Author Topic: Advice about water readings and GH and KH (Read 33795 times) 75 replies

jesnon · « **Reply #20 on:** September 29, 2015, 02:53:44 PM »

Looks like you were right Sue! My nitrite eaters are doing good!
This morning
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm

Dosed again so will test in 12 hours

jesnon · « **Reply #21 on:** September 29, 2015, 07:56:19 PM »

Less than 12 hours later:

Ammonia between 2 and 4ppm
Nitrite between 1 and 2ppm

Sue · « **Reply #22 on:** September 29, 2015, 09:06:39 PM »

Those readings are looking promising.

I would now wait until the ammonia reading hits zero then add another 3ppm ammonia. The way your nitrite is staying low strongly suggests you have a fair number of active nitrite eaters so you don't need to follow the fishless cycling method very strictly. That is for when you start with virtually none of either bacteria, just the tiny numbers in tap water. Since you appear to have quite a few survive the move and empty tank, you can modify your cycle accordingly.

jesnon · « **Reply #23 on:** September 29, 2015, 09:43:21 PM »

Ooh great thanks Sue wasn't sure how rigidly I should stick to the fishless cycling. Looks like I might be fish shopping quicker than I thought so I best get exploring the other shops and seeing what's on offer so I can pick and work out what to do with my water!

jesnon · « **Reply #24 on:** September 30, 2015, 09:13:04 AM »

Hmm oddly my nitrite seems to be going up now, typical! It's less than 24 hours since I dosed ammonia, this morning:
Ammonia 0.5
Nitrite looks off the scale, a very bright magenta

$:-\$ Wonder what happened!?

Sue · « **Reply #25 on:** September 30, 2015, 02:36:37 PM »

Things never do go as we hope $:-\$

Each 1ppm ammonia you add is turned into 2.7ppm nitrite and then on to 3.6ppm nitrate (I think, need to work it out again!).
Going back through the thread, the timescale is:
22 Sept added ~3ppm ammonia
23 Sept readings am 4ppm, nit 0
24 Sept - am 4, nit 0
25 Sept - am 1 or 2, nit 0
27 Sept - am 0, nit 0
27 Sept added 3ppm ammonia
28 Sept am 0.25 to 0.5, nit 2
29 Sept am 0, nit 0
29 Sept added 3ppm ammonia
29 Sept (after 12 hours) am 2 to 4, nit 1 to 2
30 Sept (just under 24 hours after adding ammonia) am 0.5, nit over 5.

What I am thinking is:
You had some ammonia eaters and nitrite eaters survive since the tank last had fish. But we didn't know how many of each you had. It took the ammonia eaters 5 days to deal with the first ammonia addition, 2 days to deal with the second and about 1 day to deal with the third. Because they made nitrite slowly, there were enough nitrite eaters to deal with this trickle as it was being made after the first addition. But nitrite eaters reproduce less quickly than ammonia eaters. As the ammonia eaters multiplied they made nitrite quicker than the nitrite eaters could keep up with. You are now at the stage where you have virtually a full colony of ammonia eaters but not nitrite eaters; you need to wait till they catch up. And because 1ppm ammonia makes 2.7ppm nitrite, the nitrite reading shoots up quickly once it starts to build.

Can I ask you to do a diluted nitrite test. Try 50:50 tank and tap to start. If the reading is still off the top of the scale, try 25:75 tank:tap. Once you have a nitrite reading somewhere on the scale, multiply it by whichever dilution factor gave that reading to find the actual level in the tank.
The problem we have is that our test kits for nitrite don't measure high enough. The critical value is 15ppm. That's when the nitrite eaters become inhibited. If your actual level is below that 15ppm, leave the tank alone. If it is above that, do a 50% water change.
But don't add any more ammonia till I know high high the nitrite actually is in the tank.

jesnon · « **Reply #26 on:** September 30, 2015, 03:30:45 PM »

That all makes a lot of sense!
I did my readings just in case, nitrite is still the same bit ammonia has gone to 0ppm

Just did a 50% dilution test, nitrite looks between 2 and 5ppm,does that mean the actual level is between 4 and 10ppm?

Sue · « **Reply #27 on:** September 30, 2015, 06:42:34 PM »

That's fine, well below the danger level. But if you add too much ammonia too quickly you could push the nitrite level over 15ppm.

