My setup so far

well while draining tank and I noticed the pipes for the filter for the intake and outtake pipes are full of gunky orange tainted water - i believe from me not cleaning gravel properly :s

So Im gonna take the pipes off and give them a good clean through!!

Then maybe open the filter and check it out and clean anything in water drained from the tank - sound a good idea?

I know it will slow the whole process up but it it helps sort tank out id rather it take longer

Im in the process of cleaning atm Diana wanna come help

I am concernerd the orange gunk will be in my filter also.....well im going to have to get rid of that too...great fun!!

probably gonna kill any bacteria growing in filter but I nee it cleaning properly

Now I really dislike fish tanks - I should have cleaned gravel 100 times DAMN IT!

well now the filter doesnt want to prime either

great!

Just was anything you need to wash in some of the water from your tank, at least that will be dechlorinated and also have ammonia in so wont kill f any bacteria.

You might just have found out why your cycle had stalled GD.

well the hoops have a bit of orange gunk on em i just dipped em into the tank water to remove any particles.

However the pipes I cannot clean! the gunk is stuck on the outsides. I may just order some new ones to replace.

in total I changed around 50-60% of the water and boy I was peed off! could you tell.

the filter wool is now an orange colour - I will replace that once i get some more filter wool - I cant fnd the one i bought the other week. I cleaned the foam for any bits stuck in it too.

The particles I found floating was this orange gunk stuck together. I got most of it out but when the cycle is finally over ill do a mega water change to get rid of any more and hopefully it should slowly vanish.

Ammonia 2ppm

Nitrite 2ppm

results after the water change and clean down btw here is a pic of what i scraped off the corner of the tank (what i thought was algae)



its the orange build up from the gravel - lovely YUM YUM

Ewww...I've just eaten.

but my water is lovely and crystal clear with the lights on

But what should I dose my tank now? or should I leave it till tomorrow?

temp is still 30 on heater too

Hiya GD, just start dosing your tank at the same time every day again and wait for the Nitrite to go up a bit. Hope you're ok today by the way!!

well im gonna struggle to dose the tank from today onwards!

this SHOULD have been done by now!!!!!

whne i dose ammonia into the tank should i test the water straight away for new Ammonia reading? or wait a few hours

I haven't done the fishless cycle GD but if you have the dosing quantity down pat, then I'd wait a couple of hours to give the filter bacteria a chance to assimilate it.

GD. I had completely forgotten about this, but when I first set up my tank I used the wrong type of sand and so had to change it for gravel. Obviously this caused loads of silt to get in the water from the sand and gravel dust, and for a while my filter packed in and I didnt notice.

After I cleaned the filter pads, the readings of everything just went haywire for a while, but then the cycle finished really quickly afterwards.

Hopefully, if your filter is now clean, the bacteria will begin to reproduce as they should and the same will happen to you.

As for when to test, I used to wait about an hour.

well atm Ammonia 2ppm Nitrite 2ppm

I cant do much else atm as had my eyes lasered they are sore and im feeling sorry for myself.

Filter aint packed in. It wasnt to cloged just a lot of gunk floating about. Gave it a good clean

I am concerned the stats will not move on. I was hoping to have the cycle finished by this week! bummer

What will I have to do if the cycle has stopped?

Well I was bored and thought I'd try my luck and test NitrAtes and from what I can tell its between 10ppm - 20ppm What do ya think?

03/05/08

Ammonia 1ppm (Dosed 1ml Ammonia up to 2ppm)

Nitrite 2ppm

PH 7.6

should i also now keep checking NitrAtes? Not sure if I should dose again. I may leave it till tomorrow

Well it's a good sign that the nitrates are registering - that indicates the cycle won't be long in finishing. Hang in there, GD.

Should I check my tap water?

Might be no harm. It would give you a base reading for nitrates at least. Let it stand for 24 hours before testing the pH though.

04/05/08

Ammonia 1ppm - Dosed 1ml Ammonia will re-test in a few hours

Nitrite between 2ppm

What are you taking the ammonia back up to GD - still back to 4?

well I dose 1ml Ill check it now... AH Love photo bucket

Well I'd say that was 2ppm - So I should dose another 1ml?

I'd just add a few drops at a time so you dont risk ovedosing. Just add a little bit and then test after about 15-20mins or so.

Another 1ml dose coming up.

Bleugh it really does stink!