My Fishless Cycle

[PDSimon]

I have been dosing 3ppm but it doesn't matter that much, it just reduces the overall nitrogen, but your already cycling the nitrite now as its back to 0 so no neeed to worry about that. Just dose 5ppm or 4ppm if you're more comfortable that you can read that lol

I'm not sure about the first question, its also what I want to know. Whether the last week is purely just a week ensuring the nitrites and ammonia go within 12 hours or is it a week on top of the nitrite and ammonia processing in 12 hours

 

[RadaR]

Yay, tonight's tests both Ammonia and Nitrite are 0 after only 24 hours (Nitrite definitely is this time). Very happy.

2 questions, 1: does this mean I should start testing at 12 hours now?

2: I've been dosing at 4/5ppm pretty much every time (except for a few random times). Should I not have been doing that coz I think I read someone say earlier that in the middle of your cycle you should only do up to 3ppm?

1. Yes, I would. Dose the ammonia and then see if it goes after 12hours.

2. It doesn't really matter if it's 3ppm, 4ppm or 5ppm. Wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Twinklecaz]

Thanks guys!

 

[Twinklecaz]

Both Ammonia and Nitrite were 1.00 this morning. I think I'm just gonna stick to 24 hour tests for a few days. If it's like the rest of my my cycle it's not gonna drop suddenly so I may aswell not waste the solution. Tho I think 1.00 is still good, hopefully means it shouldn't be too much longer!

 

[Twinklecaz]

So I was reading a post earlier and someone said that if there's even a hint of green in your Ammonia test then it's no 0. Now mine does have that in some lights, but not others. I compared it to my tap water and it's exactly the same, I've actually just mixed them up and I honestly don't know which is which.............which leads me to my question - do you think I might have a very small level of Ammonia in my tap water? and if I have what can I do about that?

I'd call the colour "gold" but now I'm paranoid lol

 

[PDSimon]

The 0.25 ppm of ammonia is not high at all. I have tap water that always runs above 0.5 ppm ammonia. The reason is very simple. These days many water authorities are using chloramine in the water instead of chlorine. It lasts much longer in the pipes and does a better job of controlling bacteria that might otherwise make the water unsafe to drink. Why should that matter? Chloramine is basically a chlorine and ammonia compound. When your dechlorinator breaks the chemical bonds of chloramine, it neutralizes the chlorine and makes the ammonia component safer for the fish than simple ammonia would be. When I measure over 0.5 ppm of ammonia, I am aware that the chlorine in my water is not simply chlorine but is instead chloramine. It does make things a bit difficult if I decide to do a fish*-in cycle because the new tap water always contains too much ammonia to truly be safe for the fish. In a mature tank it is meaningless because my filter gets rid of every trace of ammonia inside of a couple of hours.

However, I think your testing might just be a case of something wrong with the kit? because if you've got a slight hint of green even when you have cycled loads and loads of ammonia and it should surely be 0 but its not, probably means there is an error. I've also read WD talking a bit about that at some point just saying it was an error...

 

[Twinklecaz]

I dunno, I'm getting the Salifert ones soon anyway. I do think it could just be the light but I just wanted to.......check lol.

 

[OldMan47]

It is not unusual to have traces of ammonia in tap water after you use your dechlorinator on it. If your water supplier uses chloramine, as mine does, you will have some residual ammonia after the bonds are broken to the chlorine.

 

[Twinklecaz]

Ooooo, i test without dechlorinator. I just do it straight from the tap! Does that mean it prob is just the light?

 

[waterdrop]

One of the issues with light source was that a fairly high number of the CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) (any fluorescent for that matter) can have this characteristic of adding a greenish tint to things that are in the clear-yellow type range. Fluorescent technology just has a wider range of shades that are being put out as products. Incandescents too can vary in color output, as we all know.

All of this is swamped by the huge variation in individual human interpretation and communication though, I think. One person's darker yellow is another person's light yellow. One person's paranoia about a slight hint of green is another person's "too insignificant to worry about it." In my experience, the API ammonia tests that I've used have indeed displayed a very clear, very light yellow (very pale and refreshing looking, as opposed to thick, if that makes sense) once the filter is mature and doing its best job.

I have also run tests with before/after dechloramination (my water authority uses chloramines 11 months of the year and I get email announcements from them for the one month when they flush with straight chlorine.) The dechloramination clearly separates off some ammonia and it becomes detectable after the conditioner is used. Its trace, not up at the 0.25ppm level in my experience.

Separate from the chloramine thing, its very, very common to have some trace ammonia (just like nitrates) in tap water, so this is an added complication. For fishless cycling one thing we should try to look at in threads is what the whole history of the fishless cycle effort is like. I think we should try to avoid letting the paranoid people get stuck going on and on with a tiny trace left at 12 hours. Instead we should just cut it off when we see that and have them switch over to watching for whether they have a fish-in cycling situation after their first stocking. This is for people that have had a clear, long cycling process that appears fairly normal. For cases where things seem to rush to conclusion in 3 or 4 weeks we should be much more cautious, as there may still be significant nitrite spikes left to come if they were to jump to their initial stocking.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Twinklecaz]

Mmmm, I certainly wouldn't call it light yellow that I have. I really need to try and avoid a fish in situation because I'm out of the house for 11 hours a day Mon-Fri and just wouldn't have the time for daily water changes.

 

[waterdrop]

Well good then, my favorite situation is when the fishless cycler is patient enough to give the process the time to get all the way down to performing well. Given enough time, nearly every fishless cycle will reach an obvious point where both ammonia and nitrite are being cleared to a true zero ppm in 12 hours or under and nitrate goes up very quickly. All those are signs of a filter ready for its qualifying week. WD

 

[Twinklecaz]

yeah I'm not gonna rush it, I've been planning to do this since Xmas so to me it doesn't matter now how long I have to wait. I am hoping though that it's just my eyes coz you really would hope by this point that the filter is at lease processing all the Ammonia in 24 hours. I have no issues with my Nitrite, it's a very clear light blue.

Are the Salifert kits easier to read? I mean am I more likely to be sure either way?

 

[Twinklecaz]

PH has dropped slightly (7.2). I actually think it's been like that for days but I haven't actually been looking at the card ( just saw the blue). If this is gonna be it's PH coz of the bogwood etc then that's good isn't it? Coz it's almost neutral?

 

[JoshuaA]

If your tap water was 0 Ammonia before dechlorinater was added, do a test sample of your tap water and then do a test sample of your tank water. Then compare the two, you will be able to notice a difference between the shades then there will be a sign of a minute trace of ammonia in the water.

Thats how I go, the API test colour chart doesn't really help in a lot of light situations.

I also understand by what WD means with a "Thick" colour/appearance on the Ammonia test. It's hard to describe but its noticeable.

Edit: I accidentally wrote "If you're tap water"