Si's Fishless Cycle

[JoshuaA]

Fed up of this cycle now...

had to put another tbsp of bicarb in, not sure if using bicarb so much can be extra bad so if it is someone please tell me!

also...what level of nitrate is it that you should perform a waterchange, 160?

Are you sky high on Nitrites still?

I feel like my gfs fishless cycle is coming to an end, we pretty much got double zeros two days in a row so far

If you're trying to control your pH just do a water change, is it you who lives on the Wirral(or near it) don't you? It's very soft water around here and well you aint got much buffering capacity. Your best option is to water change. If you've got a crap load of Nitrite (or its been of the scale for a few days) then you are likely going to HAVE to water change. A good 95/100% change will basically reset the tank water then you re dose the tank.

 

[PDSimon]

nope, waiting for nitrites to process within 12 hours (its all on the first page if you didn't know). On day 50 now.

waterdrop advised the bicarb. My tap pH is ~7.3 so putting it closer to optimum of 8-8.4 just helps I guess.


I live near chester and it is indeed soft, 6GH and 3KH here.

 

[JoshuaA]

nope, waiting for nitrites to process within 12 hours (its all on the first page if you didn't know). On day 50 now.

waterdrop advised the bicarb. My tap pH is ~7.3 so putting it closer to optimum of 8-8.4 just helps I guess.


I live near chester and it is indeed soft, 6GH and 3KH here.

I found controlling the pH doing water changes worked well for me, day 25 and we got first double zeros. Almost got them yesterday but Nitrite was 0.25.

 

[waterdrop]

(who knows if I've said this before in this thread, lol) In the third phase (after the nitrite spike) (where Si is) I really like the thing of doing occasional full water changes (or even full plus 50% refill, then full again, then final refill) and then recharging both the bicarb and the ammonia. This sometimes seems to be the only way to reset the nitrites and nitrates down low and get the bicarb out so that it can be re-dosed rather than let to build up higher. As I've also said in a lot of posts, I think this is a great way of getting practice on all the details of your gravel-clean-water-changing that you'll be doing hopefully weekly for the rest of the tank history.

Having said all that, I really think you are not doing anything wrong. I often have the feeling that those of us with softer, more acid water can just have a longer time of it than all those Londoners and others with nice hard water (they may have it easier cyclng but they certainly have it harder making a south american tank, lol.) I can well remember getting sick of the third phase. I can also remember my total shock one day when the 12-hour nitrite test drops turned brilliant baby blue as they hit the test water!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[PDSimon]

Thanks WD, I can't do a full waterchange tonight but I may do 50% today, 50% day after tomorrow, then a full one on the day after the day after that or something. To be honest it seems to have stalled a little for no reason, so I was contemplating a waterchange anyway but now I can be certain.

Going to a big fish store tomorrow, plus a fishing store and then a degree show so a bit busy!

Yeah my hardness is pretty soft but I love south american fish already so... quite good I suppose

I can't wait to set it all up for fish, then add the fish the next day

 

[PDSimon]

Just did a 60% waterchange, god is it knackering (especially seeing as that I'm still hurting from golf the other day and from the gym today)

I figured a way of syphoning it out of my window so that was easy. Just putting it back in is irratating! Need to get a new syringe so I can dose prime properly. 0.25ml per 10L bucket lol. i think I overdosed a little I think it's about 24degrees in there, filter and heater are back on.

I could then just buy a cheap hose and fill my tank through that? or are outdoor taps dodgey?

I could get a copper testing kit and see what my hot waters like...hmm

editActual question)- if the filter isn't in the tank and i'm putting water in the tank, can i just dose the conditioner at the end of filling the tank before I put the filter back in the tank?

 

[JoshuaA]

Just did a 60% waterchange

Get use to it , Or buy yourself a 305 filter haha rather than try leach one from a sale

I overdosed a little

I wouldn't worry about it, Seachem claim you can dose up to 5 x as much as stated without issue unless your temperature is above about 30 degrees I think it said.

I could then just buy a cheap hose and fill my tank through that? or are outdoor taps dodgey?

What me and my girlfriend did was buy a bunch of brand new buckets from Rightway for like £1.50 each and then just fill a bunch of them up to a reasonably close temperature measure using a thermometer, treat them, and then add them. We can do like a 90% water change so much faster, it also keeps us in the mind set to minimise the temperature change for when fish are in. We usually have 3 gallons at a time being added. However we did work out we can be adding one whilst filling another up if we reverse the siphon if we can get the bucket above the water level! It works for the first part. The problem with the hosepipe I imagine you'll have is in the UK it will be stupidly cold and take a lot of effort to get a 125 litre tank up to temperature if you've filled it with cold water.

I could get a copper testing kit and see what my hot waters like...hmm

I don't know how true this is but I was informed the copper isn't as big an issue with fish unless you are putting invertebrate into the tank. (A friend I know who keeps 'rays told me of this as he had to go out of his way to get water into their tanks).

