New Aquarium question

[Peps]

Over the past week, I have set up a new 200L tank.

Everything in the new tank is new, except that I re-used my Eheim
cannister filter. Because of an algae problem in the previous aquarium,
I cleaned the filter with vineger, and it contents by leaving them in
the sun for a couple of days.

I used a "Cycle" bacteria water treatment on filtered tap water, and let
it stand for a day unfiltered, then ran the filter for a couple of days
before starting to add some cheap and hardy fish.

The tank is well planted, and I have fertilised the plants.

After a week I have 10 small fish in the tank, which I have added
progressively over several days, whilst testing Ammonia, Nitrites and PH.

I have not yet detected any Ammonia or Nitrites, but today the PH is up
to 7.2 - 7.4.

Everything that I have read says that I should be measuring Ammonia by
now. There can only be two reasons that I can think of why I am not:

1. There is enough bacteria from the filter and treatment to make the
tank stable already.

2. The ammonia cycle hasn't yet started.

How do I tell which? What does the PH change mean?

Thanks

Happy new year to you all!

[Iain Miller]

"Peps" > wrote in message
...
> Over the past week, I have set up a new 200L tank.
>
> Everything in the new tank is new, except that I re-used my Eheim
> cannister filter. Because of an algae problem in the previous aquarium,
> I cleaned the filter with vineger, and it contents by leaving them in
> the sun for a couple of days.
>
> I used a "Cycle" bacteria water treatment on filtered tap water, and let
> it stand for a day unfiltered, then ran the filter for a couple of days
> before starting to add some cheap and hardy fish.
>
> The tank is well planted, and I have fertilised the plants.
>
> After a week I have 10 small fish in the tank, which I have added
> progressively over several days, whilst testing Ammonia, Nitrites and PH.
>
> I have not yet detected any Ammonia or Nitrites, but today the PH is up
> to 7.2 - 7.4.
>
> Everything that I have read says that I should be measuring Ammonia by
> now. There can only be two reasons that I can think of why I am not:
>
> 1. There is enough bacteria from the filter and treatment to make the
> tank stable already.
>
> 2. The ammonia cycle hasn't yet started.
>
> How do I tell which? What does the PH change mean?

I'd guess the cycle hasn't kicked in fully yet. I would think it unlikely
that your filter "survived" given what you did to clean it. The plants will
also absorb some of the ammonia anyway.

As for the Ph, what did it start at? 7.2 is not that high at all - your
water must be quite soft (low Kh). Causes for Ph rises are usually something
like a limestone based rock in the tank. You can test rocks with vinegar. If
it fizzes it will cause your ph to rise.

HTH

I.

[Matthew Clark]

Peps,

With regard to your questions:

1. pH. What was the initial pH level? A lot of tap water has a lot of
dissolved gases that can lower pH; after these gases have dissipated,
the pH will rise. Try this: draw some tap water, and test the pH. Let
the tap water sit for several days and then test pH again. If you
don't observe something similar to what is happening in your tank,
come back here.

2. The cycle. There are several possibilities here. I find it hard to
believe that much "good-guy" bacteria would survive the vinegar and
2-day bleaching in the sun, so I would rule that out. Ten small fish
is not an incredible bioload in a 200 L tank, so I would imagine that
you simply can't detect ammonia levels yet. Your test kit probably
isn't sensitive enough, and the cycle may be taking care of some
ammonia (not to mention the fact that the relavtively small amount of
ammonia produced by 10 fish is being diluted by 200 L of water). Give
it some time. If you have a cheap test kit, it's possible that you may
not get a positive ammonia reading. Normally, I woudl recomend cycling
with more fish in a tank your size.

Matthew Clark

Peps > wrote in message >...
> Over the past week, I have set up a new 200L tank.
>
> Everything in the new tank is new, except that I re-used my Eheim
> cannister filter. Because of an algae problem in the previous aquarium,
> I cleaned the filter with vineger, and it contents by leaving them in
> the sun for a couple of days.
>
> I used a "Cycle" bacteria water treatment on filtered tap water, and let
> it stand for a day unfiltered, then ran the filter for a couple of days
> before starting to add some cheap and hardy fish.
>
> The tank is well planted, and I have fertilised the plants.
>
> After a week I have 10 small fish in the tank, which I have added
> progressively over several days, whilst testing Ammonia, Nitrites and PH.
>
> I have not yet detected any Ammonia or Nitrites, but today the PH is up
> to 7.2 - 7.4.
>
> Everything that I have read says that I should be measuring Ammonia by
> now. There can only be two reasons that I can think of why I am not:
>
> 1. There is enough bacteria from the filter and treatment to make the
> tank stable already.
>
> 2. The ammonia cycle hasn't yet started.
>
> How do I tell which? What does the PH change mean?
>
> Thanks
>
> Happy new year to you all!

