Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20-30

Seems the cycle is complete.

Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

Victor M. Martinez wrote:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20-30

Seems the cycle is complete.

OK Summarizing...

20 gallon tank, "a few plants"
Mardel Labs test kits
Temp?
pH / kh / gh ?
Phosphate level?
DO2 level?

Day NH3 NO2 NO3
-1: - Set up tank 5 inches of fish added
0: - Add BIO-Spira
1 - Add 6 inches of fish, MTSs and ghost shrimp
2 -
3 0 - -
4 0 - -
6 0 1 20
8 0 2-3 20
9 0 1-2 20-30
10 0 0 20-30

(- denotes no recorded test)

Do I have it correct(ly)?
What else are you using: Dechlor? Conditioner? pH adjustment?

-Donald
--
"When you've lost your ability to laugh, you've lost your ability to
think straight." -To Inherit the Wind

Donald Kerns wrote:
Temp?

Hmmm... 80 F or so.

pH / kh / gh ?

From memory:
pH = 6-6.5
kH low
gH medium

Phosphate level?

Not measuring this, I don't think I have a test kit for it.

DO2 level?

C02? Not testing that either.

Day NH3 NO2 NO3
-1: - Set up tank 5 inches of fish added
0: - Add BIO-Spira

Both fishes and biospira were added at the same time.

Do I have it correct(ly)?

Looks good.

What else are you using: Dechlor? Conditioner? pH adjustment?

I used Prime for conditioning water. I only made one water change around
day 3 or 4, IIRC. I also added Fluorish, Fluorish Excel, Fluorish Iron,
and Freshtrace (all by Seachem) when I setup the tank.
The tank has both bogwood and holey limestone and the substrate is pure
fluorite.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

In article , Victor M. Martinez wrote:

I used Prime for conditioning water. I only made one water change around
day 3 or 4, IIRC. I also added Fluorish, Fluorish Excel, Fluorish Iron,
and Freshtrace (all by Seachem) when I setup the tank.
The tank has both bogwood and holey limestone and the substrate is pure
fluorite.

With all the additives there I am guessing that you have plants.

I am still not convinced that BioSpira and the like do anything
special. I saw similar numbers to yours when I cycled a 20gal with
household ammonia and two clumps of Java Fern. The only time that
ammonia was detectable was after adding the daily dose of 2-3 ppm
(mg/l) worth of household ammonia.

We need more tests I think. Does anyone have a $2000 grant handy :-)

--
sg

"SG" wrote in message
...
In article , Victor M. Martinez wrote:

I used Prime for conditioning water. I only made one water change around
day 3 or 4, IIRC. I also added Fluorish, Fluorish Excel, Fluorish Iron,
and Freshtrace (all by Seachem) when I setup the tank.
The tank has both bogwood and holey limestone and the substrate is pure
fluorite.

With all the additives there I am guessing that you have plants.

I am still not convinced that BioSpira and the like do anything
special. I saw similar numbers to yours when I cycled a 20gal with
household ammonia and two clumps of Java Fern. The only time that
ammonia was detectable was after adding the daily dose of 2-3 ppm
(mg/l) worth of household ammonia.

We need more tests I think. Does anyone have a $2000 grant handy :-)

--
sg


I'd tend to agree. My tank cycled in sub-14 days, without using anything
other than filterstart, and gravel that'd been in the tank (but not with a
filter, fish, or anything else other than some rather dodgy water) for a
couple of years. Everything got washed in chlorinated water thoroughly
before use, so I doubt any bacteria survived on the gravel.

That was a 3' tank. No plants initially, and about 8" of fish.

I was amazed, and very pleased. A year? down the line the tank is still
going strong - very healthy, no disease of fish and lots of healthy plants.
Much less hassle than it was before (with less fish and less plants).

Velvet

SG wrote:

We need more tests I think. Does anyone have a $2000 grant handy :-)

Hey, that's MY line... ;-)

-D
--
"When you've lost your ability to laugh, you've lost your ability to
think straight." -To Inherit the Wind

Victor M. Martinez wrote:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20-30

Seems the cycle is complete.

OK Summarizing...

20 gallon tank, "a few plants"
Mardel Labs test kits
Temp?
pH / kh / gh ?
Phosphate level?
DO2 level?

Day NH3 NO2 NO3
-1: - Set up tank 5 inches of fish added
0: - Add BIO-Spira
1 - Add 6 inches of fish, MTSs and ghost shrimp
2 -
3 0 - -
4 0 - -
6 0 1 20
8 0 2-3 20
9 0 1-2 20-30
10 0 0 20-30

(- denotes no recorded test)

Do I have it correct(ly)?
What else are you using: Dechlor? Conditioner? pH adjustment?

-Donald
--
"When you've lost your ability to laugh, you've lost your ability to
think straight." -To Inherit the Wind