Help me start a new tank.

[molliwopp]

You still have to add bacteria food (ammonia) to help to bacteria multiply and to keep them alive. Without ammonia the bacteria will eventually starve and die. Once you add fish, they will supply ammonia through the waste they produce. Having a starter colony means it will take far less time for you tank to fully cycle.
Doing a fishless cycle is a matter of adding ammonia and waiting and watching your test levels.
First you add the ammonia, and test your water to see what the starting levels for all the important chemicals are (pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate - don't forget to hit the bottom of the bottle against something first). After that you can probably check just the ammonia levels until they start to lower. That's when you add a little bit more ammonia. That's also when you start checking your nitrites and nitrates. As ammonia levels lower, you start to see nitrite levels rise. Then both the ammonia and nitrite levels should start to lower and your nitrate levels rise. The only way to get rid of nitrate is to do water changes. When you can add your usual dose of ammonia, and your bacteria filter can convert it from ammonia, to mitrite, to nitrate, your bacteria should be able to handle fish. You can stop adding ammonia, do a large water change to bring the nitrAte levels down to safe amounts, and bring your fish home.

Thanks, this is actually the best piece of advice ever, simple and easy to understand. Might sound stupid but it lifted a huge weight of my sholders, where before i had no idea, now i know i can do it without confusion. Youre the man.

 

[molliwopp]

Hmmmm, im considering drilling holes into my drift wood and planting the plants into the holes. What you think? Will it make my drift wood impossible to maintain? Will my wood turn green with algea?

 

[molliwopp]

Ok just done an ammonia test and scored 1.0 to 3.0 this good levels for a cycle? Unfortunatly i only have test strips not a liquid test so cant give exact figures. Ill do a ph and nitrite test now and edit my post.

Nitrate 25-50
Nitrite 0-0.5
Gh 250+
Kh 160
pH 7.2

Alittle bit of help or a run down to make sense of these results would be great.

 

[librarygirl]

Don't touch the filter while it's cycling. Even after it cycles I'd wait a month or two before you even touch it. After that you could take out the media once a month or so and swish it around in old tank water during a water change. What type of filter is it?

Generally you want the nozzle pointing toward the surface so that the surface ripples a bit; this causes oxygen exchange which is goo for the bacteria and eventually your fish. DOes the filter have one nozzle or two? If it's spewing air bubbles then that probably means there's air in the filter lines somewhere. Try rotating the filter from side to side and lightly tap it to remove any air. Also check the connection lines and make sure they are secure.

Generally this is how the cycle works:
You'll add ammonia to get it to 4 ppm on your test kit (what kit are you using? API?). Then you wait until ammonia starts dropping. When it does that means your first set of bacteria are starting to form. Eventually the ammonia will drop faster to the point where it'll drop from 4 to 0 within 24 hours.

Then you'll see nitrite. This is the second set of bacteria. Nitrites will rise and then after a few weeks or so they'll magicaly fall to 0. That means the cycle is done. Ammonia is converted to nitrite which is then converted to nitrate. Nitrate is the end product of the cycle; your tank will always have some nitrate in it; you'll keep the levels low (<20) with weekly water changes once the cycle is done and you have fish.

Since you have nitrate now (25) I suspect there are some nitrates in your tap water.It's often good to test your tap water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to see what you're starting with.

IF you have friends that have tanks I'd take advantage of that lol SInce the tank will be dosed with ammonia and not have fish in it for a bit I'd say it's safe to use their media to help the cycle. Most fish diseases need a host (fish) to survive so in a tank without fish any potential diseases should die off by the time you're ready to add fish. If you have room in your filter for a piece of filter pad, put it in there. If not, you can try to put it as close to the intake part of the filter as you can so that the bacteria from the media gets sucked into the filter.

Attaching plants to wood should be fine and shouldn't cause any algae. You could also use fishing line to secure plants to woood. If you get algae then there's some imbalance going on (too much light, etc); adding plants to wood wouldn't cause algae in itself.

Ah ok you have strips. I'd get the API Master kit; it's a bit more expensive but in the long-run it'll last longer than strips and it's way more accurate than strips are. It's often sold in most fish stores or you can buy it online (which is often cheaper. Amazon and BigAlsOnline has soem good prices).

I'm wondering if the nitrate in your tank is from your tap water. Can you test your tap water and let us know what it reads? Again strips aren't very accurate so it's hard to say for sure whether the results are even correct. If ammonia is 1-3 then that's good for the cycle. I'd highly suggest getting a liquid kit as you'll want to be sure of the numbers.

 

[molliwopp]

Right well i did a tap water test and they came out as close to my other tank water test. So yes my water contains nitrates and that doesnt sound good to me?? My tap water seems alittle hard aswell, this also seems like a problem to me also help. How much cash is the liquid test you talk of?

 

[molliwopp]

What other ways can nitrate be taken out? Plently of plant life? Ive also seen some nitrate sponges from juwel. Would these work?

 

[molliwopp]

Drift wood in. My tank is starting to get cloudy which i assume is a good sign after the water trwatments ive been putting in.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

The best time to put plants into your tank would be about now. You could easily get some anubias, java ferns and any type of moss and tie it gently to the wood with either brown or green cotton thread or fishing line (I use cotton thread). You could also plant some easy to keep plants in the gravel like crypts and stem plants. When you go to the shop buy your plants pick up a bottle of liquid fertilizer and a small pack of root tabs. Any brand will help to feed the plants and keep them healthy.

 

[molliwopp]

Right ok... Ive done some researchnand my tanks light isnt good for real plants so.. My qustion is canbyou recomend some super low light plants

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Every plant I recommended by name is fine in low light tanks. If you get any of those they'll do fine.

