What Is Happening To My Cycle?

[faildeadly]

Cycling Day 11/12

Day 11 Yesterday (AM) Results.
Ammonia - 4ppm
Nitrite - 0.25ppm
Nitrate - Nil
pH- 7.8

Day 11 - PM
Added Filter media from friend's established filter. My filter media placed in a bucket of her tank water whilst I added filter media.

Day 12 (AM)

Day 12 (PM)
Ammonia - Between 4ppm and 8ppm
Nitrite - Between 2ppm and 5ppm
Nitrate - 10ppm
pH - 7.0

Day 12 AM results were similar as tongihts but pH was down at 6.4.

What's going on, and should I do anything about it?

++++

I should add, my friend's tank water was shoing some odd results too. See Here for details.

 

[fluttermoth]

I can only assume either; your friend's filter is full of gunk that's rotting down (but I would have thought you'd noticed if it was that bad) or some of the bacteria have died off and are causing an ammonia spike themselves.

I'm not sure what's going on with your friend's water, tbh (your link's not working, btw, but I found the thread ).

I would do a 50% or so water change to get the ammonia back down again and see how things progress over the next couple of days. It might still do your cycle some good.

 

[brian1]

I can only say what I did, let the tank run for one week till crystal clear, got a bag of media from my local shop, put it in the filter,put 5 fish in to keep the media fed,...... All done in 14 days, 0, 0, and 5 to 10 nitrate 7 ph..........

 

[Blue Diamond]

Check the test kit you are using , I've had false readings like that off API test kits

Can I ask why you are using filter media from your friends tank , the idea of cycling a tank is so that you have a pure tank for your future fish without the pathogens from other fish.

How are you cycling the tank , the best way is with ammonia this will take 6 weeks (fishless cycle)

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Using donated media is a perfectly acceptable way to cycle your tank

 

[Aqua Tom]

Check the test kit you are using , I've had false readings like that off API test kits

Can I ask why you are using filter media from your friends tank , the idea of cycling a tank is so that you have a pure tank for your future fish without the pathogens from other fish.

How are you cycling the tank , the best way is with ammonia this will take 6 weeks (fishless cycle)

Sigh

 

[Blue Diamond]

Using donated media is a perfectly acceptable way to cycle your tank

If you want to pass diseases from one tank to another it is , the proper way to cycle a tank is to do a fishless 6 week(on average) Ammonia cycle.

I would like to see you start a Discus set up using media from someone else tank , you will wipe the lot out within a week of putting them in there

Maybe sharing media for the average guppie platy owner is fine ,but I am sure you will find any serious hobbist will do it properly .

Its like telling people they can cycle a tank using fish , yes you can but its totally cruel to the fish as the ammonia spikes can and will burn their gills , and nitrite spikes will kill them.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

lol - fool.


Do you think you're talking to a bunch of total beginners here? You're not. And your defensive attitude will get you no where around here - so feel free to take it elsewhere.

 

[slimeneo]

You can't just assume the other tank has diseases- in fact in his thread he says that his friend has had her tank for years and the fish have been fine.

And you know, people who do fish-in cycles most likely didn't have any idea about cycling when they bought the fish at the LFS, not because they're cruel and want their fish to suffer... but hey, whatever you want to think.

But anyway, I would wait maybe another day and see if test results differ. If not, do a water change

 

[faildeadly]

Using donated media is a perfectly acceptable way to cycle your tank

Maybe sharing media for the average guppie platy owner is fine ,but I am sure you will find any serious hobbist will do it properly .

Its like telling people they can cycle a tank using fish , yes you can but its totally cruel to the fish as the ammonia spikes can and will burn their gills , and nitrite spikes will kill them.

It's a fishless cycle, and following advice from pretty much everyone else on here I'm using donated media to speed up my cycle. You're very much in the minority with your opinion.

I also plan to be the average guppy / platy owner, no discus or cichlid for me anytime soon, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid. The very fact I'm here asking for advice should be testament to that. I've found everyone on here to helpful, friendly and supportive. Again, you're in the minority.

To everyone else, thanks for the advice. I'll check my stats in a bit and go from there.

 

[faildeadly]

Ok, So I've done a 50% water change and my stas have come down a bit. Here's my conclusion...

There was a particularly large amount of gunk on my friend's sponge when I removed it from her tank. This obviously got washed off in the bucket water which I then (stupidly) placed my filter media in whilst I was adding to it. Some of this gunk has got transferred into my filter and consequently, my tank. This is supported by the fact that since then there has been bits of crud floating around in the tank.

The nitrate levels are probably due to the fact that my filter having been soaked in the bucket would have contained water from her tank which has very high nitrate levels. Some have obviously been transferred over.

So having cleared out the crud and reduced levels in my tank I expect the following to occur over the next 3 - 4 days:

Ammonia levels to drop as the bacteria converts them into nitrites.
Nitrite levels to rise for the same reason.
Nitrate levels to stay them same, or possibly a small rise (as my friend's filter media contains nitrate converting bacteria).

Would you all concur with this?

 

[Moby-Krib]

Using donated media is a perfectly acceptable way to cycle your// tank

Well stated AA!!
I wish you Op the best but I see a problem with your responses, your attitude and lack of research will shut most down.. good luck with that.
And as such it is Your tank and filter.. the c0olony will reproduce , under good conditions quickly, hence the reason to seed.
should be left to set in and take hold.Even with a non qualifying test it should not be assumed the media to blame. But rather protected to ensure further growth.
Good healthy filter media is a mess,It should be, leave it be !! all of the ugly stuff is good to you Mr fishless!!!

For various reasons sometimes this can be snubbed.. hrmmm let me read your take and approach again ..??

You have overestimated the worth and totally based your testing of to the point of totality of and a possibly damming over cleansing of,

Are you to cycle your tank or grind the test(s) to one less friend??

you only asked for a bit of bacteria not a biotope.

So many newbies would be happy to even have some of the proper bacteria, but be worried about how it lived b4? This is hilarious!!! You are now your own worst enemy at this point ... not sure how to help you as you only seem to have read 1/2 of a fishless ideal...
So..?

 

[Blue Diamond]

My intention was never to offend anyone , just help ,so sorry if I have people .

I have kept fish for the last 30 yrs and currently run a (my main tank) 84 x30 x 27 inch tank with 42 discus in it plus a 60 strong clean up crew ,I have never had a problem as the tank runs on a continous flow system feed from a HMA unit the filtration is via a sump tank with K1, Alfagrog ,sponges and filter floss the sump has an overflow so that I can and do run a 15%water change daily.

I also run severel smaller tanks a Juwel rio 240 a trigon and tanks for qt /hospital porposes

I have kept everything from guppies(which I really like by the way) to Malawis ,oscars ,juwel cichlids, Blue acaras to name just a few .

Now I am in the process of selling my discus and starting a Stingray tank , hence why I joined the forum to get the right info into keep the right ones for my size tank.
So I far from know it all and wouldn't claim to, everyday our fish friends can teach us something new and I care about what I keep.

If I sound defensive in the way I write I'm sorry but thats the way I write nothing meant in it.

 

[faildeadly]

Let's all back up a second.

Blue Diamond... welcome to the forum, your experience and knowledge is appreciated but as I said it does seem to be in the minority. You seem to suggest that I shouldn't have used donated media, when standard practice seems to welcome this. Is there a reason behind your statement?

Moby... are you saying I should stop worrying and just deal with it? My concerns were borne out of the massive changes overnight and a fear that my pH would crash. I was simply searching for a reason why it happened and if it was acceptable.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I agree with your plan of action faildeadly - looks like you're on the right track to me!