New Juwel 96 Tank - Fish/Plants/Cycle Log

[waterdrop]

Yup, all sounds good. Don't leave lights on the whole time

 

[bushbrother]

Yup, all sounds good. Don't leave lights on the whole time

Got my lights on a timer switch Its going 2 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening ... not sure if it is a bit overkill or not, I have a bit of algae growth on my bogwood and some on the white stones, but I hope my shrimp (when I get them) will polish that off

Edit:

An updated pic of my tank ... now with Java swords and some java moss on bogwood

 

[bushbrother]

Last night got my first double zeroes at 24 hours

Todays results (day 23):

12 hour test:
Ammonia = 0ppm
Nitrite = 1ppm

24 hour test:
Ammonia = 0ppm
Nitrite = 0ppm
pH = 7.8

 

[waterdrop]

Looking good bushbrother...

not sure if it is a bit overkill or not, I have a bit of algae growth on my bogwood and some on the white stones,

The stones and wood would not look like natural underwater objects without a few types os algae here and there!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[bushbrother]

Past 2 days have been the same:

12 hour tests:

Ammonia = 0ppm
Nitrite = ~1ppm
pH = 7.6

24 hour tests:

Ammonia = 0ppm
Nitrite = 0ppm

I was a little late adding ammonia last night so will be about 20 hour test tonight. Then I am off on holiday ... will be getting someone to add ammonia, really hoping to get some fish soon after my return

 

[bushbrother]

Last post before I go away on holiday ...

Day 26:
12 hour test
Ammonia = 0ppm
Nitrite = 1ppm

24 hour test
Still to be done but I know it will be double zeroes

Today I was working from home and did some regular tests on the Nitrites to see when they hit zero, at 14 hours it was about 0.5ppm and at 17 hours it was 0ppm, so it is getting real close now

I hope it is doing 00 at 12 hours when I get back ...

 

[bushbrother]

OK back from holiday, tank seems fine, if a little covered with Algae I also seem to have several largeish (5mm) snails zooming around, but they are cleaning the algae off the stones so I will leave them for now ...

I added 5ppm ammonia and did a 12 hour test. it was a bit disappointing

Ammonia = 1ppm
Nitrite = 1ppm or 5ppm I can never tell
pH = 7.6

At 24 hours both were 0ppm, last night I re-dosed the ammonia and the 12 hour test was 0.5ppm ammonia and 1 or 5ppm Nitrite ...

I guess the bacteria had started to drop off with no "food" ... will it take long to recover? Should I be worried about the pH drop?

 

[waterdrop]

At pH 7.6 its not time to worry yet but keep a close eye on it. The 3rd phase of the cycle, which you're in I believe, should bounce back quickly now that you're back in control again. The fact that its getting both ammonia and nitrite(NO2) to zero in 24 hours is a good solid sign that nothing went terribly wrong, which is something to celebrate.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[bushbrother]

Hi waterdrop, thanks

So did a 12 hour check this morning and ammonia is back to 0ppm in 12 hours Nitrite is still above 1ppm.

The pH is a little worrying, it has dropped to 7.0 this morning ... any suggestions?

 

[waterdrop]

That's a pretty quick drop. I wouldn't dose yet, but you might want to be doing some searches for our baking soda threads and reading up on the technique. If the next test is headed sharply toward 6.2 then the baking soda thing might be needed in addition to a water change.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[bushbrother]

So I had already dosed the ammonia back to 5ppm last night after i got double zeroes. Then this morning (12 hours later) ammonia was 0ppm and Nitrites are >1ppm.

I will monitor the pH closely and include it on each of my test periods.

 

[waterdrop]

I'm going to assume you are on the backside of the nitrite spike. You feel you are coming to the final end, right? Which would mean you are basically just waiting for nitrite(NO2) to start hitting zero ppm at 12 hours like the ammonia is doing.

This is indeed the time when the two colonies are getting quite efficient and converting most of that 5ppm ammonia each day all the way through to nitrate(NO3) which in turn has the nitric acid component when it is in solution in water that drives pH down if you don't have enough buffer. So without a KH kit (which is fine, as you probably wouldn't use it that much after fishless cycling anyway!) you just have to watch pH about twice a day and get a feel for the speed at which it is dropping.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[bushbrother]

Another update from today ...

Dosed up to 5ppm ammonia last night after double zeroes. This morning I left for work earlier and so I did an 11 hour check, Ammonia was 0ppm and Nitrite has improved It took quite a few minutes to do a colour change, normally in 1 minute its above the 1ppm colour. After the 5 mins it is definately 1ppm or less, the colour hue is much different

I might be finally getting there! Yipee!

 

[waterdrop]

Sounds like both species of bacteria were really munching down during that 11 hours. A good sign!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[bushbrother]

OK, so this morning my 12 hour test was very strange ... last night after 24 hours I got the usual 0ppm and 0ppm for Ammonia and Nitrite, and dosed to 5ppm. Then this morning I tested Ammonia, Nitrites and pH and I got 2ppm ammonia, 0.25ppm Nitrites and 6.8pH

Why would my ammonia suddenly stop processing to 0ppm in 12 hours? It has been doing so for weeks now! Any thoughts?