 

[molliwopp]

Sorry you asked what filter it was and i dont know.. It came in the tank but i think its called a biofilter 280 from juwel. The black box you can see in the corner houses the heater and the filter.
Thanks for the plant names, its appreciated.
I think im going to have 2real and 2 fake plants. And maybe moss to cover some of the drift wood. Im not actually sure yet.

Another question. If i was only to keep zebra danios could i keep 8 or is that too many?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

I wouldn't keep more than 8 to start but you could have a few more fish than that after they're in the tank for a few weeks. I keep 11 neons, 1 Siamese algae eater, a bushynose pleco and an Eastern American newt in my 20 gallon tank without any issues. I'm about to add a bunch of red cherry shrimp as well. Even with this many animals I have to dose nitrate every day to keep it above zero because the plants consume it as fast as they make it.

 

[molliwopp]

I wouldn't keep more than 8 to start but you could have a few more fish than that after they're in the tank for a few weeks. I keep 11 neons, 1 Siamese algae eater, a bushynose pleco and an Eastern American newt in my 20 gallon tank without any issues. I'm about to add a bunch of red cherry shrimp as well. Even with this many animals I have to dose nitrate every day to keep it above zero because the plants consume it as fast as they make it.

What do you mean you have to dose nitrate? I thought nitrate was something bad that you dont want in your tank? Or is some better than 0. Thats sounds like good news for my tap water??

 

[CorallineAlgae]

What do you mean you have to dose nitrate? I thought nitrate was something bad that you dont want in your tank? Or is some better than 0. Thats sounds like good news for my tap water??

Nitrate is bad news in every kind of tank other than a planted tank. Plants need nitrate as a nutrient source to grow and remain healthy. The only kind of aquarium that I'm aware of where having zero or very low amounts of nitrates is not good is in this case.

For plants you want to always have 10-20ppm of nitrate in the tank. Some tanks have this naturally, some have excess and others need it added to keep up with plant growth. It all depends on the tank, light, livestock, plants, and fertilizers. That's why testing is so valuable. If you make your own fert mix you can adjust your recipe to have just what your plants need. Though, if your just starting off it's a lot simpler to get a brand fertilizer and see how it goes. Once you get the hang of the other aspects of keeping an aquarium you can always start to learn about other options and go from there.

 

[molliwopp]

Will be getting afew of each of the plants you mention.
Ive seen a kool magnectic glass cleaner too. Its a nanomag.

When i do water changes can i add warm water from the tap or kettle to get the water the correct temp before putting it in?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Will be getting afew of each of the plants you mention.
Ive seen a kool magnectic glass cleaner too. Its a nanomag.

When i do water changes can i add warm water from the tap or kettle to get the water the correct temp before putting it in?

As long as you get the temperature close to the tank temp before it's added to the tank you can warm it any way that's best for your situation. When I used 6 gallon water containers I would just drop a cheap preset 25 watt heater in it overnight or as long as I had time. When I get water right from the sink I try to match the temp coming out by using one of those little glass thermometers that suction to the inside of the tank to check that it's right. Sounds complicated but it takes a couple of seconds.

 

[molliwopp]

Got some brilliant news.. The aquarium shop i go to sorted me out with filter matter today. He took out a sponge of his established tank. Not ones with fish in because they get cleaned regularly and he washed it into a small bag so when i got home i opened my filter and poured it in. It got sucked right into the filter. The top of the first sponge was brown so i flipped it over to make sure it went alittle deeper.

This will speed things up for sure wont it? Is theres anything i can do for the bacteria to help it?

Will leapard and zebra danios school together? Can thy bread together and are they as hardy as zebras?

 

[molliwopp]

Ive decided that im only going to get zebra danios. Them being hardier.
Im still going to leave it a week before i test the water. Is there anyway i can miss the cycle? I keep adding alittle bit of bacteria food everyday but certainly dont over do it.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Ive decided that im only going to get zebra danios. Them being hardier.
Im still going to leave it a week before i test the water. Is there anyway i can miss the cycle? I keep adding alittle bit of bacteria food everyday but certainly dont over do it.

Since your doing a fish in cycle, DO NOT wait a week to test water. You need to be testing water daily and doing water changes as needed. Anytime ammonia or nitrite gets at .25ppm do a water change; if levels are at 1ppm or higher change water, wait an hour, then test again, keep repeating this process to keep levels at .25ppm or lower. Once nitrates show up, keep them at 20ppm or below. No matter how hardy the fish may be doesn't mean they can tolerate toxic levels of ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate. Please test water atleast once a day if not daily and change water as needed. Essentially you don't want to completely get rid of ammonia or your BB will have no food. Try and keep the ammonia at a trace level, a color somewhere between yellow and the dark green of the .25 level.

 

[molliwopp]

Since your doing a fish in cycle, DO NOT wait a week to test water. You need to be testing water daily and doing water changes as needed. Anytime ammonia or nitrite gets at .25ppm do a water change; if levels are at 1ppm or higher change water, wait an hour, then test again, keep repeating this process to keep levels at .25ppm or lower. Once nitrates show up, keep them at 20ppm or below. No matter how hardy the fish may be doesn't mean they can tolerate toxic levels of ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate. Please test water atleast once a day if not daily and change water as needed. Essentially you don't want to completely get rid of ammonia or your BB will have no food. Try and keep the ammonia at a trace level, a color somewhere between yellow and the dark green of the .25 level.

Youre mistaken, im doing a fishless cycle if you read through the thread you would see this but thanks for caring as much about my potential fish as i do

So back to afew of my questions please guys, anyone else?