Please Look At My Levels - Have I Stalled

[simonmac2]

Hokey Dokey,

sanity check please.

below is the chart of my measurements to date. As some may remember, i set the bacteria back by filling the tank via the filter with tap water (Oh, how we laughed! ;-)

Ammonia IS being used up as i am topping it up every day. the nitrite level is pretty constant even with the ammonia being used up, the plants are looking utterly manky and there is a green cloud.

i'll do a huge water change saturday afternoon as it is the only "me" time i get and hopefully that will get rid of the algae. as an extra move, i've turned off the lights to see if it makes a difference.

I've found another LFS in town (closed today) and so might go and look at his stock and see what he says about cycling (and then maybe ask for media...)

any advice on the state of my cycle?

Simon
~~~~~
'bout to go and find the naughty step methinks...

tables not working...Column 1 Day, 2 Ammonia level before adding anything, 3 amount Ammonia added, 4 Ammonia level PPM, 5 NitrIte level, 6 & 7 ignore

Day Ammonia Ammonia Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate PH Notes
NH3 Level Added NH3 Level NO2 NO3
Before After
0 0 9.5 4 0 0 7
1 4 0 4 0
2 4 0 4 0 7
3 4 0 4 0.1 0 7.5
4 4 0 4 0
5 4 0 4 0
6 4 0 4 0
7 4 0 4 0
8 4 0 4 0
9 4 0 4 0
10 4 0 4 0
11 4 0 4 0
12 4 0 4 0
13 1 7.5 5 0
14 0 9.5 5 0
15 0 7.5 4 0
16 0 5 3 0
17 0 5 3 0
18 0 5 3 0
19 0 5 3 0
20 0 5 3 0
21 0 5 3 0 Nitrite Pale G
22 0 5 4 0 Nitrite Pale G
23 0 5 4 0 Nitrite Pale G
24 0 5 4 0 Nitrite Pale G so did 60% water change
25 1 5 4 2
26 0.5 5 4 0.5
27 0.5 5 4 1
28 0.5 5 4 1
29 0.5 5 4 1
30 1 5 4 0.25
31 1 5 4 0.25
32 1 5 4 0.5
33 1 5 4 0.5 has it stalled?

no table is a pain...

 

[toshapetriji]

Oooeeerrr can´t really understand those numbers, sorry.

If the ammonia is converting OK then I would say your are on course. My cycle had a period when the nitrite did not fall for about 2 weeks (actually rising).

A large water change (80%) got the nitrite down to a more manageable level and things seemed to move on after that. I also found raising the temperature to 30 degrees helped a little.

Don´t give up.

Hope this helps.

 

[RedeyesUK]

no table is a pain...

Try this:

Not sure what's going on there, strange to see ammonia making a comeback!

When are you adding ammonia, every 24 hours? and are the tests done just prior to adding?

 

[simonmac2]

on day 24 i did a water change and nuked the bacteria (tap water into filter) - doh!

am still confused why the ammonia doesn't clear in 24 hours (yes i add the ammonia every evening)

I was putting it down to my plants not enjoying the environment and producing more ammonia

will see how it is after the water change on Saturday.

Simon

 

[Miss Wiggle]

nope not stalled but slowed down, it's still processing because the nitrite is rising towards the end, can't remember the exact numbers but 1ppm of ammonia converst to around 3ppm of nitrite, so the nitrite can be rising without the ammonia dropping enough to register.

have you got your pH stats?

 

[simonmac2]

it's between about 6 and 6.4

the palest shade of green

 

[Miss Wiggle]

thats why then mate, the bacteria slow down at a pH that low, do some water changes to bring it back up, you want to be as close to 8 as possible while cycling.

have a read of the link in my sig pH and KH for a bit more info on it.

 

[simonmac2]

MW once again to the rescue

couldn't find bicarb in the memsahib's cupboard of wonders, got baking powder instead.

put in 2 teaspoons and will test in 30 mins or so.

will still do the water change on Saturday to clear out the algae and raise the PH

man this is going on for ever....



thanks again!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

nooooooooooooooooooooo


baking powder is not the same as bicarb


sorry mate, 100% water change to get it out immediatley.....

 

[simonmac2]

nuts! nuts! nuts!



time to try out my home made python thingy...

 

[Miss Wiggle]

lol..... read .... digest..... ask...... act


do not rush in feet first!!

 

[simonmac2]

what a fun way to spend an hour...

95% water change

after the emptying...put in the 3 capfuls of dechlor, and THEN added the warm water to the tank

after filling

.25 Ammonia 0 Nitrite Ph 7.2

Memsahib used unprintable words....

...gave me Bicarb of soda

i've added 1teaspoon as there didn't seem to be recipe for raising

off to bed.

baking powder vs baking soda...grrrrrr

 

[Miss Wiggle]

sounds good, the water change alone will have bought the pH up somewhere more reasonable so you should start to see some more movement in the near future.

Now as you've had a pH crash it's fairly safe to assume that you have a low KH, so at this point you should try to get hold of a test kit so we can find out what it actually is. It's one of those things that's a pain while cycling but probably not so important once you actually get into fishkeeping properly as it were, but it's still useful to know what it is and possibly take steps to adjust it, it just means you may have an unstable pH if you don't.

anyway first step, test kit for KH....

 

[simonmac2]

thanks MW

figures this morning after 8 hours were Ammonia down to 1, nitrite at .25 Ph at 7.2

I'm a bit uncertain about the reading of the Ph actually as the shade of blue wasn't really on the API scale but is "close" to 7.2

am visiting the other LFS i've found to see if i can get a Kh test and see if they are "cycling friendly" (and would give me some media)

Also BTW the homemade python thingy didn't work as a syphon, but was great as a filler. need to figure that out for next time....

How long would media/gravel in a bag keep the bacteria alive? I suppose if it got media/gravel AND 1 fish that would keep everything going until i got home?

Regards

Simon

 

[Miss Wiggle]

media will not even start to die off for 12 hrs so long as you keep it in a bag of tank water.

no need to do anything fancy with it unless you've got a hell of a long journey!