Rye's Fishless Cycle

[Dan-CR4]

nice one. looking good

 

[Ryefish]

Day 41 - PM
PH: 7.2/7.4, cant tell today lol
Amm: 0
Ni: 0
Na: around 15

how long do you think before i should add a snail? a week of double 0's or longer? Im waiting quite a few weeks before i get the shrimp because i know they are uber sensitive.

ETA: im still having to keep an eye on this heater

 

[Ryefish]

I don't know if there is another part of the forum that i can post these on but i have some better pictures of the Rasbora's.
Its only taken me like a week to get a picture of them
This is the one i thought was female but now i think is just a younger fish. She is paler, a little bit smaller and has a wierd black spot on the underneath (can you see it?). i have no idea what it is. She doesn't look so healthy in this pic, with her fins all down like such. I don't know if shes sick or what (ignore the dirty tank!! water is orange from tannins)

and i am showing these so you can get a clear image of what the fins look like on these fish, they are pretty amazing considering they are only a few mm's and are so very red (photos havent been edited at all)

This one has its fins down a bit too (i think it was the current) but you can see they are still very different compared to the first photo ^^^

 

[Ryefish]

Day 43 (a little bit early)
AM - Amm: 0, Ni: 0
PM - PH: 7.2, Amm: 0, Ni: 0, Na: 15

 

[waterdrop]

Great pics!

edit: Are they pretty shy?
You said they are really fast, right?

 

[Ryefish]

yeah they are quite shy. im trying to get them into a routine with feeding so that they will get used to people being in front of the tank but its going to take a while i think.
And yes, they are crazy fast


Thursday mornings just are not for me. Testing is the last thing on my mind at 6am, so no tests for this morning.

PM -
PH: 7.4
Amm: 0
Ni: 0
Na: 20

 

[Ryefish]

Day 45 AM - im half asleep and tested everything lol. nevermind

PH: 7.4
Amm: 0
Ni: 0
Na: 15

 

[Dan-CR4]

looking good mate

 

[Ryefish]

it is im rather proud of my little tank not being a complete jerk about having fish in it haha. and it hasnt killed any!

 

[waterdrop]

Ah yes, now you're really seeing what cycling looks like. hats off!

 

[Dan-CR4]

now thats how it should be when people listen to the great advice this forum gives . Im 2 weeks in from my qualifying week, no lost fish, they all seem happy. my water has stayed at double 0's for nitrite and ammonia and my nitrate is staying steady around the 20ppm. Well done Ryefish.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes Dan and the cool thing is to think how your filter will be getting more and more "robust" throughout this first year. The chemolithoautotrophs will be optimizing their biofilms in the filter, making them better and continuing to divide cells thoughout this long period. The end result will be that during the 2nd year of the tank, the filter will be capable of responding much more quickly to a bioload increase. People who are patient can eventually get away with a larger introduction (say a larger single fish or two if its big fish) at a time. I've always felt that beginners who try rather large cichlid introductions during the first year are sometimes getting in to risky territory, but of course its all hard to quantify.

Since we're all patting ourselves on the back, let me take this opportunity though to mention that we are all eventually faced with deaths in the tank. Many species live fairly short lives (many killifish only live a year I believe) and in general, some fish from the tropics will be fragile (it actually varies quite a lot.) One sided effect of our emphasis on giving fish the best fighting chance by giving them a good working biofilter right from their first day in the tank is that some beginners can on occasion get too strong a feeling of how long an individual fish will live. Anyway, just wanted to say that and drop it.

Glad things are going well,
~~waterdrop~~

 

[Ryefish]

Day 45 PM was
PH: 7.4
Amm: 0
Ni: 0
Na: 15

There were no tests yesterday (day 46) because i spent the day at Alton Towers lol, but everything is still alive today and todays AM tests (Day 47)
are:
PH: 7.4
Amm: 0
Ni: 0
Na: 15

I have new leaves growing on my plants!
Got a big maintence to do today, not so much of a water change but need to do a very small gravel vac and some gardening, and need to feed the fish. They shall have a treat of brine shrimp today i think.

Its been 7 days since that very small 0.25 ammonia spike, and had double 0's since, so i am going to see about getting the snail next week (whoop!). It can be my reward once ive finished the last assignment (presentation ) for uni on thursday

 

[waterdrop]

Oh good, I want to remember this. I'm always quoting the rough ones that end in 60 to 70 days and the fast ones at one month but here is one ending just under 50 days and its behaving just like we describe - making you impatient but then finally getting double zeros and a steady reasonable nitrate for a week. Looking good...

~~waterdrop~~
ps. what is alton towers?

 

[Ryefish]

Alton Towers is a theme park. We spent the day on rollercoasters and almost puking haha.
I failed at testing the tank last night because i fell asleep in somebodys back garden at a BBQ (sleep deprivation from saturday morning lol)

but todays AM:
PH: 7.4 (i expected it to drop because i did a bigger water change than planned yesterday)
Amm: 0
Ni: 0

I don't think i will be testing twice daily anymore (not that ive remember/been capable of lately ). My API test is getting rather low so i will have to purchase another one soon. I will keep a close eye on the tank, especially when i get the snail and before i get the shrimps in a few weeks