Your current Fish tank Setups!
- Thread starter Malt_Vinegar
- Start date
I'll buy one. I also have some safestart but reading online it says I should put it in 2 hours or so before i add fish? I was planning to add it now to kick start cycling. Can I do it on a tank with just water in or should I add gravel and plants first?
Thanks, as you can see I am a fish noob!
Not posted in here for a while.
Managed to sort the ich problem out. All the fish survived and are now nice and healthy.
Decided to add a new guy:
Added him last week and i cannot believe how awesome he is for the tank. Not a spec of algae on the visible tank glass and he/she has pretty much cleaned the tank up of algae (as you can from the rocks on the left)
Lot of algae poo though.
Managed to sort the ich problem out. All the fish survived and are now nice and healthy.
Decided to add a new guy:
Added him last week and i cannot believe how awesome he is for the tank. Not a spec of algae on the visible tank glass and he/she has pretty much cleaned the tank up of algae (as you can from the rocks on the left)
Lot of algae poo though.
Associate
- Joined
- 3 Sep 2003
- Posts
- 1,699
Lost one of my Blue Rams, and I'm now on day 2 of a second course of protozin (following big water change) for this nasty ich outbreak. I really don't want to think about the stock I've lost so far:
2 Corydoras, 3 Barbs and 3 x-ray tetra, one blue ram and my tiger plec
2 Corydoras, 3 Barbs and 3 x-ray tetra, one blue ram and my tiger plec
My tank is filled and landscaped
excuse the rez!
I put tetra safestart in on Saturday and added the plants on sunday.
Dosed with some carbo green and tetra crystal clear (i think its called that).
Im using liquid tests for pH and NO2. pH is reading 8.0 and NO2 is reading sub 0.3 (or maybe 0.03 but its the lowest reading on the scale).
Now the big question is.
When can I add the fish!!!!!!!!
excuse the rez!
I put tetra safestart in on Saturday and added the plants on sunday.
Dosed with some carbo green and tetra crystal clear (i think its called that).
Im using liquid tests for pH and NO2. pH is reading 8.0 and NO2 is reading sub 0.3 (or maybe 0.03 but its the lowest reading on the scale).
Now the big question is.
When can I add the fish!!!!!!!!
Last edited:
My tank is filled and landscaped
excuse the rez!
I put tetra safestart in on Saturday and added the plants on sunday.
Dosed with some carbo green and tetra crystal clear (i think its called that).
Im using liquid tests for pH and NO2. pH is reading 8.0 and NO2 is reading sub 0.3 (or maybe 0.03 but its the lowest reading on the scale).
Now the big question is.
When can I add the fish!!!!!!!!
That looks great, I had a sudden urge to spend the next couple of weeks researching fish tanks and spending a load of money, but I must fight my faddy ways!
That looks very nice.
Now...if you want to keep fish, learn to keep water first.
Thanks.
But my readings are really good. I know I have low no2 and ph, I'm also assuming that I dont have Nox or Ammonia, because pH would be hgh.
My plan was to test tomorrow and Weds, and if the readings stay good, is there any good reason not to partially stock the tank?
Also thanks to all the contributors in here, this thread has been a fountain of fish keeping knowledge.
Thanks.
But my readings are really good. I know I have low no2 and ph, I'm also assuming that I dont have Nox or Ammonia, because pH would be hgh.
My plan was to test tomorrow and Weds, and if the readings stay good, is there any good reason not to partially stock the tank?
Also thanks to all the contributors in here, this thread has been a fountain of fish keeping knowledge.
Erm, your pH is quite high and any nitrite at all is too much. You will probably also have some ammonia at this point (again, any ammonia at all is bad). More reading required on the aquarium nitrate cycle methinks! No fish yet.
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 15 Mar 2010
- Posts
- 11,381
- Location
- Bucks
Thanks.
But my readings are really good. I know I have low no2 and ph, I'm also assuming that I dont have Nox or Ammonia, because pH would be hgh.
My plan was to test tomorrow and Weds, and if the readings stay good, is there any good reason not to partially stock the tank?
