Author Topic: Cycling my Fluval Edge (Read 66813 times) 295 replies

Sue · « **Reply #40 on:** February 10, 2013, 02:50:26 PM »

Since there are no fish to get harmed, it doesn't matter exactly when you do the water changes. Do the water change whenever is convenient, but wait till the 'ammonia adding' time to add more ammonia. The bacteria won't starve in a few hours.
The main reason I say to add the ammonia at the time you've chosen is so that you don't end up adding to much in any one day by accident

jesnon · « **Reply #41 on:** February 11, 2013, 06:49:44 PM »

I'm so confused =(
I did another large water change but my nitrite is still really high...

Temp 30*c
Nitrite 5ppm
Nitrate 40ppm
Ammonia 2ppm (dosed after water change)
Ph 8.2

SteveS · « **Reply #42 on:** February 11, 2013, 07:03:45 PM »

Think about how much ammonia you have added over the last few days whilst getting the cycle up and running; Now multiply by 2.7 and that's how much nitrite you've got in your tank.

Say 12 lots of ammonia at 5mg a time; 135mg of nitrite. In order to get that below 5ppm on the test chart you would need to do about 6 50% changes. You just have to keep switching it out until the nitrite falls to an acceptable, ie measurable, amount. If your nitrite is too high, you haven't changed enough water.

jesnon · « **Reply #43 on:** February 11, 2013, 07:44:35 PM »

Eek that is a lot of water changes! How often should I be doing them / leaving in between?

Sue · « **Reply #44 on:** February 11, 2013, 07:52:40 PM »

You could try removing as much water as you can from the tank, leaving just what's in the gravel. That should get rid of most of the nitrite.

Alternatively, try putting just 1ml of tankwater in the test tube, top up to the line with tapwater and test it. If it's still off the top, try again with 0.5ml tankwater. And so on. That'll give you an indication of how much water you need to change to get the nitrite down.

jesnon · « **Reply #45 on:** February 11, 2013, 09:31:49 PM »

OK! I just did a HUUUGE water change as you guys suggested and now:

Ammonia = 0ppm
Nitrite = 0.25

Phew.

So come tomorrow should I just dose up to 2ppm of ammonia?

My fake plants are driving me insane! Every time I've done a water change they just fall over and are such a faff to prop back up where I want them to go!

Sue · « **Reply #46 on:** February 12, 2013, 08:39:18 AM »

Yes, just dose 2ppm. Keep an eye on the nitrite and do a water change as sooon as it reaches the highest colour - that should keep it under control. Once you find it's dropping to below 1 by itself, start slowly increasing the amount of ammonia you add till you get to 4 or 5ppm. Then it's just wait till both drop to zero within 12 hours of adding the ammonia, and do it every day for a week. It is not unknown for one or the other to show up again for a couple of days; if you wait for a week of double zeros, you won't have added fish before a possible blip.

jesnon · « **Reply #47 on:** February 12, 2013, 12:27:17 PM »

Phew this cycling lark is more complicated than I thought! Ha

Day 22 am:
Temp 30*c
Nitrate 5ppm - 20ppm (confused how it's gone back down again, I guess after the water change!)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0.25 - 0.5ppm

Dosed back to 2ppm of ammonia. I'll test again this evening when I finish work!

jesnon · « **Reply #48 on:** February 13, 2013, 12:27:12 AM »

Day 22 pm:
Temp 30*c
Nitrate between 40ppm and 80ppm
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite was off the scale again... so just done another massive water change.

*sigh*

My plants are driving me insane! Ended up swearing at the tank earlier because they just kept toppling over every time I put them where I wanted them to go... then when I filled up the tank they fell over again! Grr!

TigzFish · « **Reply #49 on:** February 13, 2013, 12:35:35 AM »

Based on those readings for today (am + pm) it looks like the bacteria are well and truly working. Looks like you are very close now. Just a bit more patience and you'll be there.

Sue · « **Reply #50 on:** February 13, 2013, 08:41:58 AM »

I agree. The ammonia eaters are almost there, it's just the nitrite eaters you need to wait for. You are well into stage 2.
Think of it this way:
Stage 1 - high ammonia and no nitrite = no bacteria at all
Stage 2 - ammonia dissappeaing fast and high nitrite = ammonia eaters present but no nitrite eaters
Stage 3 - ammonia and nitrite disappearing fast = ammonia and nitrite eaters present, just waiting till there are enough of them
Stage 4 - zero ammonia and nitrite within 12 hours after adding ammonia (for a week) = cycle finished, you can get fish

The fact that your nitrate is going up so fast is a good sign. Remember I said about 1ppm being converted into 2.7ppm nitrite? That same 1ppm ammonia gets processed further into 3.6ppm nitrate.

