southpaw23 Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Hi all, It's been approximately 18 days into my cycle and things have not actually been going as expected. First off, i started out with some signs of ammonia and the weird presence of nitrates on my 3rd day into the cycle (almost 30mg/l) and through the advice of some on the boards, i was told to either sit it out or do a partial WC....i ended up waiting and at the two week mark, i did the test again and my ammonia have come down some. Its difficult to give you readings coz my readings does not come in ppm etc...essentially, on my testing color chart, it states that yellow shows no presence of ammonia, i have a very light green reading indicating a minor presence of ammonia. As for NO2, it spiked to the high side. Amazingly though....all my NO3 were gone... ??? have no idea how it dissipated. Anyways...i did my test again yesterday and the Ammonia hasn't changed and remains at the light green reading, while my NO2 has dropped some, at 0.3 on my test chart with the minimum being 0.1 and max at 0.9 or sumthin. I'm am starting to detect slight traces of NO3 as well. On a side note....i think i'm going through a diatom breakout but i'm not so certain simply because it doesn't seem to look all that brown....more like a light shade of beige covering the rock and sand bed...i always thought that diatoms were brown to dark brown in apprearance. I still plan on waiting this out but was also trying to get a feel of what's going on if there's anything else that needs to be done to assist in the cycling. On a brighter note...i have found 3 hitchiker tulip anemones and a few corals that resemble star polyps in the last few days. hopefully they'll pull through....funny that they only start popping up now If i still have your attention up till now, my other question would be when do i introduce the macros and light to my fuge? i know that it should be done after the tank is cycled but do i wait for the tank to settle a while after the cycle or can i introduce it at the same time as my clean up crew? Last two questions...i promise....is it possible to add my clean up crew with the current readings in my tank or should i still wait...deep down inside i know that i should still wait but i'm just dying to add some life into the tank....lemme know.. And when am i able to add a fish? i know that i am sounding like a total newbie (which i guess i am) it's just that i've read so much in the past 6 months and having only started the tank now, i'm affraid that my retention of some of the knowledge might have withered away and these basic silly questions are not always addressed in the forums... Thanx for listening....u guys and gals have been a great help thus far. Thanx again Link to comment
AMcNeice Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 What type fo LR did you get, Fully Cured, Quasi-Cured or Uncured? If your NO2 has spiked and is dropping by your tests it indicates that your cycle is ending. I'd make a trip to a LFS and get them to test a water sample for you. Chances are they can give you acurate PPM reading. I'd also look at picking up some new test kitst that give you a numerical reading. Link to comment
aggiereefer Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 the pamphlet that came with aquatic pharmatceuticals test kit says that 1 mg/L is equal to 1 PPM. So if you have 30 mg/L then you 30 PPM of nitrates etc. Link to comment
southpaw23 Posted November 13, 2003 Author Share Posted November 13, 2003 Thanx for the info.....if mg/l is equal to ppm then i suppose that'll make some sense...and yes they do have numerical readings on there....i just didn't take them down coz they weren't in ppm and it was difficult initially trying to compare in different scales...i'll have to go do my test again and check on the readings and perhaps convert it over to ppm...that might give ya'll a better idea... And FYI Amniece, i don't think my LR is fully cured...coz when i asked the LFS about that....they had no idea what i was talkin about.....my guess is that they're uncured....or at best Quasi-Cured What's up with the simultaneaus presence of ammonia, nitrite and nitrates tho? shouldn't my ammonia have dissipated by now, seeing that nitrites have been picking up and well, lowering now as well? will it be alrite to have the clean up crew in over this weekend? and what about my macros?.... anyone? ??? Link to comment
birdman204 Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 Wait on the macro, unless the LFS says youre water is fine, then buy a new test kit. Weird that you have ammonia still, Probably rock still curing. The cleanup crew is your choice. Money vs. conscience. The age old question. Do I buy them now and risk them dying? I dunno, can your wallet / conscience handle it Link to comment
southpaw23 Posted November 13, 2003 Author Share Posted November 13, 2003 Thanx for the response birdman204, u seem to make sense about the possibility of the rock still curing....that would suck tho....wouldn't that mean that my cycle's gonna be prolonged somewhat? And as for the clean up crew deal....i understand ur point....my wallet could be spared too i suppose...and i can wait....just that i've been itchin to have more life in the tank...i'm sure i'm not the only one that feels this way... well, i'll go take a water sample to the LFS and have them test my water....but one more silly question tho...how much water should i bring? would like a small pill container bottle of my tank water suffice or would i need more etc??.... Oh and what about fish?....is it unheard of to add a fish in before a clean up crew when the tank is done cycling? can they be added together? i've read that it's wise to dump in the clean up crew first and wait a week before adding a fish...i suppose i'm answering my own question here huh? well, thanx again..... Link to comment
birdman204 Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 Bring a bottle of water, they will need at least 25 ML. Dude , your cycle is almost done. it is not unheard of to have amonnia and nitrite at the same time. As for the nitrates, maybe your Biological filter had used em up. The nitrites coming down would make one think the trates would go up. Hmmmm. give it till the weekend. I'll bet it'll be fine by sunday. Do a water if the test levels come down. Then add your livestock. Fish... Ehh some people do it. I prefer not to, cuz once you start getting corals, you may wanna move the rocks around, it makes it hard w/ a fish in there. You can get 1 hermit. I mean, cmon 2.50. Probably would get eaten at the store anyways. HTH Link to comment
southpaw23 Posted November 13, 2003 Author Share Posted November 13, 2003 cool...now i know how much water to bring to the LFS...i just hope they'll test it....hmmm...wonder if they'll charge me...those cheap bastards...oops....excuse the language thanx again for the info Birdman204, as for the nitrates...go figure man...i have no idea what's up with that....will go check on my readings later tonite as well....see if anything weird is up....but will definately get the LFS to test my levels....to give me a more accurate idea. As for the livestock....i guess i'll make the call on the fish sometime later....in the meantime....i'll look into a clean up crew if alls well with the readings...and sorry bro...hermits don't cost 2.50 where i come from....heck a trochus would cost me 5.00....but that's in my currency which would work out to about 1.25 USD....but again....i don't earn USD Link to comment
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