CAL.16V Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 hey.. have been cycling the tank for 9 days now.. its only 80 odd litres .. it is a drop down internal power head with filter up teh top.. one of them jebo kit tanks ... i have carbon in one side up the top and bio noodles in the other, both in stockings and have wool ontop.. have the heater going, at 32 degrees for now to get bacteria going have new black gravel and a few handfuls of crushed marble from a mates established tank.. also some big granite pieces.. i have put in water conditioner/ager and have been waiting for a week so decided to buy some new stuff.. tests before showed: nitrate - 0 nitrite - 0.25 ammonia 1.00 this stayed for about 3 days... so i went out and bought a double pack of stress coat and stress zyme.. put in both and a bit more stress zyme then supposed to and now my nitrite has bumped upto 0.5 and been like that for teh last 2 days... im getting sick of looking at an empty tank and all my frineds/family think i'm an idiot for looking at a decorated tank without fish lol put in some fish flakes like teh 2nd day in , not too much, also did 25% water change 3 days ago but didnt change anything.... the tank will be for some africans btw and a bristle nose so can i chuck the fish in anyway? only a couple? if so which africans will handle it till it gets better? any ideas what to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spedwards Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 What are you planning on putting into the tank? 80L isn't really big and probably only good for a few dwarf specimens... Just be patient with the cycling, it will be done in it's own good time. Doing water changes is only going to slow down the process, so stop that right away. My tank took many many weeks to cycle so nine days is just a drop in the ocean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdusta Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 dont change the water theres no need to . the tank is going to spike let it run for 2 weeks mate and walk away stop touching the only thing i would recommend is go to your local lfs and by a bottle of cycle this will add everything you need to your tank then in another 5 or so days check your water it should be right . calm down. theres no rush . dont put fish in for another 5 days check your water prior to buying the fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurie Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 I assume you know how the cycle works... you results indicate that it is about half way through. Don't worry that your F & F think your an idiot for having a tank with no fish,... think how much worse it would be if they saw a whole bunch of dead fish in there. My tank has been cycling now for close to a month and am only now slowly increasing it's load! I would recommend some of the shellies in that size tank.. Multies are good starters, and gold occies too to throw in a bit of colour, juat add some shells to your decor! good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luket Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 Hi there, I'm also in a similar situation of cycling not one but two tanks (3' & 6') The 3' (180L) was started on the 1st of april and I tried the "fishless" cycle method as laid out here http://www.bluecrayfish.com/cycle.htm so far so good - looks like I've just hit the nitrite spike phase. I've followed this guys guide to the letter, although was a bit worried at one stage....pouring 5ml of pure ammonia into your tank feels a little strange, but yeah the results are showing after 8 days with 0 ammonia present as of this morning and an increase in nitrites and nitrates. The 6' (720L) was started yesterday, I tried a different method - using "Cycle" and adding it straight to the filter medium (wet/dry setup). Hopefully it cycles in under 3 weeks Will be interesting to see which one takes the least time to cycle. Good luck and have patience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurie Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 Hi there, I'm also in a similar situation of cycling not one but two tanks (3' & 6') The 3' (180L) was started on the 1st of april and I tried the "fishless" cycle method as laid out here http://www.bluecrayfish.com/cycle.htm so far so good - looks like I've just hit the nitrite spike phase. I've followed this guys guide to the letter, although was a bit worried at one stage....pouring 5ml of pure ammonia into your tank feels a little strange, but yeah the results are showing after 8 days with 0 ammonia present as of this morning and an increase in nitrites and nitrates. The 6' (720L) was started yesterday, I tried a different method - using "Cycle" and adding it straight to the filter medium (wet/dry setup). Hopefully it cycles in under 3 weeks Will be interesting to see which one takes the least time to cycle. Good luck and have patience would be very benefitial to all of us if you can keep an accurate record.. let us know hoe it goes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAL.16V Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 its basically 2" .. slightly bigger/taller want to put in a electric yellow, cobalt blue, tangerine zebra.. something like that and 1 bristlenose.. only prob 5 total .. will be getting a bigger tank soon so if it gets a little crowded will chuck them in something else i put in some more fish food today.. hopefully makes the nitrite spike a little more so it falls as as this stage its just staying at 1 reading for several days at a time.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_frontosa Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 If the cycle still has high ammonia or Nitrate you would want to use a product called amtrite down which works really good as it helps bring ammonia down and add beneficaial bacteria to your tank. But I think you might want to do a water change to see if the levels change first. Good Luck hope all goes well mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAL.16V Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 under advice from lfs did 25% change the other day .. didnt change anything... they didnt have amrite ammonia down and kept trying to sell me prime which i thought was just water conditioner.. i bought stress zyme which i have been using.. after adding some more fish food this morning, tonight the nitrityes seem to have gone up to about 2.0 while the ammonia has come down to 0.5 is this a good sign??? should i be putting in more fish fakes tomorrow or leave it?? i add a little stress zyme daily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spedwards Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 I know it seems