Hi all, im from Edinburgh and bought my other half a 4 gallon tropical tank kit for xmas as ive always wanted one!
Im a complete novice and have been reading posts and articles here and visiting various other web sites for a few weeks with the hope of beggining to learn how to keep healthy tropical fish
I thoroughly washed out the tank, gravel and ornaments and then poored boiling water over the gravel and ornaments, i then put in the gravel and ornaments, filled up with declorinated water and powered up, tank was slightly cloudy at first with lots of bubbles on glass, but both cleared up after 24 hours
I decided to do the fishless cycle and here are my results so far using pure 100% amonia with no live plants added yet and temp turned up to max 32c
Day 1 added 5 drops of amonia
Day 2 amonia reads 1.5 ppm, added 5 drops of amonia
Day 3 amonia reads 4 ppm, none added, nitrite reads 0.25-0.50 ppm
Day 4 amonia reads 2 ppm, added 5 drops of amonia, nitrite reads 0.25-0.50 ppm
Day 5 amonia reads 2 ppm added, 10 drops of amonia, nitrite reads 0.25-0.50 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm
Day 6 ammonia reads 4 ppm, added 10 drops, nitrite reads 0.25-0.50 ppm, nitrate reads 0 (huge advance today, learned how to spell ammonia)
Day 7 ammonia reads 4 ppm, added 10 drops, nitrite reads 0.50 ppm, nitrate reads 2.5 ppm (turned temp down to 26c added selection pack of 30 live plants & pro aqua plant fertilizer bag)
Day 8 ammonia reads 6 ppm, added 10 drops, nitrite reads 0.50 ppm, nitrate reads 7.5 ppm (couple of the plants are shedding a couple of leaves, turning colour which im informed can be expected, also expected to lose 20% of plants)
Day 9 ammonia reads 7 ppm, added 5 drops, nitrite reads 2.0 ppm, nitrate reads 7.5 ppm
Day 10 ammonia reads 8 ppm, none added, nitrite reads 2.5 ppm, nitrate reads 5 ppm (nitrate down 2.5 ppm today?)
Day 11, ammonia reads 7 ppm, none added, nitrite reads 0.5 ppm, nitrate reads 2.5 ppm (nitrite down 2.0 ppm, nitrate down 2.5 ppm today?) bit puzzled today why the nitrite has started to plummet and the nitrate has plummeted from 7.5 ppm to 2.5 ppm in two days?
Day 12, ammonia reads 6 ppm, none added, nitrite reads 0 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm (both nitrite and nitrate have completely vanished, things seem to have gone wrong?)
Day 13, ammonia reads 4 ppm, none added, nitrite reads 0 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm (kept light off today and removed the large fertilzer bag, looks like an algae bloom is starting to occur)
Day 14, ammonia reads 3.5 ppm, none added, nitrite reads 0 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm (water back to looking almost crystal clear today and the white fine floss algae hasnt grown any worse, will keep light off today as well)
Day 15, ammonia reads 3.5 ppm, none added, nitrite reads 0 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm (after two days of no light the white fine floss algae has now completely gone and water is back to crystal clear, but this is the fifth day of zero nitrites and nitrates, will switch light back on tommorow)
Day 16 ammonia reads 3.5 ppm, none added, nitrites read 0 ppm, nitrates read 0 ppm
Day 17, ammonia reads 3.5 ppm, added 5 drops, nitrite reads 0.10 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm (after 5 days of zero nitrites today i have a reading)
Day 18, ammonia reads 5 ppm, none added nitrite reads 0.4 ppm. nitrate reads 0 ppm
Day 19, ammonia reads 5 ppm, nitrite reads 1.5 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm
Day 20, ammonia reads 3 ppm, added 5 drops, nitrite reads 2 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm
Day 21, ammonia reads 1.5 ppm, added 10 drops, nitrite reads 1 ppm, nitrate reads 2 ppm
