My Cycle Diary

[paulbr1]

Had a little panic on last night - ph down from 7.6 to 6.8 I did a 20% WC but this morning the ph is still 6.8 I know 20% wouldn't bring it right back but are the ph drops usually quite severe and constant?

Nitrite seems to be moving as @ 12 hours yesterday it was 5ppm today at 12 hours it is 3ppm.

What do you think on the old ph front, is it worth doing a large WC (260l tank)

Paul.

 

[paulbr1]

Bump, Nitrite is now a stable 0ppm for three days running @ the 24 hour mark.

Long may the light blue reign!

Paul.

 

[waterdrop]

Paul, you are in to that final stretch of fishless cycling where you are just waiting for enough N-Bacs to grow to bring nitrite down to zero in 12 hours instead of 24 hours. You also are experiencing lowered pH, and your nitrates(NO3) have built up to 80+ levels. All those things put together would say to me that if its convenient on weekends, a 70 to 90% (preferably 90% but personally I like to leave my filter going and sometimes don't want to bend plants over too much etc.) water change with a recharge of ammonia would be great for your cycle and would also give you practice with the details of your Python operation and gravel cleaning technique etc.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[paulbr1]

Hi, cheers I may put my filters in the other tank while changing as a 90% will be a big job.

I was wondering about the Nitrites as well, I have been watching a couple of cycles going on and noticed Smoothy's N's seem to stay @ 5 then drop suddenly to 0ppm in an hour or so, do you think that the Nbacs could be so high off of the scale (say 50ppm) and that they are being steadily taken care of but possibly clearing @5ppm per hour?

May sound sad thinking like this but the science keeps me thinking..

Paul

 

[paulbr1]

Bump 5ppm Nitrite @ 12 hours

Paul

 

[Smoothy]

... we're having the same trouble

I don't know if mine is clearing within the last hour ... the latest I've checked it is 14-15 hours mark I think (that's midnight for me) ... but even then it's still 5ppm ... but low and behold in the morning (24 hours) it's that lovely baby blue colour and has been for what seems like forever

Think I might set my alarm to wake me up each hour through the night and see when it's actually clearing

 

[paulbr1]

Those little Nbacs can't seem to make their mind up, I thought that once they started to drop they would continue but Up& Down!!

Give me a break.

Oh nearly forgot my plecs have been playing happy families again - I spotted two little pinkies yesterday and at least a couple more under the bog wood (too dark to confirm no.) maybe looking for a fish swap in South Yorkshire soon (6wk) anybody?

 

[waterdrop]

Those little Nbacs can't seem to make their mind up, I thought that once they started to drop they would continue but Up& Down!!
<...>

Mine took forever, went up and down and were hard to figure out and most of the cases I've helped with where the person has reported steadily along through the cycle have seemed this way. Eventually though the double zero came at 12 hours and I've never seen it trace either toxin since.

For each recharge of 5ppm ammonia, the A-Bacs produce about 13.5ppm of nitrite(NO2), which is a big surge for the fledgling N-Bac colony to deal with. Because its the indirect processing, after the A-Bacs have taken time, its less predictable and so when we take our "snapshot" test of what's going on at 12 hours, we will see different places on the graph curve of this nitrite surge that comes through in a not-so-steady manner I think.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[paulbr1]

Had to do a water change the other day as the ph dropped to 6.2-4 (50%)

Nitrite has now slowed to 5+ at 24hours, but I think it was from the 130L gravel vac, looks like there was loads of Nbac in the Substrate - I think next time I may give it a big stir first to capture the Cloud in the filter (only if fishless of course).

Paul.

 

[waterdrop]

So I'm forgetting, what is it that's hard about a 90% water change for you? Are you not able to run your gravel vac out the window or to the bathroom tub? Do your filter intake pipes not reach low enough in the tank that you can just leave the filter running? I'm sure you have a big tank (have forgotten now..) but its great to work out a "system" that makes these water changes a relatively easy and automatic thing. I'm able to clean and dry the bucket and cup I use as a spill catch while the fresh tap water is furiously filling the tank from the bathroom tap, so I'm almost done with the process once the tank is filled, just have to add the other half of the conditioner and rearrange the gravel and recharge the plant fertilizers and its all over with.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[paulbr1]

Hmmm. I ran out of Dechlorinator and it is 260L in all, tank is min 18ft from the nearest door but that's no excuse as I have a hose pipe.

I am a bit worried as to how to raise the temp before the bacs are damaged with cold water - I can boil water but not quick enough.

Paul.

 

[waterdrop]

Next time I'm in UK I'm just going to have to get some of you guys to give me the hot water system tours ... have you got one of those UK ones where the hot drinking water circulates all the time throughout the radiators to keep the house warm? I keep needing the lecture from the UK guys who understand this... is it a definate thing that these systems are just dumping too much copper or other heavy metals into the hot water?

The point of view that I'm coming from is a glass-lined USA system where you could fill an entire 50 gallons with burning hot water straight from the tap. Adjusting the mix to match the existing tank temp and then having it flow straight into the tank is no big deal. Of course, now another thing is that cold water shouldn't really hurt the bacteria, just slow down their division rate for a bit but not kill them. Personally, I've always perferred to "coddle" them and try to keep them dividing at a high rate all through the fishless cycle but it could be that a big water change would still be better, even if you could only do enough hot kettles to take the freezing sting off... And check out the pond dechlor products. They are cheaper. You can even stand there in the LFS read the instrucs and try to calc out in your head which works out cheapest.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Dave125]

Next time I'm in UK I'm just going to have to get some of you guys to give me the hot water system tours ... have you got one of those UK ones where the hot drinking water circulates all the time throughout the radiators to keep the house warm? I keep needing the lecture from the UK guys who understand this... is it a definate thing that these systems are just dumping too much copper or other heavy metals into the hot water?

Hot drinking water NEVER circulates through the rads.
In a conventional system, the boiler (indirectly) heats the water stored in a copper cylinder, which is used for drinking / bathing (much like your glass lined one).
This is done by pumping the heated water from the boiler through a coiled element in that cylinder.
The hot water that is pumped through that element is the same as that pumped through the rads, and controlled by a zone valve which either calls for heat or hot water.

I guess the hot water stored in the copper cylinders is likely to contain higher contaminants in it than regular tap water, and I don't think many people drink the hot water from the tap due to that. Nor cold water from upstairs in these systems, as that usually comes from the cold water feed tank in the attic, unlike downstairs, which is direct from the water mains supply.

 

[paulbr1]

Here we go - drop myself in it, I have a combi bolier system where the water is heated as you need it so no extra copper in there (plastic pipes) - -

I just dont have a connection where I could tap off the water directly with a hose or similar.
Paul.

 

[paulbr1]

Bump

6.2Ph last night along with 1ppm Ammo and Nitrite @ 24 hours.

I hope it gets going again soon.

Paul.