Hello New Here I Am 3/4's Into My Fishless Cycle

[scouse_george]

The real question is not about time George. We always judge a cycle by the chemical readings that we get when starting from a known condition.

are my readings bad? so all i need to do is keep checking my amm and wait till its 0 and then top up? when could i get fish and when will the cycle be over?

every cycle is different could take a month could take 3 months
too hard to say without regular test results

i have no nirate which is good and i have some nirates which is good fish could be in the tank if the ammonia is 0 or is that wrong? all i have to do is get rid of the ammonia so i can have fish is that right? but i aint got enough money for fish yet so i need to keep topping up the ammonia until i can get fish is that right? this is what i have been told

 

[OldMan47]

Your readings are not bad at all George. They cause some suspicion with me because with no nitrites I would expect rather high nitrates. That is why I am speculating that the plants you have may be the main way you have of removing ammonia. If that is true, by no means proven, then you are not far along in your cycling effort. A few days of consistent readings with known starting points for your ammonia levels may give us a clue about where your cycle presently is hanging out. That would then give us an idea of what to suggest going forward.

 

[jacko32]

Your readings are not bad at all George. They cause some suspicion with me because with no nitrites I would expect rather high nitrates. That is why I am speculating that the plants you have may be the main way you have of removing ammonia. If that is true, by no means proven, then you are not far along in your cycling effort. A few days of consistent readings with known starting points for your ammonia levels may give us a clue about where your cycle presently is hanging out. That would then give us an idea of what to suggest going forward.

the test results look to me like the nitrite hasnt spiked yet as the levels of nitrate look to be around the levels found in tap water but as oldman said its really speculation on our part
the best thing you can do is log down some test results over the next week or so while your saving for your fish the last thing you want to happen is loosing all your fish due to the nitrite spiking

 

[scouse_george]

Your readings are not bad at all George. They cause some suspicion with me because with no nitrites I would expect rather high nitrates. That is why I am speculating that the plants you have may be the main way you have of removing ammonia. If that is true, by no means proven, then you are not far along in your cycling effort. A few days of consistent readings with known starting points for your ammonia levels may give us a clue about where your cycle presently is hanging out. That would then give us an idea of what to suggest going forward.

the test results look to me like the nitrite hasnt spiked yet as the levels of nitrate look to be around the levels found in tap water but as oldman said its really speculation on our part
the best thing you can do is log down some test results over the next week or so while your saving for your fish the last thing you want to happen is loosing all your fish due to the nitrite spiking

ok mate, i also had loads of nitrite but now its 0

 

[scouse_george]

i have had nitrite then it went to 0

 

[Ryefish]

You should pick a time of day that is suitable for testing and then dosing ammonia, like 8pm for example, so that when it comes to your 12 hour testing you can easily test at 8am on the dot.
So it goes: test 8pm, if your ammonia has dropped to 0 at that test, you dose up to 3/4ppm's (i havent read what levels the others have suggested), if not, you leave it until 8pm the next day and test for the same - whilst recording it all in a notepad or on the forum so you know where your at. When your ammonia starts dropping you can test for nitrites at your 8pm tests.
Its the point when your nitrites hit 0 on the 24 hour mark (8pm for example) that you begin your 12 hour tests and test the water at 8am, whilst still doing your 8pm tests and dosing.
You carry this on every day until the end of your qualifying week at the end of your cycle. It gives more accurate results.

Does that make sense?
Do you have a log of your cycle noted down anywhere?

Advice was always accurate, main problem was you.

Grow up. This is a place for advice, not bickering, so leave it in PM's and not on the forum.

 

[Dan-CR4]

hi george,

stick with this forum, there are some really nice knowledgeable people on here. i was a member on another forum (i wont mention its name) but some of the staff there were rude and had their head up there arses but i have found this forum nothing but friendly, and the members and staff here have not got attitude problems (unless of course they are visiting from the other forums). listen to what advice they give and they will get you through the rest of your cycle.

good luck

Danny

 

[clothahump]

If you do not want to bicker why your attitude??? without it I would not have replied.

 

[Dan-CR4]

as said george, im sure members here will help you get your cycle finished.

