Log for cycling my 55g tank.

[zparticle]

I went to to petsmart for the first time today. I like the fish displays, easy to see them and the prices. Unlike the LFS where yo basically have to hope what the tank says is actually what the fish are. However, they want $5 a piece for Glofish! Give me a break, they would have to show me a lot more personality than I saw for $5.

A bunch of new possibles pics are up from petsmart.

The striped peacock eel if the most interesting one, I think.

 

[zparticle]

LOG: Day 49 - Part II

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrites: off the charts
Nitrates: 40ppm
pH: didn't test

Yep that's what I expected. Adding ammonia up to 4ppm.

 

[zparticle]

I have no idea why but I just added a small frozen cube of brine shrimp to the tank.

 

[zparticle]

LOG: Day 50

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrites: off the charts now these guys hate me
Nitrates: off the charts
pH: didn't test

Going to do a pwc. Adding ammonia up to 4ppm.

 

[zparticle]

My new live plants shipped today, they should be here Wednesday.

 

[librarygirl]

My new live plants shipped today, they should be here Wednesday.

What kind of lighting do you have? T5? T8? What wattage? I think mine is too low, but I want to be sure. Or I could just try some and see if they die lol.

Sometimes the Glofish go on sale; they've been $2 each here, just keep an eye out.

 

[zparticle]

What kind of lighting do you have? T5? T8? What wattage? I think mine is too low, but I want to be sure. Or I could just try some and see if they die lol.

Sometimes the Glofish go on sale; they've been $2 each here, just keep an eye out.

I guess the lights are 32W T8 8,000K full spectrum daylight bulbs. I have single bulbs in them. Then on the 20g it is a 15W t* 8,000K full spectrum daylight bulb.

Edit: The first 75g has an F32T8 5500k topical sunlight bulb, it is much brighter than the others.

 

[zparticle]

Did a 40% pwc. Now dosing ammonia.

 

[librarygirl]

I guess the lights are 32W T8 8,000K full spectrum daylight bulbs. I have single bulbs in them. Then on the 20g it is a 15W t* 8,000K full spectrum daylight bulb.

Edit: The first 75g has an F32T8 5500k topical sunlight bulb, it is much brighter than the others.

Thanks. And you have live plants in the 20 that are doing OK? That's less than 1 watt per gallon which from what I've read at least 1.5-2 is recommended for plants. I have the T8 full daylight 8,000 on my 20 gal too! So maybe I can try some low light ones. What do you have in there that are doing well? I don't want/need anything fancy. Sorry to hijack the thread...

 

[zparticle]

Thanks. And you have live plants in the 20 that are doing OK? That's less than 1 watt per gallon which from what I've read at least 1.5-2 is recommended for plants. I have the T8 full daylight 8,000 on my 20 gal too! So maybe I can try some low light ones. What do you have in there that are doing well? I don't want/need anything fancy. Sorry to hijack the thread...

No problem. All of my plants are doing fine in all of my tanks.

If you want a huge list of fresh water plants to look at go here.

Anacharis - will grow anywhere even just floating in the water. You can trim the longer pieces and plant the trimmings. I have tons of this and my fish like to nibble on it.

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Anubias[/FONT] - there are a million different types of this plant

Sagittaria

Aponogeton crispus - I think this is what I have. It grows crazy long.

Hornwort - This is the only plant I have that isn't doing very well. It is still alive but I don't think it will ever grow bigger. This might also be Dwarf Ambulia or Ambulis

Water Wisteria - Neat plant, mine are dropping roots all over the place. Like having a tree in the tank.

amazon sword

Anyway those are the plants I can remember. I can put up some close up pics in a bit.

 

[zparticle]

Okay LG, here are some pics of my tank plants.

The pics aren't great but I was in a hurry. You will notice several plants that the fish have nibbled on and one or two where a snail messed up the leaves before I got him out. The snails seem to really go after the plants with broad, waxy leaves.

 

[zparticle]

LOG: Day 52

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrites: off the charts
Nitrates: off the charts
pH: didn't test

Dosing ammonia.

 

[librarygirl]

Okay LG, here are some pics of my tank plants.

The pics aren't great but I was in a hurry. You will notice several plants that the fish have nibbled on and one or two where a snail messed up the leaves before I got him out. The snails seem to really go after the plants with broad, waxy leaves.

Woah very nice!!! I was at PetCo today and bought two Amazon Swords in a tube. Not sure if they'll survive but I'll try them anyway.

 

[zparticle]

My plants showed up today. In very good condition, well packaged. Here are pics of them out and in the tanks.

 

[JimmyA]

They look nice!

 

[zparticle]

LOG: Day 53

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrites: off the charts
Nitrates: off the charts
pH: didn't test

Dosing ammonia.

 

[chrisinmontreal]

Don't you want to do a big PWC change to bring your Nitrites and Nitrates into something readable?? You seem to have consistent Ammonia > Nitrite conversion but won't know how strong your Nitrite > Nitrate conversion is unless you can read Nitrites and Nitrates??? My thinking is that you could have strong enough Nitrite > Nitrate conversion but its being hidden by high levels built up prior to the :BB: establishing in any number?

 

[zparticle]

Don't you want to do a big PWC change to bring your Nitrites and Nitrates into something readable?? You seem to have consistent Ammonia > Nitrite conversion but won't know how strong your Nitrite > Nitrate conversion is unless you can read Nitrites and Nitrates??? My thinking is that you could have strong enough Nitrite > Nitrate conversion but its being hidden by high levels built up prior to the :BB: establishing in any number?

I did a 40% pwc 2 days ago, at this point I'm not sure what to do. I have to leave town tomorrow for a few days so I'm just g0ing to leave it and see what happens since I won't be dosing for a few days.

And I did a full water change 4 days ago.

 

[librarygirl]

I did a 40% pwc 2 days ago, at this point I'm not sure what to do. I have to leave town tomorrow for a few days so I'm just g0ing to leave it and see what happens since I won't be dosing for a few days.

And I did a full water change 4 days ago.

Geez, where's the blue tube?! lol You're overdue man! Dose it up before you leave; maybe you'll come back to double-zeros!

 

[zparticle]

LOG: Day 54

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrites: off the charts
Nitrates: off the charts
pH: didn't test


Leaving it sit as is for a few days while I'm out of town.