Ph crash

[steelo]

Yes I do have nitrites and nitrates which is good just sick off seeing purple like most people haha

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You're almost there! I had about 2.5 weeks of purple but it does end, I promise! Things seemed to speed up when I just left it alone. Just make sure that the nitrites aren't going off the scale. I believe though if you're following Dr. Tims instructions to a 'T', you shouldn't have that issue.

I've been told by a few posters that it is pointless to test for nitrates while it is cycling because the API test will show nitrates as nitrites. I would just worry about ammonia and nitrite levels for now.

 

[steelo]

That's how the cycling process goes... honestly.

BTW, there's no need to wait 24 hours after the big water change. You can theoretically get fish the same day as the water change, as long as the water is the right temp... all is well.

Thanks, I ended up changing a good 80% water change last night. Anyways, Since it was too late to get fish, I'll pick them up tonight! Woot! =)

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Thanks, I ended up changing a good 80% water change last night. Anyways, Since it was too late to get fish, I'll pick them up tonight! Woot! =)

Awesome.

Can't wait to hear about the updates!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yeah I was thinking that only been cycling the tank about a week aswell hopefully not to long now

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That is a very quick cycle. Dr. Tim's helps, but it still takes time and is not an 'instant' cycle.

Most of those products say on their labels that fish can be added immediately... and that's true... to an extent. The bacteria take a while to establish on surfaces (that's where they live normally... inside of biofilm), and then a while to start to process ammonia and nitrite.

Early introduction of fish just means (with no artificial additions of ammonia) that by the time that the bacteria are ready to start processing... ammonia is present. And then the bacteria start to deal with it. And as long as the amount of fish is reasonably small for the tank and compared to the amount of bacterial product added... then the bacteria can deal with the ammonia and nitrite before it can be come a serious issue for the fish.


However, that then means adding fish slowly over a period of months... allowing time for the bacterial colony to grow with each addition of new fish. And... you end up having to wait about 6 months, many times, before you have a fully stocked tank.

By going the full fishless cycle route as we recommend... and following our instructions, you can have a fully cycled tank in about 6 weeks give or take... even with no addition of any bacterial starter. With a bacterial starter, it will obviously be significantly shorter.

And at about the 6 month marker... your tank will likely be in the 'sweet spot' as maturity goes... not too young to be missing elements of the ecosystem needed to maintain balance... and not so old as to have potentially built up excess waste if not properly cleaned.

And for this reason, (and a few others) I recommend semi-annual huge water changes... and extensive gravel/substrate vaccing. This gives the tank a bit of a 'restart' and keeps the water parameters very close to the tap water levels. Ramping up to this, the weeks proceeding the 'big' change, I change out a little more water than normal. So a routine water change of 25%, becomes closer to about 35-40%. And then the big water change is always at least 50%, and likely closer to about 75%. Adding the water back to the tank at near the same temp (usually a degree or so lower - simulating a 'thaw upstream'...) slowly over the course of a couple hours (I use a hose connected to my kitchen sink to temp match and regulate the speed of the refill...) and usually afterwards I reward the fish with some 'special treats' like frozen blood worms (thawed, of course) or similar. And they reward me with fantastic behavior displays of schooling, breeding, etc. They get very active during the days to follow... not 'stressed', but 'busy'... Checking out new areas (it usually comes with a bit of a tank rearrangement as I need to move some stuff to clean areas that don't normally get vacced) and zooming around together.

I honestly believe they like it.

 

[steelo]

That is a very quick cycle. Dr. Tim's helps, but it still takes time and is not an 'instant' cycle.

Most of those products say on their labels that fish can be added immediately... and that's true... to an extent. The bacteria take a while to establish on surfaces (that's where they live normally... inside of biofilm), and then a while to start to process ammonia and nitrite.

Early introduction of fish just means (with no artificial additions of ammonia) that by the time that the bacteria are ready to start processing... ammonia is present. And then the bacteria start to deal with it. And as long as the amount of fish is reasonably small for the tank and compared to the amount of bacterial product added... then the bacteria can deal with the ammonia and nitrite before it can be come a serious issue for the fish.


However, that then means adding fish slowly over a period of months... allowing time for the bacterial colony to grow with each addition of new fish. And... you end up having to wait about 6 months, many times, before you have a fully stocked tank.

By going the full fishless cycle route as we recommend... and following our instructions, you can have a fully cycled tank in about 6 weeks give or take... even with no addition of any bacterial starter. With a bacterial starter, it will obviously be significantly shorter.

And at about the 6 month marker... your tank will likely be in the 'sweet spot' as maturity goes... not too young to be missing elements of the ecosystem needed to maintain balance... and not so old as to have potentially built up excess waste if not properly cleaned.

