My First Fishless Cycle

[Miss Wiggle]

Tested the tank last night last thing before going to bed and the ammonia had stalled a bit so tested the pH and it had dropped from around 8 to 6.4 in 24 hrs.

It was too late to do a water change then so we've done a big 80% water change this morning. Will keep an eye on the pH over the next few days and see if it holds steady, if not will buffer it with bicarb.

 

[waterdrop]

Yep, sounds like you've got it figured out now, interesting turn of events there. And how handy! two forum members getting married means the email servers can be relieved of some of their traffic and the forum servers can take it over

 

[Miss Wiggle]

well this morning we have the following readings

ammonia - 0
nitrite - 2ppm
nitrate - bucket loads..... probably 80ppm
pH - 7

So the pH has been higher during the cycle but 7 is about the level of our tap water so not sure if it's still dropping or if it's stabilised. I'll check it again later today and see what happens, can someone remind me the ratio to buffer it up.

 

[waterdrop]

I've been advocating 2 teaspoons per 50L as a starting point and then adjusting that based on the feedback you get from your pH test over the following days. WD

 

[Miss Wiggle]

thanks WD

 

[Miss Wiggle]

well at long last we are making progress with the nitrite, 3 days of massive water changes to control the nitrite, nitrate and pH then yesterday after the water change nitrite was still reading 5ppm topped up the tank with ammonia in the evening and when we tested it this morning the nitrite was down to 0.5ppm. the lowest it's been since the start of the cycle. yay!!!!

so hoping when we test at the end of the day today it'll be low again, shouldn't be long now.

 

[BigIan]

Just tested the tank exactly 12 hrs after adding ammonia this morning.

Ammonia:0
nitrite: 5+

And so the cycle continues.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

at our 12 hr test this morning the ammonia was down to 0 and the nitrite down to about 0.5ppm so feels like we're nearly there.

 

[waterdrop]

Maybe the qualifying week isn't too far off now! Good luck. WD

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah fingers crossed, time for another test in a few minutes so really hoping for another low nitrite reading.

went round some LFS's today and saw various lovely fish, really hoping we get the 00 today and we can qualify for the week and get fish next weekend. perhaps a little optimistic though!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

lovely sky blue....... double zero's

and we are into qualifying week, fingers crossed for fish next weekend. yay!

 

[waterdrop]

Ah, it was because of the clear blue sky and perfect human temperature here in the Carolinas today MW! I sent it your way in case you guys were having gray, lol.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

awesome thanks WD, yes we're having grey and rainy at the moment. joy!

anyway tanks still holding steady at 00 this morning.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

quali week going smoothly, little blip of ammonia this morning as the pH had crashed again but a water change fixed that. not gonna bother buffering with bicarb at this late stage, will keep doing water changes if needed but should be fine for the next day or two.

 

[BigIan]

Fishy NOW!