Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => New Fishkeepers => Topic started by: Mervyn on November 04, 2012, 04:46:56 PM
-
Well I am on my 7th day of the fishless cycle and things are now moving on.
The ammonia came down to 0.50ppm today and using an online calculator added 4ml to bring it back to 3ppm. I should add that I adjust the ammonia every day although for the last 3days on testing it was a steady 2ppm after 24hrs until today that is.
The nitrites are off the scale showing me that the bacteria must have started working.
But I have a problem with the Nitrates. I tested once and it showed 5ppm which I thought was odd as it has been a consistent 40ppm the same as comes out of the domestic tap.
So, I tested a second time at the same rate. I still did not believe it so before I did a third test I gave the bottle a good stomp on the window sill.
It then came out really high, I am not sure whether it was 160ppm or more as it was a burgundy colour.
Has anyone any idea what is going on please??
-
Mervyn, there are reports of people having faster cycles if they do a water change to get the nitrite reading down to somewhere on the scale. It appears that high nitrite and nitrate can inhibit the nitrite eaters so they multiply slower. Dosing slightly less ammonia (to 2ppm) will result in less nitrite being made so it won't go up as fast. Once nitrite is being cleared, you then increase the ammonia dosing again. It's getting the bacteria started that's the slow bit, once you have enough to clear 2ppm ammonia it takes very little longer till they can clear up to 5ppm. Under optimum conditions these bacteria can double in 24 hours (though our tanks are rarely absolutely spot on perfect for them). The problem is that we start off with very few so it takes many doublings till we get anything like the number a fish tank needs.
Nitrate is the most difficult parameter to test in the home. My younger son used to work for a water testing company and he was highly amused at the thought of us trying to accurately measure nitrate with our testers - his company used very expensive equipment to do it.
You have obviously heard of the main problem with homes testers. One of the reagents in bottle 2 (or bottle three for 3 bottle kits) tends to drop out of solution, which is why the instructions say to shake it so much. And banging the bottle as you did breaks up any lumps that can occur if the bottle has stood a while.
I wouldn't worry too much about your nitrate level just yet. Next time you test, bang the bottle again, and shake it for longer than the instructions say - I've seen people advise to shake till your arm feels like it's falling off, but that is a little extreme ;D
Or buy a Salifert tester. They do fewer tests per tester so that they work out more expensive but they are reckoned to be the Rolls Royce of test kits. They are powders rather than liquids which gets around the problem of reagents solidifying on the bottom of the bottle.
-
Thanks for the info Sue again. ;D
-
This caught me out too. I thought I had killed off my BB with low Ammo, off-scale Nitrites and low Nitrates. A couple of sharp bangs and my nitrate is also off-scale. I presume that means all is OK with the cycle so have added a tad of Ammonia (Day 14)
-
:wave: Hello Spuggie. This is a two year old thread, so you're better off starting a new one if you have a problem or concern you'd like help with.
-
And there's also the fact that there's a new fishless cycling thread on here since this thread was started, designed to stop nitrite getting too high. The new one should be followed rather than the old one.
The new method has specific times for adding ammonia unlike the old method. These should be rigidly adhered to.