Sweetmeisters Fishless Cycle Log

[sweetmeister]

Tank Is An Aquaone ar850-165 litres,36 uk Gallons.
Filter system built into hood containing- top-black sponge,fluval prefilter,more sponge and finally ceramic noodles
Temperature set to 84 degrees.
Tank cleaned and filled with dechlorinated water,ammonia topped up to (as far as i could tell) 4ppm
So now I just sit and wait yes?

Tap water pH 7.0

24/3/11-Day 1-Ammonia added to 4ppm
Day 2-Not tested
Day 3-Not tested- Carbon cartridges removed from filter trays.Added more black sponge and some prefilter into filter trays.Added plastic plant and ornament,all cleaned in tank water first.Added roughly 10 litres of water treated with aqua plus to replace the water I had removed for cleaning.
Day 4-pH-7.6 Ammonia 1-2ppm Nitrite-0ppm Nitrate-10ppm. Added 4ml of ammonia.Tap Nitrate 10ppm
Day 5-pH-7.6 Ammonia 4ppm Nitrite-0ppm
Day 6-Not tested
Day 7-Ammonia 4ppm Nitrite-0ppm-changed substrate to sand.
Day 8-Ammonia 1ppm Nitrite 0-25ppm Nitrate 5ppm pH 7.6 = Think ammonia drop was due to 25% water change during substrate change.Topped up to 4ppm.
Day 9-Ammonia 4ppm Nitrite 0-25ppm
Day10-Not tested-away
Day11-Not tested away
Day12-Ammonia 1ppm Nitrite 0-25ppm pH 7.6
Day13-Ammonia 1ppm Nitrite 0-25ppm. Mature media added.
Day14-Ammonia 1ppm Nitrite 0-25ppm Nitrate 5.0ppm pH 7.6
Day15-Not tested
Day16-Ammonia 1ppm Nitrite 0-25ppm
Day17-Ammonia 1ppm Nitrite 0-25ppm
Day18-Ammonia 1ppm Nitrite 0-25ppm. Added 100ml of Dr Tims "One and only" Nitrifying bacteria.
Day19-Ammonia 1ppm Nitrite 0 Nitrate 5ppm Added 2ml of Ammonia.
Day20-Ammonia 1ppm Nitrite 0 pH 7.6 Added a further 2.5ml of Ammonia reading now 2ppm of Ammonia.

 

[menacer]

I wasa told to take my carbon cartridge out when cycling but wait for comfirmation on that, i dont know farenheit but if that is around 29 degrees celcius then that is fine. Yes just sit and wait and test every 24 hours for Ammonia.

Would be good if you could test your tap water for pH etc..

 

[sweetmeister]

I wasa told to take my carbon cartridge out when cycling but wait for comfirmation on that, i dont know farenheit but if that is around 29 degrees celcius then that is fine. Yes just sit and wait and test every 24 hours for Ammonia.

Would be good if you could test your tap water for pH etc..

I did ask that question on another thread and was told there was no problem leaving the carbon cartridges in.Can somebody please clarify so I can remove them and replace them early on before anything starts to happen.

Will do a tap pH test a bit later and update.

 

[Owen386]

There is No Problem with using a Carbon Cartridge Good or Bad at this point, The carbon will only dissipate in 2-3 days anyways so no need for concern.

-Owen

 

[Ifti]

The carbon is used more for removing substances you have put into the tank to treat diseases etc - medicines, and so on. The carbon only lasts a day or so.
Personally, I removed mine and replaced it with another foam.

 

[Skins]

Hello,
With you being right at the start of your cycle i would be inclined to replace your carbon(chemical)media with ceramic rings/noodles(biological) or sponge{mechanical)media, this provides a far better surface area for the beneficial bacterias you want to colonise with in your filter.

Keith.

 

[sweetmeister]

Feel a trip to the LFS is on the cards for tomorrow then!! Replace the cartridges I think with some foam or ceramics.
They are the carbon cartridges with the white wool stuff on the top.Are these still ok to remove?

One more question,working from the top where the water enters the filter compartments via the spray bar,the first media the water hits is the carbon cartridges followed by sponge followed by ceramic noodles.If I remove the carbon cartridges which I intend to do tomorrow,would I be better getting sponge or noodles? So would the filter be better with two layers of sponge followed by the noodles or would it be better with noodles-foam-noodles? Does that make sense?

 

[sweetmeister]

Has anybody any thoughts on the above before I rush out in the morning to get what I need?

 

[sweetmeister]

I have removed the carbon cartridges from the filter system,and have bought some more black sponge and also some fluval pre-filter.
I am a little confused on where to put this pre-filter stuff? Sorry if that sounds a stupid question!

Would i be ok putting the new sponge on top (ie first thing the water hits from spraybar) then the pre-filter stuff,then go with another layer of black foam and finally the ceramic noodles?

The pre-filter stuff just looks like a smaller version of the ceramic noodles I already have.

Please help!

Obviously I will wash all the media in tank water before putting it into the filter tray.

 

[sweetmeister]

Can anybody help me please??

 

[sweetmeister]

Todays test results updated!! Im confused,can somebody explain to me what my results mean,do I need to top up my ammonia again?.
Can I just check that on my API test kit the Nitrate colour card says saltwater,is that right? Also should there be a seperate colour card to measure high pH?

 

[KateT]

You should have the freshwater kit if your intention is to keep tropicals.

 

[sweetmeister]

You should have the freshwater kit if your intention is to keep tropicals.

Hi
I do have the freshwater kit! I have four cards in total,a pH freshwater colour card,freshwater ammonia card,fresh and saltwater nitrite card and a saltwater nitrate card!! Is that right? This is what the kit came with.

 

[KateT]

You should have the freshwater kit if your intention is to keep tropicals.

Hi
I do have the freshwater kit! I have four cards in total,a pH freshwater colour card,freshwater ammonia card,fresh and saltwater nitrite card and a saltwater nitrate card!! Is that right? This is what the kit came with.

My kit has a freshwater Nitrate card
Fresh and saltwater Nitrite card.
Freshwater PH card
Freshwater Ammonia card
Freshwater high range PH card

 

[sweetmeister]

You should have the freshwater kit if your intention is to keep tropicals.

Hi
I do have the freshwater kit! I have four cards in total,a pH freshwater colour card,freshwater ammonia card,fresh and saltwater nitrite card and a saltwater nitrate card!! Is that right? This is what the kit came with.

My kit has a freshwater Nitrate card
Fresh and saltwater Nitrite card.
Freshwater PH card
Freshwater Ammonia card
Freshwater high range PH card

Great!!! I dont even have the right cards in my freshwater kit!
I dont suppose anybody has spare cards they could send me do they? I need a freshwater high pH card and a freshwater nitrate card!
I thought these were suppose to be good kits!!