Started my fishless cycle..
- Thread starter FreshyFresh
- Start date
Just an update to bore the heck out of you.. LOL.
~21 days into the fishless cycle with my 29gal and the nitrites finally started to wiggle. I measured 0.25ppm nitrites this AM. YAYYYYYY!
Am I to understand the bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate take even longer?! *cough*.. GASP.??!?
FWIW, about a week into it with my little 10gal and that sucker will convert ammo to nitrite in a matter of a few hours now. Only I would fishless cycle two at once, instead of having an established tank to work from. Yeah.. I've got all the GOOD ideas. LOL.
Joel
~21 days into the fishless cycle with my 29gal and the nitrites finally started to wiggle. I measured 0.25ppm nitrites this AM. YAYYYYYY!
Am I to understand the bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate take even longer?! *cough*.. GASP.??!?
FWIW, about a week into it with my little 10gal and that sucker will convert ammo to nitrite in a matter of a few hours now. Only I would fishless cycle two at once, instead of having an established tank to work from. Yeah.. I've got all the GOOD ideas. LOL.
Joel
You might be on to something there Sir.
I dosed the heck out of my 10gal when I got home from work early this AM.
When I tested it around 12:30pm, ammo was ~1ppm, nitrites near zero and ~10ppm nitrates. If that's the case, the nitrite to nitrate bugs came within a few days of the ammo/nitrite BB.
29gal is coming along nicely. Ammo hasn't dropped, but I've got ~2ppm nitrites.
Joel
I dosed the heck out of my 10gal when I got home from work early this AM.
When I tested it around 12:30pm, ammo was ~1ppm, nitrites near zero and ~10ppm nitrates. If that's the case, the nitrite to nitrate bugs came within a few days of the ammo/nitrite BB.
29gal is coming along nicely. Ammo hasn't dropped, but I've got ~2ppm nitrites.
Joel
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29 days into it with the 29gal. Still tons of nitrites and not much nitrates. I'm not dosing the ammo above a ppm or two anymore, due to the problems I had w/ measuring nitrites in the 10gal.
I woke up to some greenish/brownish water in the 29gal this AM. I did a ~15% WC on it and it cleared right up.
I woke up to some greenish/brownish water in the 29gal this AM. I did a ~15% WC on it and it cleared right up.
Man this 29 is giving me some exercise and testing my patience. I've done three ~75% water changes over the past 4 days or so to try to bring the nitrites down to a readable level. It hasn't. They're still a shade above the 5ppm purple on the API chart. All this and I haven't added a drop of ammonia in 4 days.
Nitrates haven't budged from 5 to maybe 10ppm.
I pulled the black bio-sponge out of the Top-Fin 30 HOB filter and plopped it in my 10gal betta / blood-fin tetra tank. The 29 also has a big corner bubbler filter running in it too.
Nitrates haven't budged from 5 to maybe 10ppm.
I pulled the black bio-sponge out of the Top-Fin 30 HOB filter and plopped it in my 10gal betta / blood-fin tetra tank. The 29 also has a big corner bubbler filter running in it too.
Indeed.
I did a 50% WC on it this afternoon. At 8pm it read 0ppm ammonia, 0.25ppm nitrites and 5-10ppm nitrates. It's day 36.
I've been seeding the 29's filter sponge in the 10gal tank for ~3days now. I'll give it another day or two and put it back in the 29. Once I get the params to 0,0,20 this tank is getting fish too. Pfffft... fishless cycle by adding ammonia. *SLEEPING*
I did a 50% WC on it this afternoon. At 8pm it read 0ppm ammonia, 0.25ppm nitrites and 5-10ppm nitrates. It's day 36.
I've been seeding the 29's filter sponge in the 10gal tank for ~3days now. I'll give it another day or two and put it back in the 29. Once I get the params to 0,0,20 this tank is getting fish too. Pfffft... fishless cycle by adding ammonia. *SLEEPING*
Tank was 0,0,10 this AM. Day 37 and the 29 now has fish in it.
I popped into Petco while waiting for the state inspection to be done on the car. Couldn't resist the sale on neon tetras and emerald corys. Hard to believe they actually had some neons. They never do. 5/$5 on neons and the corys were $2.49/ea. Got 15 and 6. Just got'em in the tank after acclimation.
You can barely see all the little buggers.
I popped into Petco while waiting for the state inspection to be done on the car. Couldn't resist the sale on neon tetras and emerald corys. Hard to believe they actually had some neons. They never do. 5/$5 on neons and the corys were $2.49/ea. Got 15 and 6. Just got'em in the tank after acclimation.
You can barely see all the little buggers.
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Thanks much.
It's hysterical how active these little emerald corys are. They fly all over the place.
The neons just calmly hang as a school smack dab in the center of the tank.
Pretty much as I expected, I had one neon fatality at this point. A few hours after they were in the tank I noticed one that was often not in his group. Later on he/she wasn't maintaining equilibrium at all. I had read online of the importance of removing any sick neons and not letting them die in the tank. That one took the porcelain express unfortunately. If any more go, I'll bag and return them.
It's hysterical how active these little emerald corys are. They fly all over the place.
The neons just calmly hang as a school smack dab in the center of the tank.
Pretty much as I expected, I had one neon fatality at this point. A few hours after they were in the tank I noticed one that was often not in his group. Later on he/she wasn't maintaining equilibrium at all. I had read online of the importance of removing any sick neons and not letting them die in the tank. That one took the porcelain express unfortunately. If any more go, I'll bag and return them.