tough to not take everything you hear from the LFS as gospel, after all you would think they know best. Unfortunately you have to mindful of the person giving the advice - are they the owner of the shop who has spent years in the game or just some young kid looking for part time work? As you can see from the responses so far, most people have said not to do water changes... By doing water changes you are taking away the food source that the bio filter needs to build up. Although you might notice the test results move to a more favourable number after the change all you are really doing is: * diluting the ammonia and nitrites in the water * slowing down the cycle process Nitrite is the next product of the nitrogen cycle following ammonia, both these substances are harmful to fish so while they remain above 0 don't add any (fish) to your tank. Don't do anything except continue to feed the tank, especially no water changes! Only once the nitrites are 0 and the nitrates have started to rise should you be adding fish, then you can do a water change. I had the in-laws coming around to "feed" my tank during the cycle process when we went away last year, you get strange looks but it's what needs to be done. Prime is a water conditioner, part of it's CV is to work on chloramine which is combination of ammonia and chlorine. It can be used to convert ammonia to ammonium from memory, this is not harmful to fish. I think you are going to have problems with your fish selection in that sized tank. I would look at dwarf species for this one and then think about bigger fish when you can organise a larger tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilroy Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 If you know anyone who can spare a handful of seeded media eg noodles/matrix etc, then your tank will get a massive kickstart and you can start adding fish slowly. Its much quicker with established bacteria than with the biostarters that supposedly have billions of bacteria in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAL.16V Posted April 10, 2007 Author Share Posted April 10, 2007 yeah dont wanna be doing water changes , just did a small one cos thouight i miht have put in too much fish food or something but will leave it.. today nitrites gone through the roof after putting in fish flakes yesterday.. stinks too nitrites - 5.0 ammonia - 0.5 , maybe slightly less i am guessing this is a good thing?? saying this because if i think right, bacteria is shown by nitrites and since they are rising, it is killing the ammonia and then when the ammonia dies, teh nitrites will drop and turn into nitrates? and then i do a big water change liek 50% , 2 times? should i put in more fish food cos it stinks?? or should i leave it or do a small water change cos the nitrites are so high or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spedwards Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 You can to continue feeding the tank until you have fish in there, I wouldn't worry about doing huge water changes until you are about ready to add the first lot of fish. When that time comes one of 50% would probably be sufficient, but use your best judgement to work it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAL.16V Posted April 10, 2007 Author Share Posted April 10, 2007 ok so can you comment about the high nitrite at all?? its about 5.0 whichis off teh scale pretty much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spedwards Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 It's telling you to be patient and wait for the process to do it's thing While you are waiting, here's a good read on what is currently going on in your tank: http://www.sydneycichlid.com/content/?page_id=175 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAL.16V Posted April 11, 2007 Author Share Posted April 11, 2007 ammonia down, nitrates the same ammonia - 0.25 nitrates - 5.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spedwards Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 Keep going, ammonia and nitrites to zero before anything else happens. If you have nitrates coming up (assuming you aren't confusing nitrites and nitrates) then the process is well on the way, but not quite there yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdusta Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 save your test kits for after you get your fish .just let the tank do its thing. it will be ready in another week or so. make a day lets say next wednesday is the next time u go near the tank and do a test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAL.16V Posted April 11, 2007 Author Share Posted April 11, 2007 sorry was meant to say nitrites at 5.0 ... not sue about nitrates but think they are on 0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdusta Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 cal just let the tank go till next tue or wed then have a look . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 I just cycled a tank in 5 days wet/dry rocks for fast population, also used Seachem Stability Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luket Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 I just cycled a tank in 5 days wet/dry rocks for fast population, also used Seachem Stability Awesome! Well....my 3' that I started on the 1st of April (Yes....april fools day) is done....10 days using the method mentioned earlier in the thread. Red Top Tropheops here I come!!! As Laurie requested I'll post a log of what I did, not tonight though.....bed time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAL.16V Posted April 15, 2007 Author Share Posted April 15, 2007 still the same.. nitrites 5.0 and ammonia around 0 - 0.25 have been putting in fish flakes, little amounts say every 2 days and stress zyme anything else i can do?? been over 2 weeks now for a 2" tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 by any chance does your ammonia kit have yellow as the identifying colour? if you have wood in the tank the tannins could give a false positive. otherwise, perhaps your test kit is bunk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAL.16V Posted April 15, 2007 Author Share Posted April 15, 2007 yep its a aquarium pharmasuticals branded one which shows yellow/green... dont have wood in tank, have carboon stuff if that makes a difference lol... the most i have seen it read was abouyt 1.0-2.0 which was green but now it is pretty yellow about 0 - 0.25 why woudl you say its giving a false reading??? are you saying that becasue you think i have different ammonia ilevels n my tank or because you thikn it should be ready or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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