i cant take the wait any longer

katuuuz said:
ok ok. in that case, my test results are pretty much the same as they were at 10:00 pm last night.

ammonia - now .25 (water change after this post)
nitrites - 0
pH - 6.2
nitrates - somewhere between 0 and 5.0

dear god, i'll continue with these fish. hopefully merlin will break into my apt tonight and i'll wake up tomorrow with 0 ammonia/nitrites and like 20ppm nitrates. that would be great.

edit* will feeding twice a day benefit me in any way? get them to create waste more often? or can i at least buy a few more zebras? truth is, i just want to buy more fish. wouldn't a bigger bioload make my nitrates stronger?
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It isn't a matter of making nitrates "stronger," as nitrate is merely the end of the process by which waste products are broken down in the aquarium; thus the need for regular water changes to remove nitrate even after the tank cycles. The fact that you still have ammonia at any detectable level means that the colony of bacteria that you have is not yet sufficient to reliably break down the waste in your tank. Creating more waste in your tank either by increasing feeding or by adding new fish won't help, as the bacteria can only multiply so quickly. You'll be in basically the same spot as you are now, only your bacteria population will be less equipped to handle the bio load than it is now. ;)
 
katuuuz said:
ok ok. in that case, my test results are pretty much the same as they were at 10:00 pm last night.

ammonia - now .25 (water change after this post)
nitrites - 0
pH - 6.2
nitrates - somewhere between 0 and 5.0

dear god, i'll continue with these fish. hopefully merlin will break into my apt tonight and i'll wake up tomorrow with 0 ammonia/nitrites and like 20ppm nitrates. that would be great.

edit* will feeding twice a day benefit me in any way? get them to create waste more often? or can i at least buy a few more zebras? truth is, i just want to buy more fish. wouldn't a bigger bioload make my nitrates stronger?
Click to expand...


Patience man, patience.. Nothing good happens ever fast in an aquarium.

Tell me something.. Your numbers have me a bit confused. Having ammonia, but no nitrite, yet 5ppm of nitrate tells me that you have nitrates in your tap water. Have you tested your water straight from the tap?

What kind of lighting do you have? If you have about 1-1.5 wpg, then you could throw some anacharis in there.. Anacharis = a great nutrient soak. Matter of fact, my favorite method of cycling is not to cycle at all.. Instead, you throw a lot of light at a lot of fast growing plants (anacharis, hornwort) and the tank is pretty much cycled instantly. The plants soak up all the ammonia and keep the fish safe, yet the bacteria colony grows kind of in the background.. When I set my 75g up I tried this method and actually used fishy cycling for the first time in 15 years.. Not once did I have a detectable ammonia level. It's a saltwater concept called nutrient extraction.. Salt tanks grow macro algae to suck up all the junk in the water column. The plants bind up the nitrate, you pull the plants out, thus the nitrate is removed.. With your lack of patience, this might be an option for you if you can afford the lighting to pull it off..
 
Corax said:
Patience man, patience.. Nothing good happens ever fast in an aquarium.

Tell me something.. Your numbers have me a bit confused. Having ammonia, but no nitrite, yet 5ppm of nitrate tells me that you have nitrates in your tap water. Have you tested your water straight from the tap?

What kind of lighting do you have? If you have about 1-1.5 wpg, then you could throw some anacharis in there.. Anacharis = a great nutrient soak. Matter of fact, my favorite method of cycling is not to cycle at all.. Instead, you throw a lot of light at a lot of fast growing plants (anacharis, hornwort) and the tank is pretty much cycled instantly. The plants soak up all the ammonia and keep the fish safe, yet the bacteria colony grows kind of in the background.. When I set my 75g up I tried this method and actually used fishy cycling for the first time in 15 years.. Not once did I have a detectable ammonia level. It's a saltwater concept called nutrient extraction.. Salt tanks grow macro algae to suck up all the junk in the water column. The plants bind up the nitrate, you pull the plants out, thus the nitrate is removed.. With your lack of patience, this might be an option for you if you can afford the lighting to pull it off..
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i actually met up with dirtydawg (from the forum) and he gave me some established filter media squeezings in a bag with some polyester batting from his filter that i put into mine. thats where my nitrates are coming from.

i'll buy whatever i need man. i was wondering a bout my lights because i added plants a week agog and one of them is falling apart one by one. (looks like a sword but the leaves are smaller/skinnier). what would you perscribe for a light?
 
Give me a quick run down of this tank's specs?

oh and those squeezings wouldn't run your nitrates to 5ppm for this sustained period.. Check your tap water. I have 3ppm in mine. Expect more if you are in a rural agricultural area. Farm runoff and well water can have 10-15ppm..
 
It depends on what types of plants you'd like to keep. Some species don't require that much light at all (anubias, anacharis, java fern, hygrophila, crypts), some medium light (various swords) and some need high light (riccia, some swords, etc.). Tanks with high light plants almost always need CO2 and fertilizer dosing to avoid becoming an algae factory, lol.

The idea behind what Corax was telling you is that fast growing plants will soak up nutrients in your tank, making cycling easier. Most low light plants (aside from anacharis) won't grow quickly enough for this to work. My advice is to pick up some anacharis and see how it does in your tank, and in the meantime go ahead and research some species of plants that you like, as well as their lighting requirements. We'll be much better able to recomend specific lighting and/or equipment if we have an idea of what you're wanting to do. :)
 
How is ammonia with nitrates impossible? It's just that the bacteria isn't able to process ALL ammonia. A portion of it is still getting converted to nitrites and then to nitrates. I think the cycle is running along smoothly, about as smooth as a fish cycle can get.

Adding the plants mentioned won't hurt and will most likely be beneficial in some way, but just keep in mind it doesn't let you skip out on testing or water changes.

Just be patient, you're on the final stretch!
 
jpappy789 said:
How is ammonia with nitrates impossible? It's just that the bacteria isn't able to process ALL ammonia. A portion of it is still getting converted to nitrites and then to nitrates. I think the cycle is running along smoothly, about as smooth as a fish cycle can get.

Adding the plants mentioned won't hurt and will most likely be beneficial in some way, but just keep in mind it doesn't let you skip out on testing or water changes.

Just be patient, you're on the final stretch!
Click to expand...


It in't impossible, it's just unusual.. You may be absolutely correct, but I'd find out if the tap water was why or not.. No harm in knowing.

re: the plant list above.. Of those, anacharis is the fastest growing. Anubias is probably the slowest. For this method to work, you need super fast growers. People suggest hornwort, but I'd say to avoid it cuz it sheds like a pine tree.. Needles everywhere.. Anacharis stays pretty solid.
 
I agree. But thing is if the tap had nitrates why weren't they showing before? Unless the OP has dramatically reduced the frequency of water changes...

Eh, I've had problems with both...my anacharis melted almost instantly and the hornwort became bare. I think it really depends. I've seen setups where both were used and the plants looked fine...hit-or-miss IMO.
 
pappy's right. i hadnt had any nitrates before, (and have tested the water finding 0). the nitrates are between 0 and 5.0. if i had to guess maybe 3 or 4.0. i put the established media into my filter and the nitrates showed up in a few hours. i also think they arent large enough to break down the ammonia that was showing prior to putting the nitrates in. i did a 50% and will test tonight.
 
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