Yet Another Cycling Thread

[OldMan47]

The readings that you have on 21 May is telling me that you have plenty of ammonia to let your filter cycle and that you have yet to see any other chemicals present. That means, at least to me, that you have yet to really start the nitrogen processing process. It is unfortunate but happens all too often.

 

[Scouse Lee]

Small Tank

22/05/12 - Ammonia 2.0ppm
23/05/12 - Ammonia 2.0ppm
will do a Nitrite test tomorrow

4ft Tank

22/05/12 - Ammonia 5.0ppm
23/05/12 - Ammonia 5.0ppm
not worth testing Nitrites yet is it

Also did a full tap water test tonight
pH 6.6/High Range pH too low to register/Ammonia 0.0ppm/Nitrites 0.0ppm/Nitrates 5.0ppm

 

[Essjay]

Lee, you will know me from another forum that is currently unavailable, if you see what I mean! In case you didn't see my last post there, I wondered if your water supply was the cause of your cycle seeming to be stuck. It might be an idea to describe it here so that other members who are familiar with well water might be able to suggest if this could be the case.


I notice that your ammonia reading increased between the 19th and 20th - did you add more ammonia?
And your tank pH is is quite a bit higher than your tapwater. Try leaving a sample of tapwater to stand overnight, then test again.
Do you have anything in the tank besides the spongebob squarepants decor that could be increasing the pH? Any other decor, what substrate do you have etc.



Sue

 

[Scouse Lee]

Hi Sue, I've been having quite a bit of trouble getting on the other forum recently, is there a problem with it then?

No I didn't add any more Ammonia on those dates BUT I did add some to my 4ft tank on the 19th with a syringe which I then washed out thoroughly & used to take test samples from the small tank, this is the only thing I think could have affected the readings tbh. Yes the pH is lower in the tap, I'll do what you suggest & leave some in a test tube overnight, regarding the decor there's all the spongebob figures,(9 altogether, bloomin' kids lol), 3 rubber imitation anemones & some blue gravel. My wife's just pointed out that the filter has quite a lot of plant material stuck to the front of it from when I had the live plants in,(they were removed on the 19th), so I'll clean it in the tank water & see if it makes a difference.

Ok so as Sue says we get our water from a well underneath the kitchen floor,(it is an old farmhouse dating back to the 1700's), the water is pumped up to the loft where it passes through a filter & UV light and is then stored in a tank, we obviously don't have chlorine or other chemicals in the water, if anyone could tell me if this is a possible problem & how to rectify it I would be very grateful as we've had the small tank for 18 days now & not much seems to be happening.

Thanks
Lee

 

[Prime Ordeal]

That does explain a lot.

The UV light kills off nitrifying bacteria but I doubt it would be 100% effective. It does mean that you start with a tiny amount of viable nitrifying bacteria though and so it's going to take that much longer for them to get established.

I would persevere if I were you but also try to get some mature filter media from a fish shop or even some Tetra Safe Start bacterial starter. It can be touch and go as to whether the Safe Start will help, for various reasons, but in your circumstances I would definitely try it, it's only a fiver or so.

And, of course the low pH won't help. Raise it up by adding bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) to the tank.

 

[Scouse Lee]

Thanks for that Prime Ordeal, so when you say mature filter media what exactly is that, some sponge or whatever from another filter? the pH in the small tank is 7.6, is this too low then? if so how much bicarb would you suggest I add to raise it & what do I need to raise it to.
Cheers
Lee

 

[JDs4me]

So 6.6pH in your well water, to 7.6 in the tank! My tapwater is around 7.8, and pH during my fishless cycle was 7.8-8.2 - low 8's are good for the bacs. Do you have a test for general hardness? Be an interesting one to measure for your well water..

 

[Scouse Lee]

So 6.6pH in your well water, to 7.6 in the tank! My tapwater is around 7.8, and pH during my fishless cycle was 7.8-8.2 - low 8's are good for the bacs. Do you have a test for general hardness? Be an interesting one to measure for your well water..