Wow Multi quote!

 

[PDSimon]

I will get a external filter in a few months. There are just some really cheap ones at the moment going on this site but I've got more important things to pay for! My first stock won't need the power of an external, and by the time I need my tank to mature so I can add rummy nose tetra I will have got an external

yeah I read that, its normally fine overdosing so i'm not worried lol. I have buckets... But it takes ages(i've got to go across the house and up the stairs)

Just put a plank of wood across the top of the tank for the bucket if you want to syhpon it back in...

I could attach a hosepipe to a warm tap if my water had no copper...And shrimp are awesome!... I want to get some massive shrimp when my tanks more mature as well as amano and blue pearl shrimp asap

 

[kaivalagi]

Need to get a new syringe so I can dose prime properly. 0.25ml per 10L bucket lol. i think I overdosed a little

I wouldn't worry about it, I tend to put about a quarter of a cap full in a 15 litre bucket...overdosing is no biggy! Undosing is what to look out for...

I could get a copper testing kit and see what my hot waters like...hmm

Depends, if you have a modern combi boiler that heats water as you want it rather than a tank system no worries...I have the old boiler that stores hot water so it needed testing...

editActual question)- if the filter isn't in the tank and i'm putting water in the tank, can i just dose the conditioner at the end of filling the tank before I put the filter back in the tank?

In my Roma 125 I add water via a hose and dechlorinator straight into the tank with an internal filter still in there, it's fine. I add half the dechlorinator requirement for the tank volume before the water goes in and half after...just stop the filter whilst you do it all...I also wait a good ten minutes afterwards before the filter goes on just to be extra safe (probably not needed but I'm paranoid )

 

[PDSimon]

Its an old boiler like yours I think. How do you get your hose to fit a normal tap or do you use an outdoor one?

I waited 10 minutes..probably more

edit: how are the little fishies doing? You havn't updated for a while!

 

[JoshuaA]

Its an old boiler like yours I think. How do you get your hose to fit a normal tap or do you use an outdoor one?

I waited 10 minutes..probably more

edit: how are the little fishies doing? You havn't updated for a while!

I always over dose it by about 2x with prime but I ALWAYS prefer putting it in the bottom of the bucket before adding water. It's just one of those preference things, I just feel like the gushing water into the bucket will help mix the prime up better than just pouring it in a tank or a full bucket. Usually by the time the bucket is at the right temperature to go in it has been about 10 minutes. Though usually I also remove the internal filter (Fluval U2) and place it in a separate bucket full of the tank water we just extracted with it running for the time of the change. So by the time the tank is ready and the filter is placed back into the tank (from the bucket of old tank water) the the new water + prime has been in the tank possibly up to 20 minutes so hopefully long enough to treat it all.

 

[PDSimon]

I'm not fussed, I'd rather speed up things, get a hose and stick the dechlorinator in the tank

If your using buckets you only need to dose the normal amount anyway... You could probably get away with putting all the water in and then adding the dechlorinator but I wouldn't want to be the one to test it

 

[kaivalagi]

Its an old boiler like yours I think. How do you get your hose to fit a normal tap or do you use an outdoor one?

I waited 10 minutes..probably more

edit: how are the little fishies doing? You havn't updated for a while!

Just got home, I've been up in Preston for work since Monday night

To fit normal taps I use this (a trip to homebase is required):

Little fishies look fine, not any bigger yet really

The port acara has given the firemouth what for whilst I've been away, I think the FM will be backing down now...

 

[PDSimon]

Its an old boiler like yours I think. How do you get your hose to fit a normal tap or do you use an outdoor one?

I waited 10 minutes..probably more

edit: how are the little fishies doing? You havn't updated for a while!

Just got home, I've been up in Preston for work since Monday night

To fit normal taps I use this (a trip to homebase is required):

Little fishies look fine, not any bigger yet really

The port acara has given the firemouth what for whilst I've been away, I think the FM will be backing down now...

I want to see some pics

I saw some convict cichlids today, nice fish although I'm still getting a community I quite fancy for my next tank having a natural planted tank(el natural/ diana walstad method) and putting some of those little red claw macro shimp in a small tank Wouldn't be for a while yet anyway

I saw the fittings, not sure it'll fit my taps as they're a bit funny shaped

I suppose thats a good thing as you were getting a bit fed up of your firemouth?

 

[kaivalagi]

The port acara has given the firemouth what for whilst I've been away, I think the FM will be backing down now...

I suppose thats a good thing as you were getting a bit fed up of your firemouth?

Yeah, I'm glad that right now it looks like the firemouth is being put in his place by a more docile fish, the port acara should get quite a bit bigger than him anyway and I think would be a better boss for now

More pics possibly this weekend, but not much has changed...although my biggest tapajos seems to have noticeably grown since I last saw him...could be the light being off...I'll see in the morning