Getting started

[Homedog98]

Looks nice!

 

[Deckape]

Real good job. Looks natural and functional

 

[ejaramillo01]

Nice job Straick, I'm sure that your future friends will enjoy the cave!

 

[straick]

I hope that they enjoy it. Just going to let it sit for a week to fully cure before I put it in place.
I just took a peak inside the filter, and it looks like there is some sort of stringy slime looking stuff on the biological filter media. Is that the nitrifying bacteria or something that I should be worried about?

 

[straick]

This cycle is driving me crazy. My ammonia drops to 0 in 24 hours without a problem, but my nitrites aren't yet, but my nitrites are still rising. Nitrites drop to 2ppm in 48 hours if I skip a day on adding ammonia. Guess the only reason I saw them down at 0 earlier was not being home for 2 days straight. My pH is down to about 7.6, while it's been holding right at 8 until now. I hope it's not too much longer.
Is there anything I can do to speed up my cycle?

 

[Deckape]

Are you pumping plenty of air? Is your temp about 85? That's about it. Just have to be patient.

 

[straick]

Guess I'm doing everything I can then. Temps at 83 and LOTS of air going in. Thought it was my imagination, but the water deffinitely has a cloudy look to it right now. I think that's a bacterial bloom, so I really don't want to do any PWC's until that's cleared now, unless I have no choice.

 

[Deckape]

You're doing well. What fish are you going to get?

 

[Deckape]

What are your numbers today? You are getting real close.

 

[straick]

Ammonia is at .25, nitrites are at about 1.5(right in between 1.0 and 2.0) and nitrates are at 20. All I can figure is that, since I looked closer at the water, I have algae. Got a better light out today, and the water has a nice pale green tint to it now(thought it was a whitish tint, but the light I had at the time was lousy). The only light that the tank is getting is ambient light. I really don't want to do anything about the algae though because I don't want to mess up my cycle.

 

[straick]

Figured out what to do about the algae. Put black plastic bags over the whole tank to block out all the light. They're a plant, and need light, so I'll starve them of it. Have the airpump still running though to keep the air going in and fresh. Hope this works.

 

[Deckape]

It should as long as you dont peek, the algae can be a pain, I know I am gonna have to deal with it sooner than later. Thanks for the tip.

 

[straick]

No peeking needed, not even to check the water parameters. I can reach up under the bags in order to get a bit of water so that I can test. Figure I'll give it two weeks before I pull the bags off to make sure that the algae is dead.

 

[straick]

Looks like the cycle is starting to stall. Ammonia is dropping to .25 in 24 from 4 instead of the 0 in 24 it was doing, nitrites look too be in between 2.0 and 5.0(they were holding at 2.0 and starting to show a hint of dropping) and my nitrates are going down(I think that's due to algae). Now to figure out how to do a PWC to refresh the water without letting in light(I want the algae to go away). My only guess is that something that the bacteria need from the water is now gone.
Any suggestions on what else it could be?

 

[eco23]

Sorry, I'm jumping in at the end here and haven't read the whole thread, so forgive me if I mention something that's been said already. But yeah, a 50% pwc is definitely in order. The bacteria use up the nutrients in the water they require to grow and also use up the buffers that are needed to prevent a pH crash at the end of a cycle. Doing a 50% pwc will replace both of those things. A tiny bit of ground up fish food or a couple drops of pH down also help to get things moving again if it's close to stalling.

As for doing a pwc without letting light in? If you have a Python you could probably work something out, but I figure you dont have one with a tank your size. I guess just be as quick as you can, unfortunately just a hint of light is all the algae needs to kick back into gear too.

 

[eco23]

And don't forget the dechlor and to match the temp with the pwc!

 

[straick]

PWC done(about 75%). Put my fish cave in, and realized that it is a little too big for a 10 gallon. I'll save it for later(I'll probably end up with a bigger or second tank at some point). Guess For now that I'll stick to fake plants until I'm ready for live plants.
Tested the nitrites after PWC, and they are at .25 now(wish that the bacteria had done that for me).
Took a GOOD look at the water coming out, under a bright light, and it was a brownish color. I need to get a better light around the tank(don't have a tank light yet). Also, when siphoning the water, I got several brown clouds out of the gravel(they went up the siphon).
Going to dose the ammonia back up.

 

[straick]

The cycle seems to have unstalled now. In 15 hours, the ammonia is down to 1ppm(from 4), and the nitrites are up to between 2 and 5 ppm and the nitrites are up to 20 ppm. Wishing I'd checked the PH before the PWC now. Something had to be hiding those nitrates somewhere.
I've been thinking, theoretically, with only bacteria chomping away at the ammonia and nitrites, wouldn't 1 ppm ammonia end up turning into 1ppm nitrate?

P.S. I couldn't wait till tonight to find out if the cycle was running again, so I tested early

 

[Deckape]

You're almost done....good job

 

[straick]

Here's a question for you all. Once it's fully cycled(4ppm ammonia to nitrates in 24 hours), can you safely add all your fish at once, or do you still need to do a few at a time?
My planned stock list
a Betta
5 glowlight tetra
6 pygmy cories

Also, I know that cories feed off the bottom, so I'm assuming that you feed them a sinking food, being carefull to keep it to the bottom for them.