Cycling 3 weeks with fish
- Thread starter mommy2girls!
- Start date
It does not matter to leave it or wipe it off. You will see all sorts of slime and algae on stuff over the years. Unless it is blue green algae (actually a bacteria) it is nothing to worry about.
Don't forget that the higher the pH, the more of any TA is in the NH3 form. Currently you have .0387 ppm based on " temp is 79 degrees. 1ppm ammonia 7.8PH " However, as if your TA rises or the pH goes higher, you should be doing a water change. Do between 1/3 and 1/2.
You have a little room on the NH3 level before you need to change water. As long as the fish seem fine, wait for Ammonia to go higher.
Just to confirm re nitrate. You do know that the #2 bottle has a tendency to settle out the some of the mix and it falls to the bottom of the bottle. So when doing a test you should be doing two things to the #2 bottle. You need to shake it like you are trying to make the solution come out of the bottle without removing the top.
Shake it well for a full minute. However, after about 20 seconds pause and bang the bottom of bottle on a hard surface and then resume shaking. Repeat this after another 20 seconds of shaking. Shake the first bottle, but just a normal shake. You do not need to go anywhere near as nuts with it.
Also. you do not need to test for nitrate every day. If you have 0 when you do test, then you can wait 2 or 3 days before you should test again.
Of all the tests you will use in your tank, the one for nitrate is the least accurate. Further, it is least accurate between 0 and 20 ppm.
Here are you basic guidelines:
- As long as your TA is 2 ppm or lower, you are fine in this respect.
- As long as the NH3 for any TA reading is under .05 ppm, you are fine in this respect.
- As long as you have 0 nitrite, your fish are safe from this and you are fine in this respect.
- As long as your fish are behaving normally and not showing any signs of stress, you are fine in this respect.
No matter what else is going on, your fish still need almost weekly water changes (every 10 days max.). If you are having to change water for ammonia, then you should not need more changes for normal maintenance reasons.
Don't forget that the higher the pH, the more of any TA is in the NH3 form. Currently you have .0387 ppm based on " temp is 79 degrees. 1ppm ammonia 7.8PH " However, as if your TA rises or the pH goes higher, you should be doing a water change. Do between 1/3 and 1/2.
You have a little room on the NH3 level before you need to change water. As long as the fish seem fine, wait for Ammonia to go higher.
Just to confirm re nitrate. You do know that the #2 bottle has a tendency to settle out the some of the mix and it falls to the bottom of the bottle. So when doing a test you should be doing two things to the #2 bottle. You need to shake it like you are trying to make the solution come out of the bottle without removing the top.
Shake it well for a full minute. However, after about 20 seconds pause and bang the bottom of bottle on a hard surface and then resume shaking. Repeat this after another 20 seconds of shaking. Shake the first bottle, but just a normal shake. You do not need to go anywhere near as nuts with it.Also. you do not need to test for nitrate every day. If you have 0 when you do test, then you can wait 2 or 3 days before you should test again.
Of all the tests you will use in your tank, the one for nitrate is the least accurate. Further, it is least accurate between 0 and 20 ppm.
Here are you basic guidelines:
- As long as your TA is 2 ppm or lower, you are fine in this respect.
- As long as the NH3 for any TA reading is under .05 ppm, you are fine in this respect.
- As long as you have 0 nitrite, your fish are safe from this and you are fine in this respect.
- As long as your fish are behaving normally and not showing any signs of stress, you are fine in this respect.
No matter what else is going on, your fish still need almost weekly water changes (every 10 days max.). If you are having to change water for ammonia, then you should not need more changes for normal maintenance reasons.
