Tank cycle ?

[etr63]

Hi All
I have a 55 gal tank, bare bottom, 2 Hydrosponge 5 filters, up and running for about 8 weeks now, Fishless Cycle. My ammonia has been at 2 ppm for over a week with 0 ppm Nitrites, 12 to 25 mg\l Nitrates. I have not added ammonia in over a week. My PH was below 6.0 Im guesing 5.8 (6.0 is as low as my test will read). kh was 0 dkh, gh was 3 dkh. I set up a storage barrel for water changes. Readings out of the tap are PH high 7s low 8s, gh 9, kh 7. After ageing for 24 hours
ph 7.2, gh 5, kh 3. I did a 50% WC yesterday and the readings in the tank today are ammonia .50, Nitrite .25, Nitrate 25 mg\l, PH 6.6, KH 3dkh, GH 7 dkh. I dont understand how before the WC I could have ammonia but no nitrites and still have Nitrates. Is the low PH causing problems with the bacteria? I am going to pick up some Discus next Saturday. Is it safe to do so?

[Carol_Roberts]

It doesn't sound like you are ready for discus yet.

Let's run a test. Do a 95% water change. Add fresh dechlorinted water. Test this fresh water for ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte. All should read zero.

Add enough ammonia to read 3 or 4 ppm on the test kit. Wait 24 hours. What are the readings for ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte after 24 hours?

[etr63]

Hi Carol

I did a 95% WC and the reading was .50 PPM of ammonia. So I tested my tap water .50 PPM. so I tested the water in my storage barrel .50 PPM. What can I do? I will wait to add ammonia until I hear from you. Nitrite 0 PPM, Nitrate 0 PPM

[Carol_Roberts]

Don't add any ammonia today - see what numbers are tomorrow.

Some dechlor products give false positive for ammonia. Do you have chloramines instead of just chlorine in your water?

[etr63]

Hi Carol

Todays readings
Ammonia 0 PPM
Nitrite 0 PPM
Nitrate below 12 mg\l

[Carol_Roberts]

That sounds like your filters are working.

Why would you have ammonia in your water? Are you on city water with chloramines?

[etr63]

I just called the LFS and asked them about the cloramines and was told that our city water does contain cloramines. I use prime and thought that it removed cloramines. Is this a potential problem? If so what should I do?

Thanks

Earl

[Carol_Roberts]

You are getting false positivies for ammonia. You need a nessler type test kit. Maybe Seachem or Dry tab brand - a test that reads free ammonia.

You may need to run a cycled filter in your storage water to remove ammonia - this will leave you with nitrAte in your storage water.

[etr63]

Thanks for all your help Carol. I will try to find the test kits you recomended. Ill also get another filter so I can run it in the barrel. I added more ammonia yesterday to 3 PPM and today readings for ammonia and nitrite were 0 PPM. Im going to pick up some Discus this week end. Excited and nervous. Does anyone use the drip tube method to aclimate there new fish to there tank water? Any last suggestions from anyone would be appriciated.

Thanks again
Earl

[Carol_Roberts]

I make sure my water is a little warmer and a little higher in pH than the bag water. Then I open bag, pour out most of water, reach in, grasp discus and plop in tank.

[hexed]

Carol is a plopper Carol is a plopper LOL! ;D
Ok, Carol wouldn't that stress the fish when you put them in the tank? I have always floated the bag and every ten minutes I remove a cup of water from the bag and discard it then add a cup of my tank water to the bag. I do this every ten minutes 6 times on the 7th I gently scoop them out with a net and place into the tank. I leave the lights off until the next day. I use 2 seperate cups. Am I doing it wrong? Next time I will plop LOL. :D

[RandalB]

Hexed,
It's never bothered my fish. There is a school of thought that slow acclimation is actually more stressful than "Plopping" The fish are transported, the pH in their bags drops, the ammonia they produce is less toxic because of the lower pH. Adding tank water back in raises the pH causing ammonia burns and other injury. I've done the "Plop" method on over 100 fish now including marine fish\Corals\Inverts and discus with no losses. I've had losses with slow acclimation. As long as the pH and temp are higher in your tank, your fish will be fine.

JME,
RandalB

[lwarctic]

Hexed, listen to Carol and RandalB. They are right. It was hard for me to understand also, but the way RandalB explained it, it makes lots of sense. The last shipment I got I did the grab and plop method. They did very well and I was very impressed how well they did.

Les

;) ;)