Hit A Wall While Cycleing.

[Stroker]

5 gallon tank started 5/4/07

Date Nitrate Amonia
5/5/07 0 6
5/7/07 0 1 added 6 drops
5/8/07 0 3
5/11/07 20 3
5/14/07 0 2
5/15/07 0 1
5/16/07 0 2
5/17/07 2

So what gives? Why is it going back up and why did it drop so soon in the begining?

 

[GoldLenny]

Between your user name and your sub-title, I was worried you were in the wrong forum. LOL

What is your GH and KH and pH?

Quite often for people with soft water or water with low KH, the pH will crash because the N-bacteria utilize KH in their processing of ammonia/nitrites. When this happens, the bacteria stop growing and can actually die off some.

Re-post your numbers also.

You should be tracking Ammonia first, then NitrItes and not worry about NitrAtes until the end when you do a large water change to lower the nitrAtes to safe levels.

So set up your numbers like this and although your pH will bounce around, if it crashes too low even after adding ammonia (high pH), then you may have the KH problem as described above.

Date Ammonia (drops added) Ammonia (level) NitrItes (level) pH (level)


You should also establish your Tap/Source water baseline as I outline on my most recent blog. Click the link in my sig.

 

[Stroker]

Actually I did accedently post it in the wrong place so if a mod wants to move it to the newbie forum feel free. As far as my name I've been called that for as long as I can remember, it's an old CB handle that I picked up due to my choice hot rod motors. I really dont know what GH and KH are but here is what I have been keeping reacord of. My test kit consists of an amonia test tube and a single test strip for the rest.

Heres my 10 gallon I started before I knew about fishles cycling. Its about 5 1/2 months old. I didn't learn about needing to test till about a month ago and just started keeping a reacord this month as you can see. Looks like it's due a water change.
Date Nitrate Nitrite Hardness Chlorine Alkalinity pH Amonia
5/1/07 15 0 25 0 10 6.8 0
5/4/07 20 0 50 0 20 6.5 0
5/8/07 20 0 0 0 40 6.6 .5
5/11/07 20 0 25 0 0 6.5
5/18/07 30 0 50 0 0 6.8 0



5 gallon 16 drops on 5/4/07
Date Nitrate Nitrite Hardness Chlorine Alkalinity pH Amonia
5/5/07 0 0 0000 6
5/7/07 0 0 0000 1 added 6 drops
5/8/07 0 0 0000 3
5/11/07 20 0 0000 3
5/14/07 0 00000 2
5/15/07 0 0 0000 1
5/16/07 0 0 0000 2
5/17/07 000000 2
5/18/07 0 0 25 0 80 7.2 2

heres my plain tap water
0 0 0 0 0 7

 

[GoldLenny]

GH is General Hardness (in simple terms). KH is Carbonate Hardness. Your "hardness" level is probably GH so it is kind of low meaning you have soft water. More than likely your KH is very low which is what is possibly causing your cycling stall.

Your alkalinity test (which is primarily made up of KH) results seem to be bouncing all over the place in your established tank and in your fishless cycling tank... but it could be the way the numbers are typed since they did not fall into columns. In the established tank, the test results, if I'm reading them correctly went from 10 to 20 to 40 to 0 and stayed at 0. These seem very inaccurate to me. Look at your log and edit the post if needed. I believe some editing is needed.

On your cycling tank, you show 0 for hardness and alkalinity all the way until the last numbers where they jump up to 25 and 80 respectively. Did you do a partial water change? You are also showing 0 for the pH on the cycling tank and we know that's not accurate or maybe you weren't keeping track. Let me know. Also, you started with an ammonia level of 6 but when the ammonia went down to 1, you were suppose to raise it back to 4-5ppm. Do not go over 4-5ppm as too much ammonia can also stall the cycle. You should have gotten a nitrite reading when the ammonia level dropped. Are you using any kind of water conditioner or dechlor product that advertises that it neutralizes ammonia too? It's best not to use these types of (ammonia locking) products when fishless cycling as many test kits are confused by these products.

For you plain tap water, you are showing 7 as your final number which in your other charts is the ammonia reading. I'm guessing the 7 is suppose to be pH on your plain tap water. Is there no hardness or alkalinity reading on your tap/source water?

Since I am still missing a lot of data, it's hard to come to a conclusion. See if you can answer some or all of my questions. Also, bring the ammonia level back up to 4-5ppm in your fishless cycling tank AFTER you do a 25% PWC (partial water change).... just in case it's a low KH or pH issue so the PWC will add more KH into the tank.

 

[Stroker]

I'm posting this from our emails so others can learn if they are following.

From what I recall in your thread, Screen 1 is of your tank that you
>cycled
with fish before you realized the harm it does. I'm curious as to why your alkalinity was showing up in the first 3 tests and then 0 in the last two.

Me too.

How often are you doing 25% PWC's?

Never on the new tanks (till today) I was doing a 50% change every month via my father in laws instructions (he has several tanks so I thought he knew what he was talking about) now that I realize fish deaths aren't so common I know how wrong he was. Now at least every other week.

You should enter columns for when you do a PWC and how much. And add a Notes column and keep track of any meds or treatments, etc., that you might add to the tank and whether the test results were before or after the PWC or meds/treatment.

Done.

On the fishless cycling tanks, you should be bringing the ammonia back up to 4-5ppm each time it drops down to 1ppm. Otherwise, the N-bacteria will start to die off if not enough ammonia to eat.

That was the plan and when it dropped to 1.5 I planned to do it the next morning but when I tested just before I added the level went up on its own and sat at 2 for a few days. Thats what threw me off. You asked earlier what additives I have added. Tetra Aqua Aqua Safe. I add that to all my tanks. I also added AlgaeFix a few times to my 10 gallon.