[Peps]

Matthew Clark wrote:

> Peps,
>
> With regard to your questions:
>
> 1. pH. What was the initial pH level? A lot of tap water has a lot of
> dissolved gases that can lower pH; after these gases have dissipated,
> the pH will rise. Try this: draw some tap water, and test the pH. Let
> the tap water sit for several days and then test pH again. If you
> don't observe something similar to what is happening in your tank,
> come back here.
>
> 2. The cycle. There are several possibilities here. I find it hard to
> believe that much "good-guy" bacteria would survive the vinegar and
> 2-day bleaching in the sun, so I would rule that out. Ten small fish
> is not an incredible bioload in a 200 L tank, so I would imagine that
> you simply can't detect ammonia levels yet. Your test kit probably
> isn't sensitive enough, and the cycle may be taking care of some
> ammonia (not to mention the fact that the relavtively small amount of
> ammonia produced by 10 fish is being diluted by 200 L of water). Give
> it some time. If you have a cheap test kit, it's possible that you may
> not get a positive ammonia reading. Normally, I woudl recomend cycling
> with more fish in a tank your size.
>
> Matthew Clark
>
> Peps > wrote in message >...
>
>>Over the past week, I have set up a new 200L tank.
>>
>>Everything in the new tank is new, except that I re-used my Eheim
>>cannister filter. Because of an algae problem in the previous aquarium,
>>I cleaned the filter with vineger, and it contents by leaving them in
>>the sun for a couple of days.
>>
>>I used a "Cycle" bacteria water treatment on filtered tap water, and let
>>it stand for a day unfiltered, then ran the filter for a couple of days
>>before starting to add some cheap and hardy fish.
>>
>>The tank is well planted, and I have fertilised the plants.
>>
>>After a week I have 10 small fish in the tank, which I have added
>>progressively over several days, whilst testing Ammonia, Nitrites and PH.
>>
>>I have not yet detected any Ammonia or Nitrites, but today the PH is up
>>to 7.2 - 7.4.
>>
>>Everything that I have read says that I should be measuring Ammonia by
>>now. There can only be two reasons that I can think of why I am not:
>>
>>1. There is enough bacteria from the filter and treatment to make the
>>tank stable already.
>>
>>2. The ammonia cycle hasn't yet started.
>>
>>How do I tell which? What does the PH change mean?
>>
>>Thanks
>>
>>Happy new year to you all!

Thanks

I have added a few more fish today and will continue to do so. Also, I
bought a Nitrate kit today which also read very low (<5mg/l). It sounds
like the plants are dealing with any ammonia.

I didn't check the Ph of the raw water, but the intial reading on the
tank after a few days was 7.0.

I will try to be patient!!

[Iain Miller]

>
> Thanks
>
> I have added a few more fish today and will continue to do so. Also, I
> bought a Nitrate kit today which also read very low (<5mg/l). It sounds
> like the plants are dealing with any ammonia.

Indeed so. Also you seem to have gone the right route in terms of preventing
algae. A couple of Siamese Algae Eaters would be a good addition to your
tank soon as well - that will really keep it at bay.

Have you tested your tap water for Nitrate? If its higher than the tank then
you have a pretty clear picture as to what's happening. If its the same then
the liklihood is that the system has just not kicked in yet.

> I didn't check the Ph of the raw water, but the intial reading on the
> tank after a few days was 7.0.

There is often some CO2 in tap water so it can look artificially low in
terms of Ph so don't let that confuse you. If you are going to test the tap
water the best thing you can do would be to check the Kh - this is much more
constant & the Ph is actually a product of it. Same for the tank. Kh in the
tank will decline a bit over time.

> I will try to be patient!!

Necessary in this hobby ;-). Careful how many more fish you add for the time
being, there is a lag between adding them and the effect on Ammonia levels
etc. Also bear in mind thgat you can't won't see Nitrite until there has
been some ammonia (which in turn you may or may not have detected!).

Sounds like you are doing everything about right though.

I.

[Matthew Clark]

I second Iain. Be careful when adding new fish, as the ammonia level
is becoming elevated.

Matthew Clark

[Dinky]

"Matthew Clark" > wrote in message
om...
> I second Iain. Be careful when adding new fish, as the ammonia level
> is becoming elevated.
>
> Matthew Clark

I totally disagree. Adding more fish after the cycleing has begun, even when
it's beginning slowly as it is in your case, is a recipe for disaster. Once
you add that first small batch of fish, it's best to leave things as they
are until ammonia and nitrites are zero, and nitrates are rising.
Better yet, use fishless cycling in the future.

Good cycle reference: http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

billy

[Iain Miller]

"Dinky" > wrote in message
link.net...
>
> "Matthew Clark" > wrote in message
> om...
> > I second Iain. Be careful when adding new fish, as the ammonia level
> > is becoming elevated.
> >
> > Matthew Clark
>
> I totally disagree. Adding more fish after the cycleing has begun, even
when
> it's beginning slowly as it is in your case, is a recipe for disaster.
Once
> you add that first small batch of fish, it's best to leave things as they
> are until ammonia and nitrites are zero, and nitrates are rising.
> Better yet, use fishless cycling in the future.
>
> Good cycle reference: http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

ummm that's pretty much what I said....be careful about adding more fish!