 

[lljdma06]

Your readings are not bad at all George. They cause some suspicion with me because with no nitrites I would expect rather high nitrates. That is why I am speculating that the plants you have may be the main way you have of removing ammonia. If that is true, by no means proven, then you are not far along in your cycling effort. A few days of consistent readings with known starting points for your ammonia levels may give us a clue about where your cycle presently is hanging out. That would then give us an idea of what to suggest going forward.

the test results look to me like the nitrite hasnt spiked yet as the levels of nitrate look to be around the levels found in tap water but as oldman said its really speculation on our part
the best thing you can do is log down some test results over the next week or so while your saving for your fish the last thing you want to happen is loosing all your fish due to the nitrite spiking

There are plants in the tank. That is what is messing up the readings. The plants will readily consume all three forms; ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. If he were planted very heavily, which he is not, he could bypass a fishless cycle all together.

Just so you know, George does tend to have some quite strange results, I have a feeling it is due to irregular dosing of ammonia and inaccurate readings.

Just so you know, George does tend to have some quite strange results, I have a feeling it is due to irregular dosing of ammonia and inaccurate readings.

lol this is the head admin on tff, anyway i listened to the people on your forum on how to top up so i guess they are wrong anyway we can leave all the terrible advice to your forum, anyway sorry about that my ammonia reading is between 0.25/0.50 when should i do another ammonia check?

Shall we stay on topic please. We need not refer to other forums. More than likely, the plants are throwing things off.

llj

EDIT: I've done some cleaning. If you have issues with your plants, you are welcome to visit my neck of the woods.

 

[scouse_george]

hi george,

stick with this forum, there are some really nice knowledgeable people on here. i was a member on another forum (i wont mention its name) but some of the staff there were rude and had their head up there arses but i have found this forum nothing but friendly, and the members and staff here have not got attitude problems (unless of course they are visiting from the other forums). listen to what advice they give and they will get you through the rest of your cycle.

good luck

Danny

thanks for the good luck mate

You should pick a time of day that is suitable for testing and then dosing ammonia, like 8pm for example, so that when it comes to your 12 hour testing you can easily test at 8am on the dot.
So it goes: test 8pm, if your ammonia has dropped to 0 at that test, you dose up to 3/4ppm's (i havent read what levels the others have suggested), if not, you leave it until 8pm the next day and test for the same - whilst recording it all in a notepad or on the forum so you know where your at. When your ammonia starts dropping you can test for nitrites at your 8pm tests.
Its the point when your nitrites hit 0 on the 24 hour mark (8pm for example) that you begin your 12 hour tests and test the water at 8am, whilst still doing your 8pm tests and dosing.
You carry this on every day until the end of your qualifying week at the end of your cycle. It gives more accurate results.

Does that make sense?
Do you have a log of your cycle noted down anywhere?

Advice was always accurate, main problem was you.

Grow up. This is a place for advice, not bickering, so leave it in PM's and not on the forum.

hi mate i think it makes sense because i did this i topped up just uner 4m of ammonia at around 6pm yesterday evening and i did a ammonia test between 6/7pm tonight and the reading was 0.25/0.50 i just got back from my nans now what should i do ? should i do a test on the ammonia again? i aint tested my nirate which was 5 yesterday nor my nitrate which has been 0 and my ph has been 7.6 also for awhile, also can someone tell me why clothahumpa has put 2 comments on my profile typing my email address which i kept private but he decides to make a comment which said my email address, and he also made another comment which was some sort or code?

 

[Dan-CR4]

Hi George,

im no expert as im still cycling my first tank/filter. i have a few questions for you.

1. what size tank in litres have you got?
2. do some tests on your tap water for us, include what your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph are. just need to know what they are stright out the tap.
3. have you kept a log of the daily tests you have been doing up til now?

if you put all this info in the first post of this thread it will help the more experianced cyclers help you out. keeping a good record on the first post is good so when people need to help you out they can look at the history of your cycle and see at what point in your cycle you are at.

if you click on my fishless cycle link at the bottom of my post you will see i have kept a record of everyday and time i have done tests or done water changes. you dont need to use a datbase program like i have used you just need to do a history table like below (this is taken from ryefish cycle) it will give you an idea of what i mean, then each day just edit the first post of this thread and add that days results

Day 1 - Ph: 7.4, Amm: 0.5, Ni: 0.25, Na: 10
Day 2 - PH: 7.4, Amm: 5, Ni: 0.50, Na: 20
Day 3 - PH: 7.4, Amm: 4, Ni: 1.0, Na: 20
Day 4 - PH: 7.4, Amm: 3, Ni: 2, Na: 20
Day 5 - PH: 7.2, Amm: 1, Ni: 1.0, Na: 20
Day 6 - PH: 6.6, Amm: 0.25, Ni: 5+, Na: 5.0

all this takes a few extra minutes each day but really helps out the guys that watch the cycles going on here. remember these updates must be at the same time every day.