If you are having problems with the plants, since you said they were fake you can take them out for now. I remove problem decor during a water change, such as the wood in my 125 litre. It is tall and thin and falls over very easily - it goes in a bucket right at the start.

jesnon · « **Reply #51 on:** February 13, 2013, 12:57:43 PM »

Ooh thanks guys, it's reassuring to know there's not too much cycling left to go! And Sue I think I might just remove them as you suggested until I get my fish, they're definitely being such a pain at the minute! I think it's even more annoying because of the small hole in the tank for readjusting things, so it's a little more fiddling than more traditional tanks to sort everything out... so when they just fall over straight the way it's very frustrating! I'm also considering just ditching the largest fake plant - it's always been slightly too tall for my tank and it just seems to constantly be falling over / getting in the way (I managed to trap it between my algae magnet the other day and uproot it after all my efforts to put it back where I wanted it!). My bogwood on the other hand and little rocks are perfect - I love how they look and they haven't been problematic during any water changes. I guess it's because they're a bit heavier and have more evenly distributed weight. I love how crystal clear my water is now since I've been doing such massive water changes. Hopefully the tanins are all gone now!

Day 23 am:

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0.5ppm
Nitrate 20ppm

Dosed back to 2ppm

Come on nitrite eaters! You can do it! Haha

My family are visiting next weekend, is it far too optimistic to hope for it to have finished cycling by then!?

ColinB · « **Reply #52 on:** February 13, 2013, 01:39:57 PM »

Quote from: jesnon on February 13, 2013, 12:57:43 PM

My family are visiting next weekend, is it far too optimistic to hope for it to have finished cycling by then!?

Just tell them you're keeping bacteria!

On a less flippant note.... some fish like a slight tannin effect in the tank. Tetras (for instance) come from very stained water because of all the leaf-litter and decaying wood in their almost stagnant Amazonian backwaters.

If you're thinking of keeping shrimp in there then they 'like' some decaying leaves in their tank (well... your tank) to rootle around in and the leaf decay provides food of a sort. There's a good cup of coffee's worth of reading on this subject here: http://www.seriouslyfish.com/all-the-leaves-are-brown/

jesnon · « **Reply #53 on:** February 14, 2013, 09:29:36 AM »

Haha they are quite aware of how slow the process is after my attempts to explain it all, though I do think they'll be surprised there's still no fish!

Ooh I'll definitely have a read of that since I want some shrimp!

Day 23 pm:
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite off the scale again
Nitrate between 20ppm and 40ppm
So I did yet another massive water change! My boyfriend thinks I'm mad!

However after all my complaints about the plants they behaved yesterday, especially the one I was going to bin... it obviously heard my threats!

ColinB · « **Reply #54 on:** February 14, 2013, 09:49:54 AM »

Quote from: jesnon on February 14, 2013, 09:29:36 AM

My boyfriend thinks I'm mad!

However after all my complaints about the plants they behaved yesterday, especially the one I was going to bin... it obviously heard my threats!

Just wait 'till you get livestock in there and see how much you talk to them then - your boyfriend will be on the phone to the 'men-in-white-coats'.

jesnon · « **Reply #55 on:** February 14, 2013, 10:24:49 AM »

Haha I can already imagine it... especially when I get shrimp considering in my head I already call them 'little shrimpies'

Day 24 am:

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0.5ppm
Nitrate between 5ppm and 20ppm (tapwater)

Dosed 2ppm ammonia

My nitrite doesn't seem to be doing much still without my help yet

I'm at work for 24 hours now which is a bit of a pain... I'm hoping my boyfriend will take pity and test the parameters for me!

jesnon · « **Reply #56 on:** February 15, 2013, 05:00:52 PM »

Unfortunately he didn't do any water testing for me!

Day 25 pm:

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite off the scale
Nitrate somewhere between 40ppm and 80ppm

My nitrite just doesn't seem to be doing anything

It doesn't seem to be going down at all on its own... I'm getting fed up of water changes now!

ColinB · « **Reply #57 on:** February 15, 2013, 05:09:02 PM »

Hang in there. It was the same for me last Summer when I got my first tank - the first six months are very frustrating and it's not surprising that so many people give up in their first year of fish keeping. All I can say is that now I get so much pleasure out of my tank that it was all worthwhile. All it takes is about ½ - 1 hour a week of maintenance on a Friday morning, and I enjoy doing that.

Keep posting. The good people here will guide you through your troubles.

jesnon · « **Reply #58 on:** February 15, 2013, 05:51:30 PM »

Thanks Colin

Yeah I think it'll definitely be worth it in the end, I just need to be more patient!

Silly question but how do people put water back into their tanks after a water change? I've just been using my collinder like I did when I first filled the tank, but it seems quite a slow process!

ColinB · « **Reply #59 on:** February 15, 2013, 05:59:37 PM »

I think the answer would be.... "it depends". I use a pyrex pint jug to tip water into the filter compartment at the back of my tank, but my water change is about 7½ litres so it takes very little time. If I had a 200 litre tank and was doing, say, a 30 litre change then I would want something quicker. If the tank is shallow then care has to be taken not to disturb the gravel, or if access is limited (as in your case) then you might want to siphon the water in if you have a higher point to put the bucket of new water.

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Cycling My Fluval Edge

Cycling My Fluval Edge

Author Topic: Cycling my Fluval Edge (Read 66813 times) 295 replies

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