Razers Fishless Cycle!

[razer121]

ok! i got the ammonia up to 5ppm this morning so im going to class it as officaly day 1....its just alot easier, when should i retest the water? thanks!

 

[djl08]

24 hours after the addition of the ammonia for now, then later through the cycle, when your feel you are nearing the end you will need to test every 12 hours.

 

[waterdrop]

24 hours after the addition of the ammonia for now, then later through the cycle, when your feel you are nearing the end you will need to test every 12 hours.

Right, I agree, during the first week or two you only need to test for ammonia and pH and only once a day, about 24 hours from previously. You need to record these results daily as a line in a paper notebook (ideally) along with any observations you make or actions you take. And then you should post up your results for the members here! They all like to follow along and there really are lots of things they can help with that you might not have thought of sometimes.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

Unless you have some mature media, there will be so little change the first few days that testing every day is just not needed. If you test ammonia every few days it will be enough to establish the trend. As things get closer, testing becomes more critical.

 

[waterdrop]

Unless you have some mature media, there will be so little change the first few days that testing every day is just not needed. If you test ammonia every few days it will be enough to establish the trend. As things get closer, testing becomes more critical.

Yes, this is really quite true! Lots of first starters are just so curious they can't resist a daily test. I myself tend to get a little over-caught up collecting data (comes from my work trying to prevent epidemics I guess ) WD

 

[razer121]

ok, thanks for the help guys, it seems that adding 5ml of ammonia to my tank brings it back upto 5ppm. ive recently added some more today as it finaly is at 0ppm again! am i doing this right? and when can i exspect nitrates and nitrites to start climbing??? thanks!

""edit""

is my water supposed to be crystal clear still??

 

[cowboy507]

ok, thanks for the help guys, it seems that adding 5ml of ammonia to my tank brings it back upto 5ppm. ive recently added some more today as it finaly is at 0ppm again! am i doing this right? and when can i exspect nitrates and nitrites to start climbing??? thanks!

you should see nitrites very soon, these will normally spike very high. after this and ammonia is being processed in less than 12 hrs you should be just about done. make sure to do a test week where you add ammonia every day just to make sure that it is processing correctly.

 

[razer121]

updated finaly.....sorry about the late update i will try to keep track more now have changed the tank around alot!

 

[razer121]

i need a little help now guys....im intent on topping up the ammonia levels today at 1, but im unsure what they are at.... heres some pictures of the test tube

but this one looks very different even though its taken about min after....

these were taken around 10 mins after testing. i think that means the ammonia is gone but im unsure any help would be very helpfull!

 

[yasinullah]

the colour reading should be taken 5 mins after, if its yellow, with no obvious green colouring, I'd say it was yellow and hence 0ppm of ammonia. The 2nd picture I think its to do with the lighting, but looks yellow to me.

I always stick to the 5mins, But even after 10mins I find it to stabilise and not change much at all.

 

[waterdrop]

agree, looks like zero

 

[razer121]

thanks guys, ive realized this kit doesnt go by exact lol but i can work it out now....anyway i mesured the ph today and noticed it was at 8.4!!!! i know that cant be good but i cannot think of what may have caused it? i did redo the ornaments and such only a few days ago, also added a garden pot, and some new plants, could these cause this??

 

[yasinullah]

a pH of 8.4 is ideal for the bacterial species you're trying to grow in the filter. Its the ammonia usually that raises pH, when I do my 24hours tests I compared teh pH before and after adding ammonia, and it definitely does push it up

 

[cowboy507]

a pH of 8.4 is ideal for the bacterial species you're trying to grow in the filter. Its the ammonia usually that raises pH, when I do my 24hours tests I compared teh pH before and after adding ammonia, and it definitely does push it up

id agree with this, a high pH helps with cycling. Unless you will have sensitive fish then this would be fine. You can lower the pH by adding crushed coral or bog wood, these two are the most common way to lower pH

 

[waterdrop]

a pH of 8.4 is ideal for the bacterial species you're trying to grow in the filter. Its the ammonia usually that raises pH, when I do my 24hours tests I compared teh pH before and after adding ammonia, and it definitely does push it up

id agree with this, a high pH helps with cycling. Unless you will have sensitive fish then this would be fine. You can lower the pH by adding crushed coral or bog wood, these two are the most common way to lower pH

But this should not be thought about now. Better to think of Fishless Cycling Water as "Bacterial Growing Soup" having nothing to do with your fish! After cycling this soup will be tossed to the garden and the whole fish world will start over with fresh water, lower temp and a whole different attitude about water chemistry. Its true there are a few who need to raise or lower pH because of their goals or their unlucky source water status, but those are few and far between and most people choose to "listen to their tap water" and build a community around that water chemistry without altering it artificially. Once a tank is cycled, it will not push down nearly as hard on pH usually.

~~waterdrop~~