds as if my suspicion was correct about the high nitrite and nitrate levels then. I tested the fresh water after 12 hours and the ammonia had already dropped to zero and the nitrite was already back up to full strength. It looks like the ammonia processing bacteria are having a whale of a time and are having no trouble. I just need those nitrite killers to start appearing.

The temperature is still struggling to get above 26 celcius and I can't figure out why. When I first set up the tank, 28 degrees was not a problem for the heater. This won't be a concern when I eventually get my fish in the tank but it's annoying during the cycle when I could really do with 29 degrees.

 

[waterdrop]

Well I hate that your nitrite spike phase is being so long but I can't really say that a small 2 or 3 degrees cooler would make that much a difference in the speed of your N-Bac development. Sure would be nice to see those nitrites get down off their high horse. Hope you have a nice weekend. I'm not going anywhere so I guess I should clean my filter during the water change this time. WD

 

[greengoddess]

I'm just wondering if my lazy water change method is affecting the growth of the N-Bacs. I have been adding the necessary quantity of de-chlorinator to the empty tank and then filling the tank with a hose (50% cold water first followed by 50% hot water which ends up with a final temp of 29 degrees celcius).

I checked the water temp today with a different thermometer and it read 28 celcius. Perhaps my current thermometer is a bit dodgy (99p electronic one off eBay

)

 

[Dan-CR4]

I'm just wondering if my lazy water change method is affecting the growth of the N-Bacs. I have been adding the necessary quantity of de-chlorinator to the empty tank and then filling the tank with a hose (50% cold water first followed by 50% hot water which ends up with a final temp of 29 degrees celcius).

I dont see that being a problem, I filled mine in exactly the same way when i was fishless cycling, doing hot water then cold water to try and reach the right temperature and adding aqua plus when the tank was half full. It worked ok for me.

 

[greengoddess]

Thanks Dan, I think I'll just have to be patient with this cycle.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree, those things don't sound different than other people (my self included) do. Simple weighted glass float/suction thermometers are really cheap, so it should be easy to pick one up next time you are browsing fish and bring it home as a second check.

~~waterdrop~~
ps. I hate it when one of our most diligent fishless cyclers is not rewarded with a nice quick one month process, arghh!

 

[greengoddess]

Thanks WD

I suppose I'll just have to be patient. I am going away for 10 days on 14th May and there'll be no-one around to continue the cycle for me

The chances of getting my two goldfish in the tank by then are now looking slim.

 

[greengoddess]

Hi WD

I have an oxygenator attachment for my tank and I was thinking of putting it in as the bacteria like oxygenated water. Perhaps this would speed up their development. The downside is that I've noticed it cools the water by about 3 or 4 degrees (probably by injecting it with cool air from the room). What would you do? More oxygen but lower water temperature or ideal temperature but less oxygen? My tank is a rectangular 240 litre so there is a large surface area for oxygen to permeate the water already.

Other than that idea, nothing has changed here at all.

 

[waterdrop]

Gosh I have no idea which might be better between those two choices. Really sorry to continue to hear of the trip conflict. Are there not tons of people there needing extra work who might be doing an "attache" service similar to pet-sitting? We seem to have people like that all over where I am. They will do anything for some extra money and to me it seems not that hard to find someone deemed safe, but of course I can't know your situation.

~~wd~~

 

[greengoddess]

I suppose I *might* be able to find someone to dose the tank just the once while I am away. That should hopefully keep the bacteria alive until I return.

I have another question. This seems a blindingly obvious solution but I know there must be a reason why I can't do this... I already have a 25ltr tank fully cycled with two healthy goldfish in it. Why can't I just take the sponges out of the filter and put them in the filter of my 240ltr tank? Yes, the bacteria population on the small sponges won't be able to process 240 litres of water with 3ppm of ammonia but if I stop adding ammonia and just put my two goldfish in the tank then why wouldn't it work? Those little sponges are already processing the ammonia and nitrite from my two fish so why would it be any different if the same sponges and the same two fish were in the larger tank? Am I missing something really obvious here?