DON'T PANIC
I read all about that nitrate bottle problem. My bottle has both bottom corners dented a bit from all the banging. When I put the drops if I look real close I can see the sparkle of the little crystals. Even so I still have rising ammonia albeit not so fast as before it seems. The rises came as a change in nh3 only at the same time as the temp and ph increases. The ta never went over 1.5 just NH3 concentration changed. I was really hoping that stuff on the hose was a sign something was happening. For now we are sitting steady on those parameters. We did raise one degree in temp throughout the day but it still under the .05. Everyone seems fine swimming all around and eating. Poor Cheetos gills still look a bit irritated and it’ll probably take time to heal. He does act fine and was even swimming with the neons. No one else has any marks. I bought a little test tube rack after two tubes were broken on the floor. I labeled a chart for it to sit on and my 10 year old is learning about the different tests and is now very interested in the fact that a lot of the same minerals and factors such as ph that we are testing for the fish also effect plant life and vegetable and fruit production. She is growing peppers tomatoes and beans and just recently learned about fertilizing with calcium and magnesium and testing soil ph. She is going to be my little scientist for sure. I like having those guidelines you set. Helps me to feel a little in control and feel confident in what to do and when to react. When we finally see nitrites what type and how much salt to add to protect the fish? I know it can’t be table salt because it has iodine. Is it something sold in the fish store special for fish? I’d like to be prepared.
You have to do the math to determine the amount of salt. It is all detailed in the rescue part II article.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-il.433778/
No iodine in salt, please have a read here. I was lucky enough when I got into fish to know RTR online.
https://theaquariumwiki.com/wiki/The_Salt_of_the_Earth
" Sodium chloride is the familiar white crystalline material in just about every kitchen. Table salt as purchased at the local supermarket in this country also contains iodide and anti-caking compounds. "
You can buy Morton salt without iodide but not without the anti-caking. It is not an issue.
The amount of salt one needs is very small. So iodide is not a worry.
The nice thing about the above is it involves very basic math. And all you need to work with is measuring spoons for cooking and a measuring cup for the same. I use more sphisticated stuff because I have it. But i also know how to do the same thing with the sort of kitchen equipment almost any home will have.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-il.433778/
No iodine in salt, please have a read here. I was lucky enough when I got into fish to know RTR online.
https://theaquariumwiki.com/wiki/The_Salt_of_the_Earth
" Sodium chloride is the familiar white crystalline material in just about every kitchen. Table salt as purchased at the local supermarket in this country also contains iodide and anti-caking compounds. "
You can buy Morton salt without iodide but not without the anti-caking. It is not an issue.
The amount of salt one needs is very small. So iodide is not a worry.
The above will still be harder to do for small tanks. The solution when one needs a lot less then 1/5 of a teaspoon is to mix up a salt water solution and then add a part of this. If you have to do it, I can help you work it out.
The nice thing about the above is it involves very basic math. And all you need to work with is measuring spoons for cooking and a measuring cup for the same. I use more sphisticated stuff because I have it. But i also know how to do the same thing with the sort of kitchen equipment almost any home will have.
Omg omg omg we have nitrites yay! .25ppm! And the nitrates is barely a tint of orange. I tested the sink water of zero to compare just to make sure I wasn’t imagining. I’m currently doing a little happy dance with my daughter right now. We are not quite there yet because we still have ammonia 1ppm NH3 .0368 ph7.8 fish all seem happy
I’ve read the part 2 paper twice now. I’m assuming the diluted test would only be used if nitrites were way too high off the chart. At what measure of nitrites must I react with salt or wc?
You need to begin to add tiny amounts of salt almost as soon as you see nitrite because of how it works. As nitrite rises you just increase the salt. The amount needed for smaller tanks is extremely small.
One way to handle this is to make a salt solution which is easier to measure. Again it is all simple math. You start with your tank volume and you do all the calculation for how much salt you need to combat .25 ppm of nitrite. it will nbe pretty small/ So what you will then have to do is mix up a solution so you can control how much salt you add by pouring an ounce of water into the tank.
An 8 ounce measuring cup is ideal for this. It holds 8 ounces. So here is what you do.
1. Using the article, calculate how much salt you need to counteract .25 ppm of nitrate in your tank
2. Mulitply the number above by 8 and then add that amount of salt to an 8 ounce measuring cup.
3. For each .25 ppm you teast in the tank you need to add 1 ounce of the salt water/
So right now at .25 ppm you would pour in just 1 ounce of the salt water into the tank.
If the nitrite reading goes up to .50 ppm, you would add a second ounce to the tank etc. As the nitrite rise you just keep adding more salt water.
