There is a lengthy back story below, but, on topic, I am doing a fishless cycle and shall log it daily to document errors and successes! Welcoming all comments and advice...
I know there is a lot of information below - maybe too much - but as a nooB, I sure would have liked to get that much information. As with anything else YMMV, so.....
Setup:
10G glass tank, 50w hydor heater (set at max temp), whisper 10 filter pump, 10# gravel, several pieces of stone and slate for decor - probably 8-9G of actual water staying at 85F
API Freshwater master test kit. API tap water conditioner for refills. Gravel probably has nitrobacter (see backstory below)
All tests being performed by my kids (supervised) to keep them involved. Graphs are being plotted, and may even get posted.
Day 1 - 5 p.m.
got ammonia bottle from local grocery store (A&P)- ingredients soft water, ammonia, surfactants - 2 qts $0.89 (seemed OK - who knew surfactants were no good :sad
dosed 1cc - checked NH3 - 0.25 - 0.50
added 10cc more - NH3 - 8 ppm
Day 2 - checked levels in a.m.
NH3 - 2-4 ppm, nitrites 2 ppm -
yee haw - second stage!!!
discovered that surfactants are no good for the little fishies - so I bought different ammonia - duane reade (NYC), $2.49 - with no surfactants
That evening I drained the tank (maybe left 2 quarts in gravel and filter) and refilled with dechlorinated water at 85F
Checked levels before adding new ammonia - NH3-0.25, nitrites 2 ppm
added 2cc ammonia - NH3 - 1 to 2 ppm
added 5cc ammonia - NH3 - 8 ppm
Thoughts, analysis, etc.
Ammonia - I did the math from the 7cc => 8 ppm to get that the ammonia is 40000ppm NH3. Roughly 1cc ~ 1ppm for 9G water.
Surfactants - I figure with the 95% water change done now, and the 90% I shall do again sometime, and the 90% I will do at the end, they will be at 0.05% of their original strength - so should not matter.
Nitrites - I was surprised to see 2ppm nitrites after I did a full drain and refill leaving only filter water and gravel - do they stick to the gravel or the stones???
Background -
8 yr old kid got Betta in a vase for Birthday (with pre-clearance - we were willing to plunge into pets)
Betta was unhappy at room temp (60 nite, 65 day) so got a 10G kit from PetSmart - Betta Happy!!
Now hooked - decided to get a larger 29G tank - connected it to existing 10G tank and transferred the Betta into the new tank - probably first mistake. not waiting long enough to wash everything out and soak it.
Then went to LFS (same as where the Betta came from) and got fish for other 2 kids - 2 each leopard & zebra danios - second mistake - no quarantine. probably got some new pathogens in the new fishies.
Nitrites running .25 to 1.0 - despite water changes. LFS said don't worry - but I did H2O changes anyway
1 danio died 2nd day - then betta got bald white spots on head. treated for ick with salt & "super ick cure" - no luck, betta died. :sad:
No cycle yet.:sad:
so now - in interest of not killing more of these little guys - leaving danios in 29G & doing fishless cycle on 10G tank - they are no longer connected.
Will log fishless cycle for other newbies.
I know there is a lot of information below - maybe too much - but as a nooB, I sure would have liked to get that much information. As with anything else YMMV, so.....
Setup:
10G glass tank, 50w hydor heater (set at max temp), whisper 10 filter pump, 10# gravel, several pieces of stone and slate for decor - probably 8-9G of actual water staying at 85F
API Freshwater master test kit. API tap water conditioner for refills. Gravel probably has nitrobacter (see backstory below)
All tests being performed by my kids (supervised) to keep them involved. Graphs are being plotted, and may even get posted.
Day 1 - 5 p.m.
got ammonia bottle from local grocery store (A&P)- ingredients soft water, ammonia, surfactants - 2 qts $0.89 (seemed OK - who knew surfactants were no good :sad
dosed 1cc - checked NH3 - 0.25 - 0.50
added 10cc more - NH3 - 8 ppm
Day 2 - checked levels in a.m.
NH3 - 2-4 ppm, nitrites 2 ppm -
yee haw - second stage!!!discovered that surfactants are no good for the little fishies - so I bought different ammonia - duane reade (NYC), $2.49 - with no surfactants
That evening I drained the tank (maybe left 2 quarts in gravel and filter) and refilled with dechlorinated water at 85F
Checked levels before adding new ammonia - NH3-0.25, nitrites 2 ppm
added 2cc ammonia - NH3 - 1 to 2 ppm
added 5cc ammonia - NH3 - 8 ppm
Thoughts, analysis, etc.
Ammonia - I did the math from the 7cc => 8 ppm to get that the ammonia is 40000ppm NH3. Roughly 1cc ~ 1ppm for 9G water.
Surfactants - I figure with the 95% water change done now, and the 90% I shall do again sometime, and the 90% I will do at the end, they will be at 0.05% of their original strength - so should not matter.
Nitrites - I was surprised to see 2ppm nitrites after I did a full drain and refill leaving only filter water and gravel - do they stick to the gravel or the stones???
Background -
8 yr old kid got Betta in a vase for Birthday (with pre-clearance - we were willing to plunge into pets)
Betta was unhappy at room temp (60 nite, 65 day) so got a 10G kit from PetSmart - Betta Happy!!
Now hooked - decided to get a larger 29G tank - connected it to existing 10G tank and transferred the Betta into the new tank - probably first mistake.
not waiting long enough to wash everything out and soak it.Then went to LFS (same as where the Betta came from) and got fish for other 2 kids - 2 each leopard & zebra danios - second mistake - no quarantine.
probably got some new pathogens in the new fishies.Nitrites running .25 to 1.0 - despite water changes. LFS said don't worry - but I did H2O changes anyway
1 danio died 2nd day - then betta got bald white spots on head. treated for ick with salt & "super ick cure" - no luck, betta died. :sad:
No cycle yet.:sad:
so now - in interest of not killing more of these little guys - leaving danios in 29G & doing fishless cycle on 10G tank - they are no longer connected.
Will log fishless cycle for other newbies.
