29 gal project

[eco23]

The tank and your stocking plan look great! Can't wait to see pics of the Apistos.

 

[thras]

Thanks now to find them in white gold such a hard gene to find

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Your tank is looking great!

That Malaysian DW is a nice addition. The java fern will really grow out well on it and I'd suggest some java moss or mini christmas moss in small clumps stuffed into cracks and let it grow out. Over time that piece will stand out even more IMO.

I get what you're saying with the soft water and using distilled/RO water, but you really need to add some nutrients/elements back into the water for the benefit of the plants/fish/bacteria. RO|DI water works for SW because the Instant Ocean returns those elements back into the water. There's a product called Kent's RO/right that I think you should look into.

Here's a link:Kent Marine » Liquid R/O Right | Products

Over all, a sweet looking tank and I'm jealous of the MDW you got a hold of . Can't wait to see it cycled and fishies enjoying it too.

 

[thras]

I actually talked to rookie and he said my water even though its hard 12 drops with API test kit on kh and gh it should be fine with captive breed fish as long as I acclimate them to it slowly

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I actually talked to rookie and he said my water even though its hard 12 drops with API test kit on kh and gh it should be fine with captive breed fish as long as I acclimate them to it slowly

Gotcha. I guess I missed that post .

 

[thras]

But when I start my 75gal (not sure if I'm doing a community or a discus breeder tank) I think i will pull out the old RO unit and use the Kent suff I use to just mix a gal of water with the tank

 

[thras]

Ok so today water parameters look like this
Ammo- 4.0 maybe less just leaning toward it

Nitrite-way purple do over 5.0

Nitrate-80 ppm

 

[eco23]

Ok so today water parameters look like this
Ammo- 4.0 maybe less just leaning toward it

Nitrite-way purple do over 5.0

Nitrate-80 ppm

You have those readings that quickly? No seeding material? That's awesome...but also insane. Have you checked your tap water levels? I'd say go ahead and knock out a pwc in the next few days to get that no2 down where you can read it. I also made a few revisions to the guide in my sig...I'm not sure if you saw the original one, but you're welcome to check it out

 

[thras]

Yea I've saw it will reread the revision and I am useing Eco complete for a substrate and put the water out of the bag in the tank I think it helped

 

[thras]

Btw tap tested zero for everything

 

[thras]

This is weird so I did a pwc 50% and still have the same nitrite and nitrate readings but my ammo went down yes I have checked my tap and all are 0 any reason for this? I'll be doing another pwc tomorrow when I get home from work

 

[eco23]

TBH, I'm not terribly familiar with Eco-complete other than what I've learned from friends and other members. I know it supposedly contains beneficial bacteria which may be helping tremendously with your cycle. The only rational explanation for the pwc not having an effect would be if your levels were much higher than you thought. Since the no2 test maxes out at 5... if it was actually 10 or 20 it may have appeared on the test as only 5. In that case, a 50% pwc would have reduced the levels by half...but half of 20 is still way above what the API kit can read.

 

[bcurlacher54]

are you nitrite tests coming back a weird fusia color thats not on the api card? my nitrite test came back fusia for a couple of weeks. im guessing this means that its off the chart high. if so stay patient and keep dosing the ammonia to 4ppm everyday. mine just magically started dropping out of the blue one day. you'll get it, believe me.

 

[thras]

Well cycle update

Ammo- .50-.25 in a 24 hour period
Nitrites- crazy high still
Nitrates- crazy high still

Well the ammo is dropping fast in 24 hours I went ahead and did a second water change yesterday but I am going to hold off till atleast the weekend unless the nitrites start dropping then I'll let it go ahead and work it's magic hopefully only another week and I'll be ready to go beings this weekend I'll be getting a 75gal aquarium to enjoy

 

[thras]

Ok so today's water test showed
.25 ammo
Nitrites seem to be going down slowly
And of course nitrates are sky high still

 

[thras]

Ok so today
Ammo 0
Nitrite 2 ppm
Nitrate off the chart
And here's a pic with the black background
Getting my light tomorrow and just need to find the plants I'm looking for and I'm set
BTW if the pictures look bad I'm sorry all of them have been taken with my phone

 

[thras]

ok so my girlfriend wants me to make this more than just a apsto tank so what do u guys recommend on max fish for the tank off the bat after the fishless cycle im thinking about still doing a apsto pair and doing 6 neons and 6 congo tetras and maybe 3 cory cats would that be to much for the bio load or tank size?

 

[mfdrookie516]

That would work, but I'd go with smaller tetras than the congos. That would be my personal preference, I just think smaller fish look neater. Kitti, kerri, neon, something in that size range. And, i'd bump it up to 5 or 6 panda or peppered cories.

 

[thras]

ok well then scratch the congo and instead of neons im thinking 6 Cardinal Tetra and 5 Sterbai Cory and 6 Golden Pristella Tetra and a few hatchet tetras
what do ya think and should i add all at once after this is done cycleing or do a few at a time?

 

[mfdrookie516]

I wouldn't do it all at once, but the amount of ammonia you use to cycle will determine how many at first. If you do 4ppm, I would add the apistos and tetras, then wait for a month or so until the tank gets established and add the cories. that'll give you a good baseline on your water results too, so you might need to reduce that number a bit if your nitrate is on the higher side.