Newbie Fishless Cycle -Too Soon To Worry?

[Gingerstu]

Hello all

I've been lurking in the background of this forum for a couple of months and thought its about time I took the plunge...

I was lucky enough to yet an aquarium last month for my birthday. So setup my juwel lido 120 (without carbon sponge in filter) with silica sand substrate, a bit of inert rock and some Sumatra wood, added the water with api conditioner and off we go...

After running filter for 24 hours @ 30c
Ph 6.9; gh 2; kh 2; nh4 0; no2 0; no3 0

Then added 3ml ammonia
Day 1: ph 8.2; gh 2; kh 2; nh4 4; no2 0; no3 0
Day 2: ph 7.3; gh 2; kh 2; nh4 4; no2 0; no3 0
Day 3: ph 7.1; gh 2; kh 2; nh4 3; no2 0; no3 0
Then same readings every few days until today:
Day 17: ph 7.0; gh 2; kh 2; nh4 2; no2 0; no3 0

I'm using a combination of api and jbl liquid tests

Fortunately I don't appear to have experienced ph crash, at least not yet, which was something I was worried about given the low kh.

There is some growth on the wood, a kind of wispy white film which I guess is to be expected at this stage and will eventually disappear once balance is achieved in the tank (or eaten by the inhabitants once arrived)?

Given my manchester water is ridiculously soft (hopefully good for the tetras and corys i intend to get once cycled) i believe this will likely be slowing the cycle down due to limited carbonates for the ammonia and nitrite eating bacteria, but wondered if from the stats above it looks like the tank is actually cycling, albeit very slowly, or whether I need to intervene (I think I read somewhere that ammonia could absorb into the substrate and so look like its falling and give false impression tank is cycling, but in reality nowt is happening?)

Should I add bicarbonate of soda to up kh to chivvy things along and buffer against poss ph crash, or just wait it out a bit longer (happy to be patient if there is something happening)

My plan is to plant up once cycled and get some Corys, neons, pair of rams, maybe pencilfish (and maybe otos eventually once everything has matured).

Any advice welcomed.

Ta

Stu

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Add crushed coral. Having ph change by that much from day to9 day is not normal.
 
Your ammonia reading dropped from 4 to 2 according to you, Yet you report 0 nitrite which is not possible. 2 ppm of ammonia turns into about &.5 ppm of nitrite yet you show 0.
 
To get 4 ppm in your tank which actually holds about 105 litres by adding 3 ml requires ammonia have a strength of 14%. i do not think ammonia cones that strength?
 
Using two different test kits, unless you test with both every time for a while and get the identical results so you know they agree, means you are taking inconsistent readings. Use the same kit over and over for consistency. You can use one for ammonia and the other for nitrite, as long as you use the same one each test.
 
To crash phoine must use up the KH. Yours has not budged at all in 17 days.
 
Here are the 1st four day's ph readings you claim with water out gassed in the tank for sure:
6.9
8.2 up in one day by 1.3.
7.3 down the next day by .9
7.1 the next day a smal. drop and back close to the original reading.
stable for the next two weeks.
 
Your numbers do not make sense, so I must assume they are not accurate for some reason. Information may be missing, I do not know. But unless somebody can explain the rapid pH spike up and down, unless somebody can explain where the 2 ppm of ammonia went without making nitrite, I am going to think the numbers are not possible as reported.
 
"I think I read somewhere that ammonia could absorb into the substrate" nope it doesn't happen in tanks like that.
 
The plants should really be in the tank at the outset of a cycle and not added afterwards..

 

[Gingerstu]

Thanks for the reply

Just to clarify... I am using one type of test per water parameter. By saying "combination" I meant api for some tests (nh4, no2, no3) and jbl for others (ph, gh, kh) sorry if this was not clear.

I understand what you are saying about the initial 4ppm reading for Ammonia vs the tank volume / 3ml measure and on reflection recognise that this may have been inaccurate - particularly as these were the first readings I was taking and still getting used to the tests / everything. My assumption retrospectively is that ammonia was 3ppm and then remained so until day 17.

However, the ammonia in the last few days has definitely dropped but still no measurable nitrite / nitrate. Is it feasible that the drop in ammonia means the tank is cycling, just very slowly, and I haven't quite reached the point where nitrite is in sufficient numbers to show up on the app test?

With regards the ph, 6.9 was before the ammonia addition, 8.2 a couple hours after adding the ammonia, and then falling since. I was under impression that ammonia was alkaline which is what would explain the increase from 6.9 to 8.2. I then presumed that the fall in ph was just a natural part of the process but from your post above I'm guessing this isn't the case?

I hadn't added the plants at the start of the cycle as I was under the impression (again, seemingly mistaken) that I would run the risk of an algae bloom by virtue of needing the lights on for the plants, which I wanted to avoid. I had intended to plant up at the point of the water change to remove nitrates before adding fish - once I got that far. I would be interested to learn why the plants should be in from the start and whether I should plant now (given I will have to remove a lot of water to do so), or plant at the end of the cycle?

I have just tested my water again today, and readings are the same as day 17 (which reassures me that the 2ppm reading is correct and so ammonia has dropped).

 

[swimbladder]

i feel like ive just sat a science test reading that, all good advice, thank you