Author Topic: Cycling my Fluval Edge (Read 101179 times) 295 replies

ColinB · « **Reply #140 on:** March 06, 2013, 11:01:44 PM »

Nearly there - don't rush the last bit after being so patient.

Sue · « **Reply #141 on:** March 07, 2013, 08:21:00 AM »

Yes, dose in the morning and see what happens.

And check the tank's pH just in case (before adding the ammonia)

jesnon · « **Reply #142 on:** March 07, 2013, 12:10:58 PM »

Just checked Ph, it's still 8.2 which is good at least!

Sue · « **Reply #143 on:** March 07, 2013, 12:21:53 PM »

Yes, it is good. It occurred to me yesterday that I hadn't asked about your pH and I know if that falls too low it can affect the cycle.

jesnon · « **Reply #144 on:** March 07, 2013, 12:42:40 PM »

I just wonder why things are being so slow with my tank!

Sue · « **Reply #145 on:** March 07, 2013, 12:49:21 PM »

It's been what, 6¹/₂ weeks? That is fairly normal for a fishless cycle. You should see the questions on other forums where people haven't seen a drop in ammonia in that length of time

Patience is the only answer I'm afraid

jesnon · « **Reply #146 on:** March 07, 2013, 12:55:26 PM »

Haha phew, I'm relieved I wasn't in that situation! Do you think my tank will be cycled by next Thursday? I have the day off so I'm hoping I can go fish shopping then or Friday!

Sue · « **Reply #147 on:** March 07, 2013, 12:59:03 PM »

It depends on what your nitrite is doing. It is dropping by itself, a good sign. If it's dropping to zero without water changes and daily doses of ammonia by next Thurs I'd say yes, get your fish.

jesnon · « **Reply #148 on:** March 11, 2013, 04:45:12 PM »

Things are still a little slow here still unfortunately. I was away all weekend so not sure what's been going on, but I kept the doses of ammonia (I did one before I left and one last night on my return).

As of 3pm today:

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 5ppm
Nitrate 80ppm

:-(

jesnon · « **Reply #149 on:** March 12, 2013, 04:28:33 PM »

Nitrite has been off the scale for two days now, so I'm doing a later water change tonight... I don't understand what's going on

TigzFish · « **Reply #150 on:** March 12, 2013, 04:40:48 PM »

Remember to check the NitrAte. If that's gone ballistic (ie: top of the scale) then it can affect the colony. This may explain why the NitrIte is still hanging around. Water change will definitely be required to get the readings down and moving again. I think it's just a little blip, let's see how well it recovers after you do the water change. Better hit it with at least a 50% to see where we get up to.

jesnon · « **Reply #151 on:** March 12, 2013, 10:04:31 PM »

OK I've done a 90% water change to try and sort things out... should I be testing the water again now too? Or is it OK to wait until the morning?

TigzFish · « **Reply #152 on:** March 12, 2013, 11:17:53 PM »

Testing the water in the morning is perfectly ok, but if you then add some more Ammonia (which I'm sure it will need), wait a bit to allow it to mix and test with the Ammonia kit again. This will give you the baseline for subsequent tests, and help you "see" how the cycle is progressing.

jesnon · « **Reply #153 on:** March 13, 2013, 11:33:20 AM »

Gah stupidly I dosed ammonia last night after the water change and then happily went to sleep without seeing your message :-(

Of course now my nitrite levels are high again and I don't know how much ammonia I dosed =/

I dosed 1ml of ammonia and this morning:

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 5ppm or more
Nitrate 10 / 20ppm

Blah

Sue · « **Reply #154 on:** March 13, 2013, 12:44:23 PM »

Don't dose any ammonia for a couple of days. The ammonia eaters will take longer than that to starve. Do a 50% water change asap and check to see if the nitrite is down to the middle of the scale. So then you'll have a lowish nitrite and no ammonia for the ammonia eaters to turn into more nitrite. See what happens to the nitrite reading over the next 48 hours.

Then add enough ammonia to give just 1ppm* and see if the nitrite eaters can cope with that. At this stage, you need a balance between feeding enough ammonia for the ammonia eaters but not so much that the nitrite eaters can't cope. It is better to have a few ammonia eaters die off with a low ammonia dose rather than have the growth of the nitrite eaters inhibited by high nitrite/nitrate. The ammonia eaters will soon multiply once the nitrite eaters are growing nicely and it is safe to increase the ammonia dose.

*Edit - note, that's enough ammonia to give 1ppm not 1ml. It took 0.5ml of my ammonia to give 1ppm in a 25 litre tank, and I've had the bottle so long it'll have a lot less ammonia in it than there used to be.

jesnon · « **Reply #155 on:** March 13, 2013, 02:30:01 PM »

Hmm I now seem to have gone too far the other way... I did too large a waterchange as my tank is currently:

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm

I'm off to work but finish at 10 and have two days off (I was hoping to get my fish during those days but doesn't look like that's happening now!)

Should I dose ammonia and measure it so it's 1ppm when I'm home tonight?

Sue · « **Reply #156 on:** March 13, 2013, 04:08:24 PM »

I only said to wait because you had a lot of nitrite and thought it could be useful to see if the filter could clear what was there without any more being added. That way you'd know for sure if you had any nitrite eaters.
You could try this instead - add enough ammonia tonight to give 1ppm and see if the filter bacteria can remove the 2.7ppm nitrite that will be made from that 1ppm ammonia. If it's not cleared in 24 hours, give it another 24 (total 48) and see if the nitrite has been cleared by then. That should give you some idea of the status of the nitrite eating colony.

jesnon · « **Reply #157 on:** March 13, 2013, 10:56:40 PM »

Ha yeah that had been my intention, guess i got a bit carried away. tank dosed to 1ppm this evening, will test in the morning and see what the state of my cycle is... Fingers crossed!

jesnon · « **Reply #158 on:** March 14, 2013, 11:40:12 AM »

AM

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 2 - 5ppm
Nitrate on the darker side of 10 - 20ppm

Sue · « **Reply #159 on:** March 14, 2013, 11:49:46 AM »

OK, don't add any ammonia today and see what the nitrite is tommorrow. There won't be any more nitrite made during today, so if it's lower tomorrow you'll know you have some nitrite eaters and it's just a matter of waiting for them to multiply. If it's still the same, we'll have to think of something to get the nitrite eaters started.

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Cycling My Fluval Edge

Cycling My Fluval Edge

Author Topic: Cycling my Fluval Edge (Read 101179 times) 295 replies

TigzFish

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