Also thanks to all the contributors in here, this thread has been a fountain of fish keeping knowledge.
Your rushing into this and it will result in disaster, Please listen to advice.
4 weeks minimum before you add any fish.
and you will 100% have ammonia in that tank.
No worries I'm not desperate to get the fish in, I want to do it properly. But I would also like your explanation on why my readings are unsuitable.
My tetra NO2 liquid test has 5 colour grades ranging from <0.3 upwards.
My No2 is firmly in the sub 0.3, the lowest grade. It could be 0 for all i know as the test kit doesn't say any more.
Should I add some ammonia to the tank?
pH is 8.0, the test instructions say that fresh water tropical fish like pH of 7-8.5. I agree pH could be a little lower.
Ammonia is alkali, so I would be getting higher pH if I had high ammonia right?
I have refreshed myself on the nitrogen cycle, we covered it in school all those years ago
Ammonia -> Nitrites -> Nitrate.
I have put in Tetra safestart which is a nitrifying bacteria medium to kick start the cycle.
Is there anything else I should test for?
Temps are 25.
My plants seem quite happy, I'm adding Carbo Green daily while there are no fish in. A few of the leafier plants (at the back right of the tank) came with a bit of damage to their leaves, and the odd brown tip - how would I fix this, would you recommend snipping the dead parts off?
Last edited:
Don't rely on test kits to tell you what's going on. They're notoriously inaccurate and inconsistent and can lead you down the wrong path. Even if this kit was accurate, it can't differentiate between 0.3mg/l (bad) and 0mg/l (good) so is pretty pointless anyway.
I wouldn't add ammonia to this tank. While fishless cycling with ammonia is widely accepted I'm not a fan - although you do cultivate ammonia and nitrite consuming bacteria, you also create an environment that is (temporarily) highly toxic and hence strongly selective for certain strains of bacteria and algae which will be sub-optimal after the cycle has finished. This can cause algal and bacterial blooms and other instability both during and after the cycle.
In a well planted tank, cycling with ammonia makes very little sense. Spend the weeks that you would have spent cycling instead concentrating on growing healthy, robust plants. Plant + microbe systems are far more stable and an order of magnitude more effective at dealing with waste than microbe-only systems, particularly if you add floating plants which are not CO2 limited. However, this only holds true if the plants are healthy and actively growing, and most will take some weeks to adapt to being submerged and to your particular set of tank conditions.
So, give it a few weeks to let the plants settle in, consider adding some floaters, and once you see lots of new growth coming through begin slowly adding fish.
I wouldn't add ammonia to this tank. While fishless cycling with ammonia is widely accepted I'm not a fan - although you do cultivate ammonia and nitrite consuming bacteria, you also create an environment that is (temporarily) highly toxic and hence strongly selective for certain strains of bacteria and algae which will be sub-optimal after the cycle has finished. This can cause algal and bacterial blooms and other instability both during and after the cycle.
In a well planted tank, cycling with ammonia makes very little sense. Spend the weeks that you would have spent cycling instead concentrating on growing healthy, robust plants. Plant + microbe systems are far more stable and an order of magnitude more effective at dealing with waste than microbe-only systems, particularly if you add floating plants which are not CO2 limited. However, this only holds true if the plants are healthy and actively growing, and most will take some weeks to adapt to being submerged and to your particular set of tank conditions.
So, give it a few weeks to let the plants settle in, consider adding some floaters, and once you see lots of new growth coming through begin slowly adding fish.
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 9 Nov 2005
- Posts
- 9,197
- Location
- Southampton, hopefully not too hot, or too cold
"Fishless cycling" involves maintaining 2-4mg/l ammonia, which will promote the colonising of ammonia processing bacteria, which produce nitrite.
The presence of nitrite will promote the colonising of nitrite processing bacteria, which will produce nitrate.
If you have not added ammonia, you should be very worried if nitrite is present in a new setup!
Once your standard dose of ammonia is being processed into nitrate in 24 hours, with no sign of ammonia or nitrite present, you can then start a "qualifying week."
