KateW
Fish Fanatic
Hurray! A zero for ammonia at last! 
Have redosed to 4 ppm - hopefully it will reduce nice and quick now.
Have redosed to 4 ppm - hopefully it will reduce nice and quick now.
Katew's Fishless Cycle Log
- Thread starter KateW
- Start date
Tizer
Team TetraTEC
Good good, now to start monitoring the Nitrite closely. 
KateW
Fish Fanatic
Another 24 hour zero for ammonia - and a sneaky 12 hour test this morning looked to be about 0.5 to me
Shall keep a close eye on the nitrite, hopefully it will come down to a colour actually on the chart sometime soon.
Shall keep a close eye on the nitrite, hopefully it will come down to a colour actually on the chart sometime soon.
Tizer
Team TetraTEC
might be temtpted to do a 50% water change Kate if its that high, cant hurt
KateW
Fish Fanatic
Would a bit of a top up do, do you think? Testing hour is 7 pm, if the ammonia is 0 on the next test then I might redose and then top it up a bit - the level has dropped a few inches since the initial fill. Probably room for ten litres or so in there.
KateW
Fish Fanatic
OK, comments noted. Tomorrow is water change day for the small tank day anyway, so I will do both together. I just topped up the ammonia before reading KittyKat's comment, so may as well leave it in there to be eaten up.
Three 24 hour zeros in a row - don't want to jinx anything but it seems to be going in the right direction.
Three 24 hour zeros in a row - don't want to jinx anything but it seems to be going in the right direction.
KateW
Fish Fanatic
So I did a 50% water change this morning. Before the change (15 hours after dosing) ammonia was 0.5 and nitrite was 5ppm +. I tested again after the change and both read 0, so I added 1ml ammonia to replace the 0.5.
At 24 hour testing this evening, ammonia was 0 and nitrite back up to 5 or more - instantly purple in the bottom of the test tube.
Ammonia has just been redosed to 4 ppm so I guess we'll see how it is looking tomorrow.
On the plus side, I didn't think there was any algae growing, but when I siphoned out the water, there were definitely a few bits in the bucket, so it must be good to get those out at an early stage I suppose.
At 24 hour testing this evening, ammonia was 0 and nitrite back up to 5 or more - instantly purple in the bottom of the test tube.
Ammonia has just been redosed to 4 ppm so I guess we'll see how it is looking tomorrow.
On the plus side, I didn't think there was any algae growing, but when I siphoned out the water, there were definitely a few bits in the bucket, so it must be good to get those out at an early stage I suppose.
KateW
Fish Fanatic
Thanks KK, I didn't realise very high nitrite would cause problems. It is instantly purple in the bottom of the tube again today and after 5 minutes is a dark pinky-purple colour- not really like any of the colours on the chart.
I did a pH test as well this evening, and it is 6.6 - this is the lowest reading so far on this tank, and lower than I have ever seen in my small established tank. When I last tested pH two days ago, it was about 7.4. Is this a significant drop in a short time? Do I need to worry and/or consider buffering up to something a little higher?
Any help appreciated, as always!
Edit - Actually, I have just been reading Stuart's log, and then re-read the fishless cycling article in the beginner's resource centre again and I'm a bit confused - how much ammonia should I be redosing now? I have had zero ammonia at 24 hours for five days running now, and 12 tests show only 0.5 left. Should I drop the dosing to 2 or 3 ppm to keep the nitrite level down?
I did a pH test as well this evening, and it is 6.6 - this is the lowest reading so far on this tank, and lower than I have ever seen in my small established tank. When I last tested pH two days ago, it was about 7.4. Is this a significant drop in a short time? Do I need to worry and/or consider buffering up to something a little higher?
Any help appreciated, as always!
Edit - Actually, I have just been reading Stuart's log, and then re-read the fishless cycling article in the beginner's resource centre again and I'm a bit confused - how much ammonia should I be redosing now? I have had zero ammonia at 24 hours for five days running now, and 12 tests show only 0.5 left. Should I drop the dosing to 2 or 3 ppm to keep the nitrite level down?
Nitrite + nitrate -> nitric acid, which has a tendancy of crashing the pH.. sounds like water change time
I generally recommend water changes over lowering dose, although in some cases, I do recommend lower dosing, depending on situation. Another option could be to do 2-3ppm dosing every 12 hours.. it very much depends on how much you want to experiment.
I generally recommend water changes over lowering dose, although in some cases, I do recommend lower dosing, depending on situation. Another option could be to do 2-3ppm dosing every 12 hours.. it very much depends on how much you want to experiment.
Tizer
Team TetraTEC
I did a high PH test on my main tank last night, it went off the scale with 8.6+
I did it again and it sat on 7.2. No idea what or why the first test went mental, i think i let a little wee into my pants when that happened.
I did it again and it sat on 7.2. No idea what or why the first test went mental, i think i let a little wee into my pants when that happened.
KateW
Fish Fanatic
So I did a quick 12 hour test this morning, and nitrite was 5+ and ammonia 0.5. I did a 30 % water change this morning before work after a bit of a panic. After the change the nitrite was down to 0 - and pH back up to a more normal 7.6.
24 hour tests show: 0 ammonia, 5+ nitrite! and pH 7.6 ish...
Sorry to hear about the wee incident Tizer
24 hour tests show: 0 ammonia, 5+ nitrite! and pH 7.6 ish...
Sorry to hear about the wee incident Tizer
KateW
Fish Fanatic
pH down a little again today, and nitrite still high again, for the 8th day in a row...
If it is still high tomorrow I will water change again.
Having to leave the other half in charge for two days over the weekend... it'll be fine, I'm sure...
If it is still high tomorrow I will water change again.
Having to leave the other half in charge for two days over the weekend... it'll be fine, I'm sure...
KateW
Fish Fanatic
So I went away for two days, and came back to be told that the ammonia hadn't processed and that the pH had crashed to 6.0 
On testing at the usual 24 hour mark yesterday, the ammonia was 0, the nitrite still high (instant purple) and pH was 7.6 or more! So I redosed ammonia to 2 ppm.
Today at 24 hour test, ammonia was still 1ppm - it seems to have gone from munching through a full 4 ppm in 24 hours to only 1 ppm. The nitrite is still difficult to put a number on - the colour isn't like any of them on the chart.
A couple of questions if I may:
1) Has the apparent pH crash slowed down the ammonia processing? Is this just temporary?
2) If nitrate + nitrite = nitric acid and therefore pH crash, is it possible that some nitrite has processed, and therefore the pH has risen again?
3) What can I do to get it back on track? Is it just a case of waiting till the bacteria rebuilds?
4) Is there nothing I can do to speed up the N-bac development?
Please help
On testing at the usual 24 hour mark yesterday, the ammonia was 0, the nitrite still high (instant purple) and pH was 7.6 or more! So I redosed ammonia to 2 ppm.
Today at 24 hour test, ammonia was still 1ppm - it seems to have gone from munching through a full 4 ppm in 24 hours to only 1 ppm. The nitrite is still difficult to put a number on - the colour isn't like any of them on the chart.
A couple of questions if I may:
1) Has the apparent pH crash slowed down the ammonia processing? Is this just temporary?
2) If nitrate + nitrite = nitric acid and therefore pH crash, is it possible that some nitrite has processed, and therefore the pH has risen again?
3) What can I do to get it back on track? Is it just a case of waiting till the bacteria rebuilds?
4) Is there nothing I can do to speed up the N-bac development?
Please help
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