New tank up and cycling (hopefully)

[Slyspy]

My new tank is up and running. 30l with no fish, just a little household ammonia each day. It has a few plants and some gravel from established tanks to help it out. Initial results are:

Ammonia - as close to 5ppm as I can make it.
pH - 7.5/8ish (a little higher than my local water why?)
KH - 12ish
GH - just below 16
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - between 10 and 25


All rather approximate due to the guess-omatic testing kit colour charts. The nitrates seem to come from the tap water, but at least it will help keep the plants alive. I'm a little concerned about the pH though. Any comments/advice as the cycling begins?

Slyspy

 

[luxum]

Don't worry about the pH atm, although what's raising it is probably something in the tank, like rocks or the wrong type of gravel. The intense biological activity of a fishless cycle will drop the pH dramatically by the time you are finished it will probably be lower than your tap water instead of higher. If, after the cycle is complete and you've done the requisite water changes, the pH is still higher than your tapwater, then you could think about removing whatever is raising it, or adding some driftwood to counteract the effect. In a stocked tank where there is biological activity via fish, bacteria, and plants, the pH tends to drop as the buffers are used up, so if something is in your tank slightly raising pH, this could be desireable.

Take note of how much ammonia it took to reach 5ppm and add that amount every day instead of attempting to keep the level at 5ppm. This results in a larger bacterial bed. Once you see nitrites, cut your daily dose in half but continue adding it until ammonia and nitrite are both at zero within 24 hours of dosing. At that point you'll have to do water changes to reduce the nitrates to something reasonable. You should add a little fish food at several points in the cycling procedure to ensure that the bacteria that converts organic wastes to ammonia is present. Do not freak out and start doing water changes in the middle of the cycle, or adjust your dose beyond halving it at the appearance of nitrites, and try not to miss doses, although a few missed doses here and there won't hurt too much, especially if the bacteria are not yet converting the full dose.

Expect that this will take anywhere from 10 days to 6 weeks to complete. Add a full load of fish (as opposed to building up slowly as is done when cycling with fish) when you are done (minus any very sensitive species like otos) so that the colonies you just built up don't starve. If for some reason you can't add fish right away, keep adding the half dose of ammonia to keep the bacteria alive until you can, then do the water changes to remove the nitrates, then stock. Good luck!

 

[clutterydrawer]

High levels of ammonia raise the pH

So hopefully it's jsut that, unless you've put limestone or summat in there.

 

[Slyspy]

Day 4 and the tank has tested positive for nitrites. Not much but they are there. Go go little bacteria - there is plenty more ammonia where that came from!

My Vallisneria plants look poorly though. Hopefully the fertilizer tabs will perk them up, since they should have enough light.

 

[luxum]

Are they new vals or have they been in the tank awhile? If they are new, don't worry about it, but remove any dying leaves. Most plants need to grow new leaves to match their new conditions, old leaves can't adapt. So they'll look kinda crappy until the new growth comes in. If they are established vals that used to look good and now are not so good, post a message in the plant area describing the changes you've noticed and someone can probably identify the problem.

 

[Slyspy]

Day 5 and the first sign of life in the tank: algae on the matured gravel sample and a little translucent snail on the side of the tank!

The algae I can cope with but is the snail a welcome addition or is it best to remove it? I guess he came in as an egg on the plants. Should he be evicted or left to roam?

I'll thin out the unhealthy leaves from the plants and hope that they can establish themselves.

Today's reading:

Nitrites - 5
Nitrates - 75 ish
ammonia - 2.5 ish

How much of a spike can I expect on the nitrites?

 

[Slyspy]

As of today my daily dose of ammonia is being completely consumed by the bacteria. Nitrites and nitrates are both very high. Guess I'll have to wait for the nitrite eaters to grow in sufficient numbers. Go little guys, go! A few more plants might be an idea as well.

 

[Da_Oz]

If PH is higher in tank than tap means there is co2 in the tap water.
If PH is lower in tank than something in tank lowering it.

When testing PH in tap water let it set in a glass for 24 hours shen test.

Also plants will speed up cycle and alot of plants will throw off the cycle.
http/groups.msn.com/AquaPlantCentral/cyc...lantedtank.msnw

 

[Slyspy]

Ammonia disappearing. Nitrites and nitrates still sky high. Added a few more plants yesterday (the old favourite Java Fern and Anubias).

 

[Slyspy]

Today saw the first hint of a drop in nitrites which is good. Ammonia is being consumed really quickly now.

 

[Slyspy]

Today is the day. Ammonia is now consumed in hours. Nitrites seem to be holding at zero and my plants have halved the nitrate levels all by themselves. A water change, tidy up and a trip to the LFS are in order methinks. My hitchhiking snails will get some fishy company! Wish me (and my new fish) luck! I'm not that hopeful for the first inhabitants since they are my first tropicals but I'll do my best.

 

[clutterydrawer]

i'm sure your fish will be fine mate, as long as your tank is cycled and you dont slack on maintenance most fish arent incredibly demanding. what are you getting?

 

[Slyspy]

I am getting 5 neons, 2 otos and 2 panda cories. Might get another panda when the LFS get some more in if it doesn't over stock me. They are a bit larger than the Julii I originally planned on. A little bit of NTS slipping in I'm afraid!

 

[luxum]

Yay!

 

[clutterydrawer]

adult size pandas are smaller than julii....