Gvilleguy's Fishless Cycle Log

[waterdrop]

First ammonia drop often takes this long and if we consider that you had very little mineral content, that would have contributed to making it slower I think. I'm guessing that Chapel Hill and Greenville water supplies may be similar appalachian piedmont lake type setups and our water chem may indeed be quite similar. I hope that by starting you earlier using bicarb we may help yours go faster. WD

 

[drobbyb]

WD, he lives pretty close to me so I am sure he will run into the same problem you and I share with our really soft water. Bicarb is great for fishless cycles, but we need to start thinking of what to do after the cycle completes if his pH plummets between water changes.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, I guess it will be the CC question. What's your hunch?

 

[drobbyb]

Hopefully he won't experience a large pH shift between water changes and will have to do nothing, but many people around here experience sudden drops. A good start would be for him to read the article that we wrote, and if it's too technical I will gladly answer his questions to the best of my ability Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst has always been a nice guideline for me, and a little education is never a bad thing.

 

[Gvilleguy]

I appreciate both of your availability as I learn the ropes here. It's great to have a forum like this to fall back on.

 

[waterdrop]

[sorry for the off topic but Robby would you have a look at the AKGrown thread - the crux of it may be a question about N-Bacs needing carbonate but wondered if you had any thoughts, maybe remind me to pm you --wd]

 

[Gvilleguy]

Holy Nitrogen Cycle, Batman!! We finally got a nitrite hit! 0.50 ppm today. I'll take it. After looking at slow-to-change ammonia numbers for over 3 weeks, it's nice to see the 2nd part of this cycle kick in. I'll take the little victories. I think the Fluval canister filter has made a BIG difference in my tank.

 

[waterdrop]

Good development GG, that's the way it should go. WD

 

[Gvilleguy]

Things happening rapidly now in the tank. 4.0 ppm of ammonia consumed in 24 hours. Nitrite = 5.0 (highest reading on the test) and nitrate = 5.0 (the lowest reading above zero). Added 3 ml of ammonia to get ppm back up to 4.0.

 

[Gvilleguy]

What is the "qualifying week" that I am seeing referenced in some cycling threads? I don't see anything describing what it is or how to do it.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I believe it is defined by being 7 days more of adding ammonia and seeing it converted to nitrates within 12 hours, to truely confirm the tank is cycled and ready for non-bottom dwelling fish.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Okay - that makes sense! Sounds like a plan. Thanks!

 

[PDSimon]

Yeah, its just to ensure the tank settles before you add fish, you're testing every 12 hours ensuring both ammonia and nitrite are back to 0 after daily 5ppm doses of ammonia

- note that you don't add 5ppm every 12 hours, just at set 24 hour periods but you test to ensure they are 0 after 12 hours too.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Yeah, its just to ensure the tank settles before you add fish, you're testing every 12 hours ensuring both ammonia and nitrite are back to 0 after daily 5ppm doses of ammonia

- note that you don't add 5ppm every 12 hours, just at set 24 hour periods but you test to ensure they are 0 after 12 hours too.

Actually, I did not realize that - adding every 24 hours and checking every 12. I guess the bacteria don't starve when they go 12 hours without food. Thanks for letting me know that.

 

[PDSimon]

They can problably last longer than we think!

be sure to stick to one time where you add ammonia

Heres a quote from waterdrop

"Yes, dosing the ammonia at a consistent time of the 24 hour day accomplishes two things:

1) It helps restrict how much overall nitrogen you are inputting to the system. (If you add ammonia any time you see that its zero, you could end up putting a lot more ammonia in and creating a lot more excess nitrite and eventually nitrate. So the behavior of being quick with the dosing bottle can end up actually slowing down your cycle.)

2) By sticking with a pretty consistent time, you help to make the eventual results you are reading behave in a more consistent way. The "dose" of ammonia can be thought of as the initial "pulse" that starts a sine wave of ammonia and then a sine wave of nitrite going across the following 24 hours, kind of like waves in the ocean. If your pulse is more consistent, your waves are somewhat more consistent later when you come back to test at 12 and 24 hours. This sometimes helps your multi-day trend to jump around a little less."