I think only Nickie knew how much effort it was taking me to re-cycle my 55. Although the cycle is moving along perfectly, only having RO water available for WC's is quite the hassle. Due to it taking 45 min. per 5 gallons, it means keeping the water running 5-10 hours per day. It all has to be carefully planned, becuz it starts off hot (if we use cold only, it takes over 1-1/2 hrs. per 5 gallons to make). So the rotation is to use the water from the day before (which means it gets a 24 hr. cooling off period), while the next day's ration is made.

After Augustus' unfortunate accident today, we decided that a more agressive approach needed to be taken to protect the rest of the fish. I have been doing daily 80% WC, which keep the params at 0 ammonia, 0-.25 nitrite, 0-2 nitrate. But since yesterday, the rate of nitrites has increased (beyond reason) enough to warrant more often water changing. I can't do another 80% WC in the same time period, due to the slow rate of RO, and the temp. being way too high to use.

So...hubby decided to check the params on the filtered water coming out of the fridge. I was pessimistic, becuz we are a couple months overdue on changing out the filter, but the params were perfect, zero across the board. But still a flow problem.....you have to stand in front of the water spicket and pour 2 gallons at a time into the 5 gallon jugs. Plus, the water is ice cold. Okay in a pinch for topping off, but not going to work in large volume.

Then we both looked at the pool - we haven't swam in months, nor conditioned it (the green algae is not a pretty sight!), and won't be using it until next summer. I've actually been getting after hubby for the last 2 months to buy some chlorine and whatever else it's going to take to get it back into shape. (if our old pool guy knew how much hubby was neglecting the pool, he'd have his ARS on a platter!)

For kicks, I took readings. 0 ammonia/0 nitrites/20 nitrates/7.6 PH Whoa! How perfect is that?? I said to hubby, 'let's just throw the fish in the pool!' He's like, 'yeah, let's do it!' Don't worry...we didn't.

However, with Prime available for any residual chlorine from the past, we decided to do a mixture of RO water, fridge water, and pool water. By mixing the different temps, we were able to keep the temp constant with the change, and I didn't even have to augment the PH at all. It came out to 7.2+ (trying to keep it a little on the low side due to nitrites, but I have crushed coral in the tank that brings it back up to 7.5 in a few hours time)

I checked the params after the change, and for some reason we got an initial .25 ammonia reading (could have been a mistake, but I didn't retest until a couple hours later), but 0+ nitrites and 5 nitrates. Sweet deal!

I tested the ammonia and nitrite 2 hours later, and both were zero.

Do you think I'm onto something? The fish have been acting normal, and even Oscar who has been feeling not so well, was swimming better this evening. I still have to check the GH/KH, but I'm thinking it could only be better than what I had before, since I had no way to harden the RO water.

We are testing the tank every 2 hours before bed to make sure it stays stable, and to make sure the fish are okay. Has anyone ever done that before? (use their pool water, that is)

I just remembered....although I said we haven't used anything in the pool, we did condition it with PP maybe a month ago! When we were sterilizing the 125g, we didn't have anywhere to put the purple water, so we drained it into the pool. So technically, the pool got a little sterilization of its own.

The only negative I can think of is possible organisms in the pool water. I'll have hubby put the UV back on tomorrow. We had taken it off to jump start the new cycle.

That would be one of the fear. There's no chlorine or other chemicals left in the water at all?

There shouldn't be. We haven't put anything in it for a few months, and there's been lots of rain to dilute it. But I am using 3x the Prime dosage, just to be safe.

I set the alarm for 6am, 8am, and 9am this morning to check the params, and the nitrites had only gotten as far as .25. Did another 80% WC with a combo of pool and RO water, and all is back to zero again. The most amazing difference is the appetite and spunkiness of all the fish today! They are zooming around happily begging for food, and have voracious appetites. Even Oscar's dorsal is straight up again (it's been clamped for a couple of days now), and he looks like a spring chicken! Even Shinobi, who is usually very mild mannered, was chasing Lola around - trying to prove his manhood. The temp of the water is mid 70's, as opposed to 79-80, which could be a factor as well.

Oh, and hubby put the UV on last night. So far, so good.......Wish I would've thought of this a few days ago.

Could it be that there are vital electrolights in the pool water that the fish have been needing? I have never had to deal with RO water before but my understanding is it is essentially deionized water with absolutely nothing else in it.

Anyways, glad your fishies are looking perkier. Hope the rest of your cycling now goes smoothly.

True. I have been adding Kent's RO Right, but cannot get the dosage high enough becuz it raises the PH above 9.

Great observation though! I'm sure that has a lot to do with it.

Just checked GH and KH in the tank:

KH - 2 degrees / 35.8
GH - 8 degrees / 143

Darn. I'm happy with the GH, but how do I get the KH up? I guess I thought that if one was higher, the other one would naturally follow. I hate chemistry.

This is still with the RO/Pool mixture. I'm going to go out and check the GH/KH of just the pool now.

Boy, Lola! What a carry on. You deserve a medal.
Wouldn't it be great to just use the pool - Oliver Black-style? I wonder what the seniors think.
Are you still checking the mains supply occasionally, just to see if the levels improve?
PS. Did you try the crushed coral as Trinket suggested to help with the KH?

Yep. I test it every now and then. Still has high ammonia and traces of nitrite. I even checked our well water. Zero ammonia, but traces of nitrites. That was weird.

I just threw out all of my crushed coral (I had about 25 pounds of it from when I used it as substrate), but am on the lookout for the bigger peices. I know that the coral doesn't last forever, and I was actually worried about it leaching too many nitrites into my water. I know that sounds crazy, but Augustus died 2 days after I added the crushed coral, and that's when my nitrites started spiking crazy. Since I removed the coral, the nitrites haven't gone over 0 -.25 in a 24 hr period. I don't think that's coincidental. I had been storing a big media bag of it with my other media in a rubbermaid, to keep it exposed to BB. When I had tested the water in the rubbermaid last, the nitrites were crazy high, but so were the nitrates. There was zero ammonia. I don't know how the BB acts when concentrated like that, but it didn't mix well in the environment I put it in. The nitrites went from .25 - 2.0 in about 12 hours as soon as I added the coral. I had the same issue when I put a bag of it in the 125g when I began cycling it, but didn't attribute it to that right away.

As long as I've been looking for black river stone, I've been looking for a limestone piece that I can use for decor. Either it ends up being too big, too pricey, or not available on payday. I am definately working on getting my water in order. I have seen such a remarked difference in my bunches personalities, appetites, and perkiness, that I have to believe what I'm doing right now is the best thing for them. The cycle seems to be coming to a close now, so shouldn't be long before I can rely on natural help in addition to the Kent RO Right.