Rye's Fishless Cycle

[waterdrop]

To me the biorb UG filter would explain the bouncing around. I believe they are just a bit difficult to get stabilized and cycled. WD

 

[Ryefish]

I am getting two Galaxy's today to try and finish this cycle off.

This mornings readings are:
Amm: 0
Ni: between 0.25 and 0.50

Im testing PH and Nitrates now to figure out how much of a water change i need to do to get the levels safe for the fish.

Am i correct in thinking, that adding only 2 fish now will be very understocked compared to the amount of ammonia i have been adding daily and i will more than likely get false readings for a few days until the bacteria lowers enough to deal with these two very little fish?

 

[Ryefish]

got fish!!
They are the tiniest fish ever. They are currently floating in a bag in my tank. Will two of them actually be capable of cycling the tank?

One of them is lighter than the other which is interesting. Some bag pics:
you can just about see them

close up of the lighter one

they are really fast. it took the guy ages to catch them with two nets

Ill get some more pictures tonight or tomorrow when they have settled a bit

 

[Dan-CR4]

congratulations . hope you have better luck in trying to get pictures than i have, mine just move to quick to get a decent piccie. I have just added another 6 fish to my tank this morning. I got my Bolivian Rams and Keyhole Cichlids, they seem to be getting used to their new surroundings already. Good luck with your fish and keep us posted how they get on.

Danny

 

[Ryefish]

Thanks

more fish!! how lucky are you! lol. Im glad you managed to find the ones you were after

I had to do about 3 50% water changes this morning over the space of about two hours to get the nitrites to 0 and the nitrates to a manageable level. Letting the fish out the bag in five minutes. its so exciting

 

[PDSimon]

I can't wait to get to this point it looks exciting

 

[Twinklecaz]

Ha ha, look at him staring you out! Excellent!

 

[Ryefish]

I can't wait to get to this point it looks exciting

haha i still have a long way to go i would prefer to have double 0's on a morning and night but its just not happening yet. once its all settled though ill have two more of these guys in and a snail Its going to look brilliant with a tiny shoal of them

 

[waterdrop]

wow, this is really the day for you and dan it appears...

 

[Macro]

Looks exciting, I hope it does the trick for your cycle.

 

[Ryefish]

Day 34 PM - now Fish-in cycle

PH: around 7.0 - my tap water is testing out at 7.4, and considering i did the equivelant of a 150% water change this morning, it has still dropped to 7.0

Ammonia: 0 - fish obviously aren't pooping yet
Nitrites: 0

Nitrates: 20 - I did so much of a water change this morning to get them down from 40 to 10, and now they are back up at 20. No idea whats going on there


Fish: are settling in. The brighter one (calling it a 'he' for identification purposes) is spending a lot of time hiding behind the plants and the bogwood, but i don't blame him. The lighter one (calling it a 'she') is exploring the front of the tank, but darts away if you move. If you sit still long enough at the front of the tank she comes out to take a look at you lol!

Bought a new air pump today, but it was a leeetle bit powerful so i had to turn it down with this magical plastic device that came with it (wow!). Bought a timer plug thing to plug the light into so the fish have an actual routine with lights. Waking up at different times each day is a nightmare.

 

[Ryefish]

Are you planning to dose some liquid carbon to help that not be a limiting factor in the plant performance?

I have just discovered what this is It is a possibility

 

[waterdrop]

Since you changed a lot of water the pH drop from 7.4 to 7.0 may just be the presence of CO2 that comes in at higher amounts due to the greater pressure in the water pipes. CO2 in water goes back and forth to the carbonic acid state (H2CO3) so you'll get some pH drop but will usually be temporary since the water will hold less CO2 at the lower pressure now that its out of the pipelines.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Macro]

Since you changed a lot of water the pH drop from 7.4 to 7.0 may just be the presence of CO2 that comes in at higher amounts due to the greater pressure in the water pipes. CO2 in water goes back and forth to the carbonic acid state (H2CO3) so you'll get some pH drop but will usually be temporary since the water will hold less CO2 at the lower pressure now that its out of the pipelines.

~~waterdrop~~

That's some interesting stuff right there. Is there a always a correlation between a lower pH having a higher C02? Is a pH of 7.2 going to have a higher concentration of CO2 than a pH of 7.6 ? Is the concentration of CO2 what makes the pH lower or higher?

Thanks WaterDrop for sharing your knowledge.

 

[waterdrop]

Since you changed a lot of water the pH drop from 7.4 to 7.0 may just be the presence of CO2 that comes in at higher amounts due to the greater pressure in the water pipes. CO2 in water goes back and forth to the carbonic acid state (H2CO3) so you'll get some pH drop but will usually be temporary since the water will hold less CO2 at the lower pressure now that its out of the pipelines.

~~waterdrop~~

That's some interesting stuff right there. Is there a always a correlation between a lower pH having a higher C02? Is a pH of 7.2 going to have a higher concentration of CO2 than a pH of 7.6 ? Is the concentration of CO2 what makes the pH lower or higher?

Thanks WaterDrop for sharing your knowledge.

No, CO2 is just one of many substances that can be in the water and can exert their influence on the overall pH. CO2 is actually a rather mild "mover of pH." There are other stronger influences. For instance, during fishless cycling the final product of the cycle, the nitrate(NO3) will exist in the water in several different states, one of which is nitric acid (only a small amount, about 7%, will be in that state normally,) which can exert quite a strong acidic push and make the pH go lower if there are not other chemicals that counter that.

~~waterdrop~~