Just Picked Up A 40Ltr Tank

[Welshweeks]

Hopefully TA, currently taking nitrite 24hrs to zero. Will have to look at my log from last year to see what sort of timescale it will take to zero in 12hrs. I'm thinking of not putting any fish in the tank just shrimp. I may stock to 2 different types, had a quick look and there are several species that will co-exist without cross-breeding apparently. 

Vallis just doesn't do well in any of my tanks.  That includes low, medium to high lighting, with & without liquid ferts & liquid Co2.  Must be something else in my water, although I'd like to try some of the corkscrew type in my 36 gallon.

The vallis in my large tank is doing ok (I dose that with TNC lite) I was thinking maybe it's the higher temp I've got it set at during the cycling.

 

[Welshweeks]

Still cycling!

 Day 35 !!
 
Nitrites still taking around 20 hrs to zero at the moment. I'm not 100% happy with the internal filter that I have which came with the tank so I've ordered the slightly bigger version of it. Hoping that will arrive in the next couple of days and then I can transfer all the media into that one and hopefully it will not upset the process.

 

[Welshweeks]

Day 40
 
I changed my filter yesterday to a slightly larger version, as I was a little concerned about the flow coming from the head (it seemed a little weak to me) and was able to add a bit more mature media to it and that seems to have broken the back of it!
 
I took my readings this morning and found that the nitrites were zero (13 Hrs) 

So I think I'm virtually there now.
 
The ammonia which has been zeroing in 12 hrs for long time was at 1.0ppm though so I'm not certain why but hopefully just a blip. I'll be dosing ammonia back to 2.0ppm this eve and then checking again in the morning.
 
Not long now (hopefully)! 

 

[greenmumma141]

  

 

[Welshweeks]

Don't celebrate yet! lol
 
Ammonia seems to have stoppped processing for some reason!
 
I've started another thread on it to see if anyone can shed some light upon it. Did an 80% water change earlier so I'm hoping things will go to plan in the next 24hrs! 
 
'Bloomin tank!!! 

 

[greenmumma141]

Hmm... I don't think its uncommon to hid a small speed bump with the ammonia, the nitrites are the big thing. You're almost there!!!

 

[Welshweeks]

Thanks for the positive word's I hope your right!

 

[daizeUK]

Lovely looking tank!

 

[Welshweeks]

Thanks, would be nice to actually get some shrimp in there! lol

 

[daizeUK]

Tried to post this earlier but was on my mobile and messed it up
I think someone already covered this in another thread but if you have been dosing ammonia every day, your nitrites would be very high which explains why they took so long to come down.  It also explains your high nitrates which could have crashed your KH/pH and stalled the ammonia cycle.  The water change should help fix that but if your ammonia doesn't start dropping again soon, check your pH and KH levels.  In future, you don't need to keep dosing ammonia every day, just a quarter dose every few days to keep the a-bacs alive is all you need while you wait for the n-bacs to catch up!

 

[Joshwainwright]

Looking great, I hope things start to move again for you soon though!
 
I'll be keeping a close eye on this as I'm planning on setting up a similar sized tank when I go to uni in September

 

[Welshweeks]

Tried to post this earlier but was on my mobile and messed it up

I think someone already covered this in another thread but if you have been dosing ammonia every day, your nitrites would be very high which explains why they took so long to come down.  It also explains your high nitrates which could have crashed your KH/pH and stalled the ammonia cycle.  The water change should help fix that but if your ammonia doesn't start dropping again soon, check your pH and KH levels.  In future, you don't need to keep dosing ammonia every day, just a quarter dose every few days to keep the a-bacs alive is all you need while you wait for the n-bacs to catch up!

Hi daize,
 
I was dosing every day as the ammonia was zeroing in 12hrs and I was dosing to 2ppm once every 24hrs. This is how I did my previous 180L tank which worked out fine. I think that the filter I had (which was a used one that came with the tank) wasn't working as well as it should have. I think there is some debate about when to add the ammonia but I've chosen to repeat the steps I took last time. As you've stated and are probably correct the nitrates could well have stalled the cycle. Hoping all will be back up to speed very soon!

 

[PlumbersMerchant]

nice read, looking forward to seeing the little guys in there. Best of luck

 

[Welshweeks]

Thanks.

 

[Welshweeks]

Looks like the cycle has well and truly crashed for reasons I don't know 

 
So, it's back to day 1 as far as I can see. I've done a 100% water change checked ammonia level in the tank which is obviously now zero, and know dosed 0.5ml of ammonia hoping to get a reading of 1ppm when I check in an hours time and basically go from there. I don't think there's anything else I can do. I've left the filer/media as is, as I don't see the point of putting new sponges/ceramics in? 
 
Any comments?