fishless cycle question.

[johnhuddleston]

okay, my pond has been cycling for a couple of weeks now, I used fishfood
and my old pond filter media and the vacuumings and some of the gravel from
one of my ugf tanks. Within a couple of days the ammonia was right up, it
has slowly returned to 0 with .8mg/l of nitrates. when do i water change and
add the fish? do i wait for the nitrates to drop also?

--

[Geezer From The Freezer]

johnhuddleston wrote:
>
> okay, my pond has been cycling for a couple of weeks now, I used fishfood
> and my old pond filter media and the vacuumings and some of the gravel from
> one of my ugf tanks. Within a couple of days the ammonia was right up, it
> has slowly returned to 0 with .8mg/l of nitrates. when do i water change and
> add the fish? do i wait for the nitrates to drop also?
>
> --

I'm assuming you mean when the nitrItes drop? Yes add fish then. Remember to
check
the NitrAtes when the NitrItes have dropped.

[johnhuddleston]

sorry, yeah, meant nitrite. I don`t have a kit for nitrate, I got the tetra
pond test kit, which only has checks for ammonia, ph and nitrite.
I do weekly or fortnightly 20% changes in the pond (free lawn feed) LFS guy
said doing this along with a few pond plants should mean I have no nitrate
problems... which is odd cos he could have sold me another test kit. :)

Anyway, i was just worried incase the ammonia eating bacteria die off while
i`m waiting for the nitrites to fall.

"Geezer From The Freezer" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> johnhuddleston wrote:
> >
> > okay, my pond has been cycling for a couple of weeks now, I used
fishfood
> > and my old pond filter media and the vacuumings and some of the gravel
from
> > one of my ugf tanks. Within a couple of days the ammonia was right up,
it
> > has slowly returned to 0 with .8mg/l of nitrates. when do i water change
and
> > add the fish? do i wait for the nitrates to drop also?
> >
> > --
>
> I'm assuming you mean when the nitrItes drop? Yes add fish then. Remember
to
> check
> the NitrAtes when the NitrItes have dropped.

[Geezer From The Freezer]

johnhuddleston wrote:
>
> sorry, yeah, meant nitrite. I don`t have a kit for nitrate, I got the tetra
> pond test kit, which only has checks for ammonia, ph and nitrite.
> I do weekly or fortnightly 20% changes in the pond (free lawn feed) LFS guy
> said doing this along with a few pond plants should mean I have no nitrate
> problems... which is odd cos he could have sold me another test kit. :)
>
> Anyway, i was just worried incase the ammonia eating bacteria die off while
> i`m waiting for the nitrites to fall.

Definitely get a nitrate test kit. Lawn feed? Whats that about?
Plant will consume some nitrates, but not necessarily all and not
necessarily keep them from rising.

[nanoreef]

johnhuddleston wrote:
> sorry, yeah, meant nitrite. I don`t have a kit for nitrate, I got the tetra
> pond test kit, which only has checks for ammonia, ph and nitrite.

> I do weekly or fortnightly 20% changes in the pond

If there are no fish in the pond (or tank) then there is no need to do
water changes. Unless ammonia or nitrites are really high water
changes will only slowdown the cycle process.


> Anyway, i was just worried incase the ammonia eating bacteria die off while
> i`m waiting for the nitrites to fall.

As long as the water is kept arated (through water movement) the
bacteria will go dormant, and not die off.

I haven't actually seen any tests to show how long the bacteria can
lie dormant. Anecdotal evidence suggests that it is atleast six weeks.


With plants you can keep a pond or tank with less then 10ppm NitrAtes
(and no water changes). A nitrate test kit is still important
though. Nitrate buildup and a pH crash are probably the two most
common problems for established tanks.

--

[johnhuddleston]

> johnhuddleston wrote:
> >
> > sorry, yeah, meant nitrite. I don`t have a kit for nitrate, I got the
tetra
> > pond test kit, which only has checks for ammonia, ph and nitrite.
> > I do weekly or fortnightly 20% changes in the pond (free lawn feed) LFS
guy
> > said doing this along with a few pond plants should mean I have no
nitrate
> > problems... which is odd cos he could have sold me another test kit. :)
> >
> > Anyway, i was just worried incase the ammonia eating bacteria die off
while
> > i`m waiting for the nitrites to fall.
>
> Definitely get a nitrate test kit. Lawn feed? Whats that about?

well some of us can`t afford to replace whole lawns with ponds (but
desperately wish we could), unless that was a serious question, in which
case tank/pond water are very good for lawn growth :)

> Plant will consume some nitrates, but not necessarily all and not
> necessarily keep them from rising.

okay, thats 2 for nitrate test kit purchasing type action. will get one next
payday.

[Geezer From The Freezer]

johnhuddleston wrote:
> > Definitely get a nitrate test kit. Lawn feed? Whats that about?
>
> well some of us can`t afford to replace whole lawns with ponds (but
> desperately wish we could), unless that was a serious question, in which
> case tank/pond water are very good for lawn growth :)


Oh yes, heard the same thing a while back. Indeed it is good for lawns or
plants.
Never use it on the lawn after using some medicating chemicals though ;)
You might get mutated-grass that eats animals :P

[Geezer From The Freezer]

nanoreef wrote:
> With plants you can keep a pond or tank with less then 10ppm NitrAtes
> (and no water changes). A nitrate test kit is still important
> though. Nitrate buildup and a pH crash are probably the two most
> common problems for established tanks.
>
> --

Problem with NO water changes, is there are other nastys in the water other than
NitrAtes that need diluting down.

[johnhuddleston]

"Geezer From The Freezer" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> johnhuddleston wrote:
> > > Definitely get a nitrate test kit. Lawn feed? Whats that about?
> >
> > well some of us can`t afford to replace whole lawns with ponds (but
> > desperately wish we could), unless that was a serious question, in which
> > case tank/pond water are very good for lawn growth :)
>
>
> Oh yes, heard the same thing a while back. Indeed it is good for lawns or
> plants.
> Never use it on the lawn after using some medicating chemicals though ;)
> You might get mutated-grass that eats animals :P

Chance would be a fine thing. Grass that eats the cats that **** on my
tomato plants would be nice.