Day 22, ammonia reads 0.5 ppm, added 10 drops, nitrite reads 1 ppm, nitrate reads 2 ppm (wow after 10 drops of ammonia yesterday my reading this morning is right down 0.5 ppm)
Day 23, ammonia reads 1 ppm, added 10 drops, nitrite reads 0.75 ppm, nitrate reads 2 ppm
Day 24, ammonia reads 0.25 ppm, added 15 drops, nitrite reads 0.5 ppm, nitrate reads 4 ppm (wow again after 10 drops of ammonia yesterday my reading is right down at 0.25 ppm, now adding 15 drops)
Day 25, ammonia reads 0.50 ppm , added 15 drops (hmm nitrite reading doesnt resemble anything on chart, double tested with same results) nitrate reads 4 ppm, lost a few plants from original pack, but those that have survived are growing very well
Day 26, ammonia reads 0.75 ppm added 15 drops (nitrite still the same, i guess it must be off the chart and spiking) nitrate reads 0.5 ppm
Day 27, ammonia reads 2 ppm, added 10 drops (nitrite still off chart) nitrate reads 2 ppm
Day 28, ammonia reads 0.4 ppm, added 15 drops (nitrite still off chart) nitrate reads 3 ppm
Day 29, ammonia reads 1 ppm, added 15 drops (nitrite still off chart) nitrate reads 3 ppm
Day 30, ammonia reads 0.4 ppm, added 15 drops, (nitrite still off chart) nitrate reads 3 ppm
Day 31, ammonia reads 0.25 ppm, (nitrite still off chart) nitrate reads 3 ppm (no ammonia added, lets see if we go to zero tommorow)
Day 32, ammonia reads 0.25 ppm, nitrite reads 2 ppm, nitrate reads 3 ppm (seems i was adding too much ammonia causing nitrites to spike up for too long)
Day 33, ammonia reads 0 ppm, nitrite reads 0 ppm, nitrate reads 15 ppm, tank now cycled, yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
I think it could of cycled quicker than 33 days if i had not had an algae bloom that caused the nitrites and nitrates to zero and also if i had not been adding 15 drops of ammonia each day, when it was clear the nitrites were way off the chart and spiking for days until i reduced the amounts added, very pleased anyway with my first fishless cycle attempt.
Going to add a few drops of ammonia each day, just enough to provide food while trying to keep levels as near to zero as possible as we wont be buying any fish until the weekend
Im a complete novice and have been reading posts and articles here and visiting various other web sites for a few weeks with the hope of beggining to learn how to keep healthy tropical fish
I thoroughly washed out the tank, gravel and ornaments and then poored boiling water over the gravel and ornaments, i then put in the gravel and ornaments, filled up with declorinated water and powered up, tank was slightly cloudy at first with lots of bubbles on glass, but both cleared up after 24 hours
I decided to do the fishless cycle and here are my results so far using pure 100% amonia with no live plants added yet and temp turned up to max 32c
Day 1 added 5 drops of amonia
Day 2 amonia reads 1.5 ppm, added 5 drops of amonia
Day 3 amonia reads 4 ppm, none added, nitrite reads 0.25-0.50 ppm
Day 4 amonia reads 2 ppm, added 5 drops of amonia, nitrite reads 0.25-0.50 ppm
Day 5 amonia reads 2 ppm added, 10 drops of amonia, nitrite reads 0.25-0.50 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm
Day 6 ammonia reads 4 ppm, added 10 drops, nitrite reads 0.25-0.50 ppm, nitrate reads 0 (huge advance today, learned how to spell ammonia)
Day 7 ammonia reads 4 ppm, added 10 drops, nitrite reads 0.50 ppm, nitrate reads 2.5 ppm (turned temp down to 26c added selection pack of 30 live plants & pro aqua plant fertilizer bag)
Day 8 ammonia reads 6 ppm, added 10 drops, nitrite reads 0.50 ppm, nitrate reads 7.5 ppm (couple of the plants are shedding a couple of leaves, turning colour which im informed can be expected, also expected to lose 20% of plants)
Day 9 ammonia reads 7 ppm, added 5 drops, nitrite reads 2.0 ppm, nitrate reads 7.5 ppm
Day 10 ammonia reads 8 ppm, none added, nitrite reads 2.5 ppm, nitrate reads 5 ppm (nitrate down 2.5 ppm today?)