"Qualifying week" involves testing your water every 12 hours with your standard concentration of ammonia. If you get a positive for either ammonia or nitrite 12 hours later, the 7 day countdown restarts.
If you get 14 consecutive "double zero" results over 7 days, you can then add your fish, potentially the full stocking. But I would always suggest newcomers to the hobby stock slowly, it is easy to overfeed in the early days and unless you plan carefully, you could see a new species each week, which needs to suit your water and what you already have in the tank.
Seems a bit overkill most places recommend if your clear after 24 hours of dosing 3mg/l twice in a row your good to go and stock the tank. Testing any more than daily is overkill especially in the early days.
You don't need to maintain 2-4mg/l in the tank, you only need to dose when needed (see the link below) if you dose too much you risk stalling your cycle if nitrites get too high (16mg/l+). It's are for cycles to take less than 30 days, but every tank is different.
Either way you need both an ammonia and nitrite test, the nitrite part of the cycle takes much longer than the ammonia stage. My ammonia started to be processed within 24 hours in a week, but nitrites on the other hand took a further 20+ days.
PH is not an indication of how cycled your tank is, but it can be a good indicator of something being wrong (PH swing) and will remain static in a healthy tank. My water tests from the tap at 7.4 but rises to 8.4 once it has settled. Stock based on this and don't try to change it with products.
You can find out how hard your water is on your water companies website, it will be far more accurate than you can measure at home. Again stock based on this, don't try to change it.
Either way looks like you haven't actually started cycling, to cycle you need a controlled source of ammonia, either fish, ammonia solution or fish food. Your water will test clear now because that is what comes out of the tap. Each method has its advantages/disadvantages but the ammonia solution is by far the safest for a first tank.
I used this guide its pretty easy to follow:
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/
Last edited:
So ive been into fish keeping for years, smallish tanks but then i decided to build my own. 400ltrs! 1000x550x750mm.Made from 12mm Optiwhite. I have access to glass at trade via my family business. Currently stocked with Various Discus, Congo, Neon, Columbian Tetras, Pearl Gouramis, Rummy Nose, Head Standers and a nice healthy sailfin plec.
Running a Fluval G6 with fine mech filter and a chemical cartridge of nitrate & phosphate binder. 300w in tank backup heater and a 300 Hydor Inline.
Water Parameters as follows: PH 6.0, 29°c, 1.7°GH and 4°KH. 0ppm Ammonia, 0ppm Nitrates and 0ppm Nitrites. TDS of the water is 150ppm.
Weekly 150lr water change using RO Water from my own filter.
Open top running a 4x3ft HO T5 Setup, 2 Trop, 2 Grow.
Running a Fluval G6 with fine mech filter and a chemical cartridge of nitrate & phosphate binder. 300w in tank backup heater and a 300 Hydor Inline.
Water Parameters as follows: PH 6.0, 29°c, 1.7°GH and 4°KH. 0ppm Ammonia, 0ppm Nitrates and 0ppm Nitrites. TDS of the water is 150ppm.
Weekly 150lr water change using RO Water from my own filter.
Open top running a 4x3ft HO T5 Setup, 2 Trop, 2 Grow.
Last edited:
Had a bit of a re-arrange, plus my Iguanadectes arrived this afternoon! They're lovely fish but I'll be interested to see how big they get - some sources say 5-6cm, others 10cm.
Guianacara juvies will be rehomed soon, they're growing on nicely now -
Guianacara juvies will be rehomed soon, they're growing on nicely now -
We bought a Tiger Oscar back at the end of July, he was probably 2" long... he must be easily 6" by now, I've never seen an animal eat so much!
We put 20 feeder fish in for him, thinking he'd go easy on them and have 1-2 a day.. nope. In 10 minutes nine of them were gone, he ate the rest within 24 hours
We put 20 feeder fish in for him, thinking he'd go easy on them and have 1-2 a day.. nope. In 10 minutes nine of them were gone, he ate the rest within 24 hours