And for this reason, (and a few others) I recommend semi-annual huge water changes... and extensive gravel/substrate vaccing. This gives the tank a bit of a 'restart' and keeps the water parameters very close to the tap water levels. Ramping up to this, the weeks proceeding the 'big' change, I change out a little more water than normal. So a routine water change of 25%, becomes closer to about 35-40%. And then the big water change is always at least 50%, and likely closer to about 75%. Adding the water back to the tank at near the same temp (usually a degree or so lower - simulating a 'thaw upstream'...) slowly over the course of a couple hours (I use a hose connected to my kitchen sink to temp match and regulate the speed of the refill...) and usually afterwards I reward the fish with some 'special treats' like frozen blood worms (thawed, of course) or similar. And they reward me with fantastic behavior displays of schooling, breeding, etc. They get very active during the days to follow... not 'stressed', but 'busy'... Checking out new areas (it usually comes with a bit of a tank rearrangement as I need to move some stuff to clean areas that don't normally get vacced) and zooming around together.

I honestly believe they like it.

I plan on changing out about 25% a week, now would it be any different to change out 2 gallons a day versus 13 gallons once a week? I just don't have a good 'water delivery' method...LOL.. All I have are 1 gallon milk jugs which I'd add dechlor to and let sit overnight. I could add dechlor to the tank then add the water all at once straight from the tap, but I fear that the chlorine won't immediately dissipate and may harm the fish.

 

[g930751]

Yeah I will keep all that in mind I am dosing plants aswell so I will be doing 50 % water changes anyway

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[eaglesaquarium]

I plan on changing out about 25% a week, now would it be any different to change out 2 gallons a day versus 13 gallons once a week? I just don't have a good 'water delivery' method...LOL.. All I have are 1 gallon milk jugs which I'd add dechlor to and let sit overnight. I could add dechlor to the tank then add the water all at once straight from the tap, but I fear that the chlorine won't immediately dissipate and may harm the fish.

I add water directly from the tap... through the hose I attach to the sink.

Add enough dechlorinator for the full volume of the tank (due to the increased dilution) and everything will be fine.


Changing 5% 5 times is not the same as changing 25%... I'll explain...


Let's say that you have 100 ppm nitrates (to keep the numbers easy to work with...)
a 25% water change will drop the nitrates to 75ppm.

5 - 5% water changes would do the following:
100 -> 95%
95% -> 90.25%
90.25% -> 85.7%
85.7% -> 81.4%
81.4% -> 77.3%

It doesn't look like a big difference... BUT... over months and months of this, that extra 2.3% will add up to a fairly high nitrate level.... the nitrates can build up as it is... which is why I do the big water changes twice a year... to try to deal with that and keep better water quality.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Long story short... its almost impossible to do too many and too big water changes. (There are situations where this is true, but very rare if you do proper maintenance.)

 

[Essjay]

I plan on changing out about 25% a week, now would it be any different to change out 2 gallons a day versus 13 gallons once a week? I just don't have a good 'water delivery' method...LOL.. All I have are 1 gallon milk jugs which I'd add dechlor to and let sit overnight. I could add dechlor to the tank then add the water all at once straight from the tap, but I fear that the chlorine won't immediately dissipate and may harm the fish.

My main tank is 180 litres, call that 48 gallons. I do a weekly 50% water change. I have a 12 litre bucket (3.2 gallons) to remove old water. Because I'm getting on in years and only 5 foot 5 inches tall (65 inches) I can't lift full buckets very high. The 12 litre bucket only has to be lifted a few inches off the floor so that's not too bad. But there's no way I can lift it high enough to refill the tank. So I use a smaller bucket, and my dechlorinator uses 2 drops per 2 gallons (9.75 litres) I lift a bucket containing 2 gallons dechlorinated water onto a stool and use a jug to ladle the water into the tank.

And no, I can't use a hose. There's no way to attach a hose to the tap.

 

[steelo]

I add water directly from the tap... through the hose I attach to the sink.

Add enough dechlorinator for the full volume of the tank (due to the increased dilution) and everything will be fine.


Changing 5% 5 times is not the same as changing 25%... I'll explain...


Let's say that you have 100 ppm nitrates (to keep the numbers easy to work with...)
a 25% water change will drop the nitrates to 75ppm.

5 - 5% water changes would do the following:
100 -> 95%
95% -> 90.25%
90.25% -> 85.7%
85.7% -> 81.4%
81.4% -> 77.3%

It doesn't look like a big difference... BUT... over months and months of this, that extra 2.3% will add up to a fairly high nitrate level.... the nitrates can build up as it is... which is why I do the big water changes twice a year... to try to deal with that and keep better water quality.

Very interesting point. I suppose I can keep 10 1 gallon jugs in another room or just add dechlor straight to the tank, then add the new water

 

[Byron]

I plan on changing out about 25% a week, now would it be any different to change out 2 gallons a day versus 13 gallons once a week? I just don't have a good 'water delivery' method...LOL.. All I have are 1 gallon milk jugs which I'd add dechlor to and let sit overnight. I could add dechlor to the tank then add the water all at once straight from the tap, but I fear that the chlorine won't immediately dissipate and may harm the fish.

Dechlorinator works immediately, there is no need to let buckets of water sit overnight. You might also have temperature issues, depending.