I would wait till Friday, then test both again. The ammonia reading will probably be zero but go by the nitrite reading. If that is above 1.0, add a one third dose of ammonia, ie 1ppm. But if your nitrite is under 1ppm, add a 3ppm dose.
If nitrite is above 1.0 and you have to add a 1ppm dose, then test again on Sunday and see if nitrite is above or below 1ppm.
If nitrite is below 1.0 on Friday, add 3ppm ammonia and test next day.

jesnon · « **Reply #28 on:** October 01, 2015, 02:14:15 PM »

I didn't realise your said to wait until tomorrow to test but a miracle has happened!

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm! Woohoo!

Should I wait until tomorrow to add ammonia again?

Sue · « **Reply #29 on:** October 01, 2015, 03:14:48 PM »

No, if your nitrite is zero, add 3ppm ammonia now and test tomorrow. If both are zero again after 24 hours, you can get fish. Do a big water change shortly before you go.
But if you still want to look round and see, add 1ppm ammonia every 2 days until you are ready to buy, then do the big water change.

jesnon · « **Reply #30 on:** October 01, 2015, 03:35:13 PM »

Thanks Sue! Just added some ammonia now, fingers crossed it'll be back to 0 tomorrow!

Extreme_One · « **Reply #31 on:** October 01, 2015, 04:28:38 PM »

Good luck jesnon - fingers crossed you'll have fish in there soon.

jesnon · « **Reply #32 on:** October 02, 2015, 11:54:41 AM »

Thanks Extreme one!

Just measured (less than 24 hours)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite very light lilac again looks about 2ppm

I'll measure again later when it's actually been 24 hours, maybe some magic will have happened!

Sue · « **Reply #33 on:** October 02, 2015, 02:52:10 PM »

You definitely have enough ammonia eaters! The 24 hour test will say whether the nitrite eaters are there, or not quite there. Even if nitrite isn't zero at 24 hours it won't be much longer.

jesnon · « **Reply #34 on:** October 02, 2015, 05:04:05 PM »

Yeah the ammonia eaters have been busy!

Just done the nitrite again and it's between 0 and 0.25ppm - it's definitely more blue than purple so very nearly there!

Sue · « **Reply #35 on:** October 02, 2015, 05:09:59 PM »

The next step is to add a 3ppm dose of ammonia and test again in 24 hours. The cycle should be complete by then.

If you do have double zeros tomorrow, you can get fish whenever you want

jesnon · « **Reply #36 on:** October 02, 2015, 05:56:07 PM »

Thanks Sue! Just added another dose so fingers crossed!

jesnon · « **Reply #37 on:** October 03, 2015, 07:48:39 PM »

I tested my water earlier much before 24 hours at 11am and got
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite off the scale

Just got home and measured nitrite and it's 0ppm, this is just over 24 hours but I wasn't in to measure at the right time. Do you think it's safe to get fish? If I'm getting soft water fish I'll need to buy the RO water before I get the fish anyway so I'll need two separate trips.

With regards to RO water and remineralisation salts how exactly does this work? Do you add a certain amount to bring the pH and hardness yto a level you want? I need to do some reading!!

Sue · « **Reply #38 on:** October 03, 2015, 08:01:41 PM »

With RO and remineralisation salts, you need to experiment in a bucket first. Measure the water into the bucket and add the salts until you get the hardness and pH you are aiming for. The instructions should give an indication of how much to use. Make sure you make a note of how much you used in total, and in what volume of water. Whenever you fill the tank (starting off) and then doing water changes, make the right strength up in the bucket before adding it to the tank. With just 23 litres in the Edge you should only need a bucketful to do a water change. Don't forget to add the dechlorinator with all this messing round getting hardness and pH right

You may find that you can get the hardness you want but the pH is a bit off, or vice versa. Go with the hardness, that is more important to fish than pH.

If you added 3ppm ammonia that would be turned into about 8ppm nitrite, which fits in with your reading being off the scale. I think I'd add another 3ppm ammonia straight away to be absolutely sure; you have time while you are experimenting with your RO and remin salts.

jesnon · « **Reply #39 on:** October 03, 2015, 09:20:53 PM »

Thanks again Sue - sounds like it will take some getting used to but I'll get there! I'll pop to a shop and tomorrow and get my water and get experimenting! I've added ammonia now so toorrow night hopefully will be at double zeros!

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Advice About Water Readings And GH And KH

Advice About Water Readings And GH And KH

Author Topic: Advice about water readings and GH and KH (Read 33795 times) 75 replies

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