Danny

 

[scouse_george]

Hi George,

im no expert as im still cycling my first tank/filter. i have a few questions for you.

1. what size tank in litres have you got?
2. do some tests on your tap water for us, include what your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph are. just need to know what they are stright out the tap.
3. have you kept a log of the daily tests you have been doing up til now?

if you put all this info in the first post of this thread it will help the more experianced cyclers help you out. keeping a good record on the first post is good so when people need to help you out they can look at the history of your cycle and see at what point in your cycle you are at.

if you click on my fishless cycle link at the bottom of my post you will see i have kept a record of everyday and time i have done tests or done water changes. you dont need to use a datbase program like i have used you just need to do a history table like below (this is taken from ryefish cycle) it will give you an idea of what i mean, then each day just edit the first post of this thread and add that days results

Day 1 - Ph: 7.4, Amm: 0.5, Ni: 0.25, Na: 10
Day 2 - PH: 7.4, Amm: 5, Ni: 0.50, Na: 20
Day 3 - PH: 7.4, Amm: 4, Ni: 1.0, Na: 20
Day 4 - PH: 7.4, Amm: 3, Ni: 2, Na: 20
Day 5 - PH: 7.2, Amm: 1, Ni: 1.0, Na: 20
Day 6 - PH: 6.6, Amm: 0.25, Ni: 5+, Na: 5.0

all this takes a few extra minutes each day but really helps out the guys that watch the cycles going on here. remember these updates must be at the same time every day.

Danny

i have the results wrote down and for the past few days its been ph 7.6 amm 0.25 nitrite 0 and nitrate 5, i aint checked my since around 7pm tonight i will go do a check now

 

[scouse_george]

just done a ammonia test and its 0 if not within an hour it will be, now i dont fully know what i have to do, from what i got told on a previous forum which i now dont use is keep taking results everyday around the same time and post them and i have been doing that, and i had loads of nitrite now i have 0 nitrite my ph is good its been 7.6 for ages ( in the blue ) and my nitrates have been 5/10, now i dont know what i have to do now so much is getting said and i cant take it all in as i am new to fish keeping, what i think i have to do from reading what people have said here is keep doing ammonia tests at one stage then 6/12 hours later do another and then top up ammonia again, now i think its too late in topping up now ? see i dunno what to do i dunno when to do my next test i aint sure how much ammonia to add in my tank, i know people have explained but its hard to take in so much at once and expect me to know and understand what to do/what people mean

 

[scouse_george]

Hi George,

im no expert as im still cycling my first tank/filter. i have a few questions for you.

1. what size tank in litres have you got?
2. do some tests on your tap water for us, include what your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph are. just need to know what they are stright out the tap.
3. have you kept a log of the daily tests you have been doing up til now?

if you put all this info in the first post of this thread it will help the more experianced cyclers help you out. keeping a good record on the first post is good so when people need to help you out they can look at the history of your cycle and see at what point in your cycle you are at.

if you click on my fishless cycle link at the bottom of my post you will see i have kept a record of everyday and time i have done tests or done water changes. you dont need to use a datbase program like i have used you just need to do a history table like below (this is taken from ryefish cycle) it will give you an idea of what i mean, then each day just edit the first post of this thread and add that days results

Day 1 - Ph: 7.4, Amm: 0.5, Ni: 0.25, Na: 10
Day 2 - PH: 7.4, Amm: 5, Ni: 0.50, Na: 20
Day 3 - PH: 7.4, Amm: 4, Ni: 1.0, Na: 20
Day 4 - PH: 7.4, Amm: 3, Ni: 2, Na: 20
Day 5 - PH: 7.2, Amm: 1, Ni: 1.0, Na: 20
Day 6 - PH: 6.6, Amm: 0.25, Ni: 5+, Na: 5.0

all this takes a few extra minutes each day but really helps out the guys that watch the cycles going on here. remember these updates must be at the same time every day.

Danny

my tank is 213 litres i think i will do measurements tomorrow but will need help no how to find out how many litres my tank holds