Now, what to do if the nitrite drops. Salt does not evaporate. So the way to get it out of the water is via water changes.
If you have to change water in the tank for any reason other than nitrite, you would need to replace the amount of salt removed. For example if nitrite has gone up to 1 ppm and you have then had to add 4 ounce of the salt solution and yo need to change 1/2 of the water. That means you remove 1/2 of the salt and you would need to add back 2 ounces.
The nice thing about this method is it is very easy to keep the salw water solution ready to go. If you have used up 5 or 6 ounces of the solution, you can dump the balance and start over and make a fresh full 8 ounces. Salt is very cheap.
You do not need to dechlor the water you use for making the salt solution. 1 gal. of water = 133 ounces. So a 5 gal. tank would have about 575 -600 ounces (akkowing for decor etc). So if you have to put 8 ounces of sw solution into a 5 gal tank. the solution is going to get really diluted and should not be a problem. But if you feel safer dechloring than about 1 drop of dechlor should be more than enough in 8 ounces of tap water.
Once the cycle has progressed to where there are no nitrite, a big water change removes the salt. It will also remove the extra KH you have created with the coral or baking soda.
One way to handle this is to make a salt solution which is easier to measure. Again it is all simple math. You start with your tank volume and you do all the calculation for how much salt you need to combat .25 ppm of nitrite. it will nbe pretty small/ So what you will then have to do is mix up a solution so you can control how much salt you add by pouring an ounce of water into the tank.
An 8 ounce measuring cup is ideal for this. It holds 8 ounces. So here is what you do.
1. Using the article, calculate how much salt you need to counteract .25 ppm of nitrate in your tank
2. Mulitply the number above by 8 and then add that amount of salt to an 8 ounce measuring cup.
3. For each .25 ppm you teast in the tank you need to add 1 ounce of the salt water/
So right now at .25 ppm you would pour in just 1 ounce of the salt water into the tank.
If the nitrite reading goes up to .50 ppm, you would add a second ounce to the tank etc. As the nitrite rise you just keep adding more salt water.
Now, what to do if the nitrite drops. Salt does not evaporate. So the way to get it out of the water is via water changes.
If you have to change water in the tank for any reason other than nitrite, you would need to replace the amount of salt removed. For example if nitrite has gone up to 1 ppm and you have then had to add 4 ounce of the salt solution and yo need to change 1/2 of the water. That means you remove 1/2 of the salt and you would need to add back 2 ounces.
The nice thing about this method is it is very easy to keep the salw water solution ready to go. If you have used up 5 or 6 ounces of the solution, you can dump the balance and start over and make a fresh full 8 ounces. Salt is very cheap.
You do not need to dechlor the water you use for making the salt solution. 1 gal. of water = 133 ounces. So a 5 gal. tank would have about 575 -600 ounces (akkowing for decor etc). So if you have to put 8 ounces of sw solution into a 5 gal tank. the solution is going to get really diluted and should not be a problem. But if you feel safer dechloring than about 1 drop of dechlor should be more than enough in 8 ounces of tap water.
Once the cycle has progressed to where there are no nitrite, a big water change removes the salt. It will also remove the extra KH you have created with the coral or baking soda.
You need to begin to add tiny amounts of salt almost as soon as you see nitrite because of how it works. As nitrite rises you just increase the salt. The amount needed for smaller tanks is extremely small.
One way to handle this is to make a salt solution which is easier to measure. Again it is all simple math. You start with your tank volume and you do all the calculation for how much salt you need to combat .25 ppm of nitrite. it will nbe pretty small/ So what you will then have to do is mix up a solution so you can control how much salt you add by pouring an ounce of water into the tank.
An 8 ounce measuring cup is ideal for this. It holds 8 ounces. So here is what you do.
1. Using the article, calculate how much salt you need to counteract .25 ppm of nitrate in your tank
2. Mulitply the number above by 8 and then add that amount of salt to an 8 ounce measuring cup.
3. For each .25 ppm you teast in the tank you need to add 1 ounce of the salt water/
So right now at .25 ppm you would pour in just 1 ounce of the salt water into the tank.