Day 11, ammonia reads 7 ppm, none added, nitrite reads 0.5 ppm, nitrate reads 2.5 ppm (nitrite down 2.0 ppm, nitrate down 2.5 ppm today?) bit puzzled today why the nitrite has started to plummet and the nitrate has plummeted from 7.5 ppm to 2.5 ppm in two days?
Day 12, ammonia reads 6 ppm, none added, nitrite reads 0 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm (both nitrite and nitrate have completely vanished, things seem to have gone wrong?)
Day 13, ammonia reads 4 ppm, none added, nitrite reads 0 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm (kept light off today and removed the large fertilzer bag, looks like an algae bloom is starting to occur)
Day 14, ammonia reads 3.5 ppm, none added, nitrite reads 0 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm (water back to looking almost crystal clear today and the white fine floss algae hasnt grown any worse, will keep light off today as well)
Day 15, ammonia reads 3.5 ppm, none added, nitrite reads 0 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm (after two days of no light the white fine floss algae has now completely gone and water is back to crystal clear, but this is the fifth day of zero nitrites and nitrates, will switch light back on tommorow)
Day 16 ammonia reads 3.5 ppm, none added, nitrites read 0 ppm, nitrates read 0 ppm
Day 17, ammonia reads 3.5 ppm, added 5 drops, nitrite reads 0.10 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm (after 5 days of zero nitrites today i have a reading)
Day 18, ammonia reads 5 ppm, none added nitrite reads 0.4 ppm. nitrate reads 0 ppm
Day 19, ammonia reads 5 ppm, nitrite reads 1.5 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm
Day 20, ammonia reads 3 ppm, added 5 drops, nitrite reads 2 ppm, nitrate reads 0 ppm
Day 21, ammonia reads 1.5 ppm, added 10 drops, nitrite reads 1 ppm, nitrate reads 2 ppm
Day 22, ammonia reads 0.5 ppm, added 10 drops, nitrite reads 1 ppm, nitrate reads 2 ppm (wow after 10 drops of ammonia yesterday my reading this morning is right down 0.5 ppm)
Day 23, ammonia reads 1 ppm, added 10 drops, nitrite reads 0.75 ppm, nitrate reads 2 ppm
Day 24, ammonia reads 0.25 ppm, added 15 drops, nitrite reads 0.5 ppm, nitrate reads 4 ppm (wow again after 10 drops of ammonia yesterday my reading is right down at 0.25 ppm, now adding 15 drops)
Day 25, ammonia reads 0.50 ppm , added 15 drops (hmm nitrite reading doesnt resemble anything on chart, double tested with same results) nitrate reads 4 ppm, lost a few plants from original pack, but those that have survived are growing very well
Day 26, ammonia reads 0.75 ppm added 15 drops (nitrite still the same, i guess it must be off the chart and spiking) nitrate reads 0.5 ppm
Day 27, ammonia reads 2 ppm, added 10 drops (nitrite still off chart) nitrate reads 2 ppm
Day 28, ammonia reads 0.4 ppm, added 15 drops (nitrite still off chart) nitrate reads 3 ppm
Day 29, ammonia reads 1 ppm, added 15 drops (nitrite still off chart) nitrate reads 3 ppm
Day 30, ammonia reads 0.4 ppm, added 15 drops, (nitrite still off chart) nitrate reads 3 ppm
Day 31, ammonia reads 0.25 ppm, (nitrite still off chart) nitrate reads 3 ppm (no ammonia added, lets see if we go to zero tommorow)
Day 32, ammonia reads 0.25 ppm, nitrite reads 2 ppm, nitrate reads 3 ppm (seems i was adding too much ammonia causing nitrites to spike up for too long)
Day 33, ammonia reads 0 ppm, nitrite reads 0 ppm, nitrate reads 15 ppm, tank now cycled, yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
I think it could of cycled quicker than 33 days if i had not had an algae bloom that caused the nitrites and nitrates to zero and also if i had not been adding 15 drops of ammonia each day, when it was clear the nitrites were way off the chart and spiking for days until i reduced the amounts added, very pleased anyway with my first fishless cycle attempt.
Going to add a few drops of ammonia each day, just enough to provide food while trying to keep levels as near to zero as possible as we wont be buying any fish until the weekend
