3 questions from a novice with a 112G tank & 2nd hand fi

[Christmasfish]

Wow! movin right along...

Post more pics!!!!

 

[Frankie]

I reckon you knew I would be back with more questions
I just hope you're not going aaarrrrgh ... she's back.

The pic isn't going to happen tonight - I've definitely decided to move a plant.

Re the driftwood.
I mentioned that it floated so I've had to anchor it with a rock. It has also leached a wee bit of tannin. I bought it from an lfs who had it in their tanks for 3 months & so they felt it would not leach little or no tannin. The water is clearing, but I'm worried about the floating.
Do you think I should have glued it to some slate
Do you think it will settle & the floating is just because it's been out of water for a while (I have had it sitting out in the rain).

Re the fishless cycle.
I thought I understood the cycling of a tank but now I'm afraid I've done wrong :?
I've dosed my tank with Bio Booster & Safe Guard 5.
Should I have left it with raw water
I dosed it because I was trying to preserve the natural bacteria resident in the 2nd hand filter & noodles.

It appears that I'm not supposed to do a water change for 50 days. Is that right?
Is it only after the tank is cycled that I do weekly 25% water changes
Don't forget I have a 2nd hand filter with all the used goodies intact including ceramic noodles.

Re lighting.
I understand exactly what you are telling me & know that I should have a 3 tube lighting system.
But I need to check with you first.

I have swapped my single for a double & at the last minute shied away from having an additional single to make up the 3rd tube.

Remember - I don't care about the dollars so I don't care if you think I need 20 tubes (I'd be really scratching my head then 'cos where could I ever fit them )

Should any consideration be given to the climate one lives in & the natural light available to the tank

I live in the semi tropics & the tank is outside on my patio.

In summer there will be some direct natural light (sun) but in winter there will be a fair amount of direct sun in the late afternoon for around 2 hours.

The tank looks like it needs a 3rd light since it is not as bright as my 5 Gal tank.

My little 5 gal tank in my den has a green water problem - because of the amount of direct light. We are coming into the winter months which means that it will receive even more direct sun. I dose the tank with AlgaeFix weekly as part of my water change. I decided to reduce the dose by 50% recently but my water had a slight green hue to it a week later. The tank is otherwise pristine & always sparkling - I never seem to have anything to vacuum, the 2 plants are unbelievably healthy, & the fish are such happy little critters. Fish stock is at maximum (5 head & tail light tetras, 10 cardinal tetras, 1 bristle nose catfish, 1 dead apple snail attacked by the 2 clown loaches soon to find a new home in the big tank).

After 2.5 weeks of having no lighting because of equipment malfunction & receiving a full hood & lighting replacement, the tank is still fabulous & the plants just took off on an unbelievable growth spurt when there was nothing but natural light. The only detriment is that one of the plants now has a lean towards one of the windows.
I got the new hood this afternoon. All Alan could say was "it's so clean". It is. It's sparkling even though maintenance day was supposed to be today.

In summer the sun is overhead so our home construction shields us from too much direct sun. During the winter the sun is lower so we get full sun.

Summer temperatures range steadily at around 86-91 degrees F (30-33 C).
Winter temperatures range 76-82 degrees F (25-28 C).

I've recalculated my tank capacity.
With 3" of substrate I figure the capacity has reduced from 112 gal empty to 98 gal after substrate.

So just as long as you don't think I'm doubting your advice about lighting, I would appreciate your thoughts given my local circumstances. I know it's a big ask since you both live in Canada, but I'm hoping you can move from your own comfort zone & look at my circumstances.
If you come back to me & tell me to get my butt to the lfs & buy another tube - I'll do exactly as you say.

Most of me says go & do it, but there is just that other part of me that is not so sure.

 

[Endgame319]

Ask as many questions as you want! Thats what this place is for

Re the driftwood
Just hold it down with a rock for now and it will eventually become waterlogged and sink on its own. If you dont like that tanins they can be easily removed by putting carbon media in one of your filters.

Re the fishless cycle
It doesn't matter what you treated the water with, the fishless cycle will still work. And you dont change the water at all during the cycle, but when its finished, do a 50% water change to get rid of excess nitrates and then start the 25% a week schedule. You're second-hand filter would not have any bacteria left as they would have staved and died(Not a big deal).

I think I might have given you the saltwater article last time so here's the freshwater fishless cycle:
-Go to home depot or a grocery store and find PURE ammonium hydroxide. It should say clear ammonia, pure ammonia, 100% ammonia, or something like that. It should be cheap $1-4. Shake it up and make sure it doesn't foam at all (foaming is bad, means there's other ingredients).
-If you dont have them already get yourself the following test kits: Ammonia(NH3) Nitrite(NO2), and Nitrate(NO3). They should be available at your lfs.
-Dose small amounts of ammonia untill your test kit reads 5ppm. Write down the amount you used. Dose that same amount every day, checking for nitrites ever second day. Eventually (1-2 weeks) you'll see the ammonia readings fall and the nitrites spike. Once the ammonia goes down to 0, only dose 2/3-3/4 the regular amount. Then in another 1-2 weeks you should see the nitrites fall, and nitrates rise. Once you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 5+ nitrates, your tank is cycled. Then do a 50% water change and add 1/3-1/2 your bioload the next day(stop adding ammonia).
-Continue to test parameters for the next week or so and make sure there is no ammonia or nitrites, if you detect even a small amount, do a 20-40% water change. And thats it!

Re the lighting
I dont think it really matters how much lighting you will have unless you have live plants, its just about aestetics. I would be worried about the direct sunlight though. It can heat up the water and cause temperature swings. But you might be ok it its only exposed for 2 hours or so. Did you ever get that heater? Even temp swings between night and day is bad for fish, since they lived in large bodies of water, the temperature stayed the same for the most part. I would also be worried about the summer temperatures. Do you have any sort of air conditioning unit to keep the temp down? You should try and keep in the low 80s.

 

[Frankie]

Thank you for all your help.

I can't find any ammonia today - it's a public holiday so the shopping is very limited.

One of my filter media is DeNitrate which ...
"Removes and controls nitrates, nitrites and ammonia. Also removes organic build-up and provides high porosity support for your biological filter".
So to do the fishless cycle, I presume I would have to remove this media
I only just found out what that media was for - that's the prob with getting everything second hand I suppose.

So Cam, with having that media ... is it still adviseable to do the fishless cycle Wouldn't that protect the fish all on it's own

As for the tannins - carbon is already part of my filter medium. The tannin seems to have disappeared so I guess the carbon has done it's job.

I'm afraid air conditioning would not be an option since the 98 gal tank is sitting outside on the patio. I don't think I could afford to air condition my home town

 

[Endgame319]

The only media I use are the sponges and carbon. That covers all three types of filtration. The sponge is biological and mechanical, while the carbon is chemical (I dont keep carbon in my filters all the time, only if there's a med or something I want to remove). I'm not sure about that DeNitrate stuff. I've never heard of media that removes nitrites and nitrates, only ammonia. IMO you shouldn't use it.
I think there are cooling fans you can run in your hood during the summer, that might help. Your other option is a chiller, which are really expensive.