If the nitrite reading goes up to .50 ppm, you would add a second ounce to the tank etc. As the nitrite rise you just keep adding more salt water.
Now, what to do if the nitrite drops. Salt does not evaporate. So the way to get it out of the water is via water changes.
If you have to change water in the tank for any reason other than nitrite, you would need to replace the amount of salt removed. For example if nitrite has gone up to 1 ppm and you have then had to add 4 ounce of the salt solution and yo need to change 1/2 of the water. That means you remove 1/2 of the salt and you would need to add back 2 ounces.
The nice thing about this method is it is very easy to keep the salw water solution ready to go. If you have used up 5 or 6 ounces of the solution, you can dump the balance and start over and make a fresh full 8 ounces. Salt is very cheap.
You do not need to dechlor the water you use for making the salt solution. 1 gal. of water = 133 ounces. So a 5 gal. tank would have about 575 -600 ounces (akkowing for decor etc). So if you have to put 8 ounces of sw solution into a 5 gal tank. the solution is going to get really diluted and should not be a problem. But if you feel safer dechloring than about 1 drop of dechlor should be more than enough in 8 ounces of tap water.
Once the cycle has progressed to where there are no nitrite, a big water change removes the salt. It will also remove the extra KH you have created with the coral or baking soda.
One way to handle this is to make a salt solution which is easier to measure. Again it is all simple math. You start with your tank volume and you do all the calculation for how much salt you need to combat .25 ppm of nitrite. it will nbe pretty small/ So what you will then have to do is mix up a solution so you can control how much salt you add by pouring an ounce of water into the tank.
An 8 ounce measuring cup is ideal for this. It holds 8 ounces. So here is what you do.
1. Using the article, calculate how much salt you need to counteract .25 ppm of nitrate in your tank
2. Mulitply the number above by 8 and then add that amount of salt to an 8 ounce measuring cup.
3. For each .25 ppm you teast in the tank you need to add 1 ounce of the salt water/
So right now at .25 ppm you would pour in just 1 ounce of the salt water into the tank.
If the nitrite reading goes up to .50 ppm, you would add a second ounce to the tank etc. As the nitrite rise you just keep adding more salt water.
Now, what to do if the nitrite drops. Salt does not evaporate. So the way to get it out of the water is via water changes.
If you have to change water in the tank for any reason other than nitrite, you would need to replace the amount of salt removed. For example if nitrite has gone up to 1 ppm and you have then had to add 4 ounce of the salt solution and yo need to change 1/2 of the water. That means you remove 1/2 of the salt and you would need to add back 2 ounces.
The nice thing about this method is it is very easy to keep the salw water solution ready to go. If you have used up 5 or 6 ounces of the solution, you can dump the balance and start over and make a fresh full 8 ounces. Salt is very cheap.
You do not need to dechlor the water you use for making the salt solution. 1 gal. of water = 133 ounces. So a 5 gal. tank would have about 575 -600 ounces (akkowing for decor etc). So if you have to put 8 ounces of sw solution into a 5 gal tank. the solution is going to get really diluted and should not be a problem. But if you feel safer dechloring than about 1 drop of dechlor should be more than enough in 8 ounces of tap water.
Once the cycle has progressed to where there are no nitrite, a big water change removes the salt. It will also remove the extra KH you have created with the coral or baking soda.
By following the math at .5ppm I get:
.5ppm x 10 = 5mg NaCl
10 x 85% = 8.5 gallon = 32.176L
5 x 32.176 = 160.88mg NaCl total
160.88 x 1.5 = 241.32 /1000 = .24132 grams
.24132 X 8 = 1.93056 ~ 1/4 tsp
Mix 1/4tsp salt with 8oz water and add 2oz to tank immediately
Am I correct??
.5ppm x 10 = 5mg NaCl
10 x 85% = 8.5 gallon = 32.176L
5 x 32.176 = 160.88mg NaCl total
160.88 x 1.5 = 241.32 /1000 = .24132 grams
.24132 X 8 = 1.93056 ~ 1/4 tsp
Mix 1/4tsp salt with 8oz water and add 2oz to tank immediately
Am I correct??
