Small Tank Fishless Cycle

[Tropicoll]

Oops!

Following BTT's post in this thread http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=265198 about how much ammonia to add I thought I'd do a quick calculation.

Taking into account 10kg (10 litres) of water for the substrate I have approximately 44 litres of water. Assuming 5ppm is wanted

Using the formula A = (0.5 V) / P (from the thread above)

A=(0.5 * 44) / 9.5

Therefore A = 2.315 milliltres.

I have been adding 1.25 ml. So where's the confusion come from? I thought the tank was originally 39 litres less the substrate (29 litres) which wouldbe 1.52ml.

So, why didn't I pick this up in the ammonia test? My eye sight's not fantastic and the two greens for 2 and 4ppm are very similar.

I think as I have been topping up with 1.25ml (testing in a minute will prove the ppm) I am going to continue along this route. WHen the cycle is eventually complete I will stock light (haven't thought hard about this yet!) until the tank is established/mature and think about adding more fish after christmas/new year.

Does that sound ok?

 

[Tropicoll]

I know that triple posting in your own thread is bad form, but:

1 hour after adding 1.25ml ammonia:

Ammonia level: 2 - 4ppm (at a guess around 3)
Nitrites: very definitely 1ppm

Next text 2015...

 

[Tropicoll]

2 hours after adding 1.25ml ammonia

Testing with API test kit...

Ammonia level 1 + a bit
Nitrites 1 - 2

 

[Tropicoll]

3 hours after adding 1.25 ml ammonia

Ammonia level 1ppm
Nitrites 5ppm

Everything seem to be doing their job. Would like to see a nitrite drop before going to bed around midnight...

 

[waterdrop]

I think its actually kinda hard to come up with a community stocking that's all hardy enough that you'd want to put them all in at once. Usually there are some that you'd rather wait on, even if only because they are more expensive "centerpiece" fish for instance. Its perfectly fine that the 5ppm will allow you to do a huge full stocking but that you then don't actually do it. Its much better to have the bacterial size drop back a bit, as the robust nature of the colonies will still be building with time.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Tropicoll]

I see what you mean. I am quite happy not to put all the fish in at once. This is going to be my only tank for at least six months, possibly longer so I have time to concentrate on the one tank and add fish slowly, even if I just just three fish for the moment and go from there.

What would you recommend then? Extend the cycle and start dosing to 5ppm every 24 hours?

Final test for tonight, 4 hours after adding ammonia:

Ammonia level 0.25ppm
Nitrite level 1 - 2

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, if you can get the color to what you feel is 5ppm then that's good.

 

[Tropicoll]

Magic, thanks WD. Having topped up the ammonia last night I will do so again tonight. Test results for this morning:

Fishless Cycle Day 25 on 54L/11.8 Imp Gallon (14.2 US Gal) Tank:
9 plants, 1 small skull decoration, 1 small bogwood, no extra chemicals, apparently 1 snail!
API Master Liquid test kit

Test time 0715 - 13 hours after adding ammonia

Water Temperature 25 deg C

Ph 7.8
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0.25ppm
Nitrate: not tested

 

[waterdrop]

Only 0.25ppm NO2 13 hours after ammonia add seems to be getting pretty close to the qualifying week, looking good

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

What is wrong with your calculation, since you asked, 10 Kg of gravel is not 10 litres. It is much less than that unless your gravel is close to floating around by being so light.
As WD said, you sound like you are getting close. Best of luck going forward.

 

[Tropicoll]

Thanks

That would suggest that my calculation is even further out. So, with 10kg of gravel in a 54 litre tank, any ideas what the approximate water content could be in my tank?

Having read "stuff" on the net, I thought that 10kg of gravel would displace approximately 10 litres of water.

 

[OldMan47]

I would expect typical gravel that we use to weigh 3 or 4 times as much as water, thus only 2 or 3 litres. Why not just measure the average depth times length times width and calculate it. Even then the estimated gravel volume will be high because there is water between all the gravel pieces.

 

[Tropicoll]

So, in reality that would mean that my volume is around 51 - 52 litres instead of 44. Hey, even more little fishies!

Thanks OM47 - I'm stuck at work at the moment so can't do a damned thing but will try and have a play tonight.

Coll

 

[waterdrop]

Its fun trying to get kind of detailed in the beginning, to establish starting points in your mind. But eventually you may find that there are so many "guesstimates" and "generalizations" involved that it will work its way back into being more of an art than a science. Individual fish grow less or more than avererages that you read about, tanks may be more underfiltered or overfiltered than one realizes, different species may have greater variation in waste production than one realizes, all sorts of stuff like that. I remember one of the comments here that made me stop and think more than many others was made by OM47 himself! He reminded us one time that an understocked tank is much better at withstanding a long power failure than an overstocked one. That one really made me think quite a bit, as I get my fair share of power failures and big generators are just not something we've ever wanted to spend money on.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Tropicoll]

An art it certainly is!

I removed approx 20% tonight to move the bloody tank two inches. Topped up fresh and added 2.5ml of ammonia. I haven't been able to do any other tests tonight but tested Ammonia at 22.45 - 1 hour 45 minutes after adding.

Result is 4ppm ammonia.

I will do a full set of tests before work tomorrow morning.