I don't have a test for hardness, is this something I can buy in a fish shop as I'm going to one in Barnstaple tomorrow.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Thanks for that Prime Ordeal, so when you say mature filter media what exactly is that, some sponge or whatever from another filter? the pH in the small tank is 7.6, is this too low then? if so how much bicarb would you suggest I add to raise it & what do I need to raise it to.
Cheers
Lee

Yes, mature media is sponge etc. from an established tank. If your pH is 7.6 then don't worry about the bicarb. If it starts to fall though then start dosing, ideally to get the pH to 8.2 (ish).

 

[Prime Ordeal]

So 6.6pH in your well water, to 7.6 in the tank! My tapwater is around 7.8, and pH during my fishless cycle was 7.8-8.2 - low 8's are good for the bacs. Do you have a test for general hardness? Be an interesting one to measure for your well water..

Why GH? Is that just academic curiosity or do you think it has a bearing on the cycling process?

Of course a pH rise of 6.6 to 7.6 is important but, at least while cycling, it's working in our favour.

The reason for the large rise does need to be found though. It's usually rocks or substrate that causes it.

 

[Scouse Lee]

So 6.6pH in your well water, to 7.6 in the tank! My tapwater is around 7.8, and pH during my fishless cycle was 7.8-8.2 - low 8's are good for the bacs. Do you have a test for general hardness? Be an interesting one to measure for your well water..

Why GH? Is that just academic curiosity or do you think it has a bearing on the cycling process?

Of course a pH rise of 6.6 to 7.6 is important but, at least while cycling, it's working in our favour.

The reason for the large rise does need to be found though. It's usually rocks or substrate that causes it.

Hmmm the pH thing is strange especially as both my small tank & the 4ft one I've just set up are reading the same, as I said the small tank has blue coloured gravel I bought from a fish shop while the 4 footer has aquarium sand from the same shop & some bogwood,(again bought from shop), along with about 10 rocks of various sizes that I got from a river, I scrubbed the rocks in warm water then soaked them in a sterilising solution overnight before rinsing the hell out of them then adding them to the tank. Will putting tap water in a tube & leaving it to stand make a difference to the pH then?, I've also got a very small tank that I was given to use as a quarantine tank, I've had water in it for about 10 days but haven't added anything to it or carried out any tests, do you think I should?

 

[Essjay]

Hi Sue, I've been having quite a bit of trouble getting on the other forum recently, is there a problem with it then?

That site has been having problems with its host for months, and is now moving to a new host. Heaven knows when the forum will be back.

Of course there is always this one

 

[Prime Ordeal]

To get a true reading of your tap water's pH leave a glass of it sitting for 24 hours and then take a reading.

Once you have that we can go from there.

A tank with water, sitting for ten days, is..umm...a tank with water sitting for ten days! It's not cycled and not ready for any fish.

 

[Scouse Lee]

A tank with water, sitting for ten days, is..umm...a tank with water sitting for ten days! It's not cycled and not ready for any fish.

Fair enough lol, it's got one of the plants I took out of the small tank in it at the moment,(binned the other 2, one because I didn't like it & the other as it had gone all slimy & started falling to bits). Once I've got at least one of the proper tanks sorted I intend to transfer some of the water into it or if this doesn't help introduce bacteria I'll put some of the ornaments in it for a while.

 

[Essjay]

For a quarantine tank, the easiest thing to do is use some of the media from the main tank - once it has cycled. That's what I do, then if the fish in the QT prove to be healthy, I put the media back in the main tank's filter when I put the fish in there. Or you could run the QT's filter in the main tank when it isn't in use - you could cycle it at the same time as the main filter.
The water from the main tank contains no useful bacteria. They grow bound to surfaces and the filter media is where the vast majority live. There will be a very few bacteria on the ornaments, but not nearly enough to deal with the waste from the fish in the QT.