My new 75 gal and cycle log!

[fishdude25]

Hey just tested the water, the results are:
Ammonia: 0 ppm
NitrIte: 0 ppm

So, am I cycled?! Can I get fish soon/yet? I redosed to 4 ppm of ammonia because I read that the ammo and trItes should be at 0 within 24 hrs, and last time I redosed was 2 days ago.

 

[eco23]

That's great news!

If it's going to be a significant amount of time before getting fish, there's nothing wrong with keeping it at 4ppm. The only downside is that the no3 will jump back up and you'll have to do more water changes to get them down before stocking.

If it's only gonna be a couple days, you can keep it fed with just around 1ppm. It takes several days before the bacteria begins adjusting to the lower level of ammonia...so as long as you don't let it go too long at the low dose it'll be fine.

One thing I'd do is turn down your heater now so you don't forget. You don't want to get new fish just to cook them when they get there

Keep us posted and remember that we require pictures

 

[fishdude25]

Ok, thanks Eco! Yeah, I got a thermometer last night, it says 82 F, would 78 be a better temp? I'm going to getting some fish this weekend, 12 harlequin rasboras, 5 platies and 8 corys. Then if all is well next weekend, I plan on getting a few more corys and harlies, and some cardinal tetras. After a while, I plan on getting a pair of young angels.
Thanks for reading!

 

[eco23]

Ok, thanks Eco! Yeah, I got a thermometer last night, it says 82 F, would 78 be a better temp? I'm going to getting some fish this weekend, 12 harlequin rasboras, 5 platies and 8 corys. Then if all is well next weekend, I plan on getting a few more corys and harlies, and some cardinal tetras. After a while, I plan on getting a pair of young angels.
Thanks for reading!

Sounds like some great fish . One of the benefits / purposes of fishless cycling is the ability to stock your tank heavily as soon as you're done cycling. Don't be afraid to get all the Corys, Rasboras and Platies on your first trip. Training your bacteria to convert 4ppm builds a massive bio-filter which can easily handle them with no problem. I'd probably get all of them, them wait a couple weeks for the Angels just to be safe (although it'd be fine IMO).

Here's a fun site to play with. It's not considered extremely accurate...it's more for entertainment purposes, but it'll give you a good idea of what you're working with. It should also give you a good idea of the ideal temperature- http://aqadvisor.com/

 

[fishdude25]

Thanks, I will do that. I've been playing around w/ aquadvisor for a little while just to get an idea. I made an addition thread asking about stocking, and its all good
I'm going to get some more plants tonight.
Also, I have an outbreak of brown algae, will this go away after a while?

 

[fishdude25]

Just tested the water, here are the results:
Ammonia: 0 ppm
NitrIte: I think 0 ppm, although there was a hint of green? Why would that be?
NitrAte: 20 ppm or so

 

[fishdude25]

Should I do the test for nitrIte again?

 

[librarygirl]

Should I do the test for nitrIte again?

Yes test again, shake the bottle a little this time. Also note the color of the drops as soon as they hit the tube and see what happens.

 

[fishdude25]

I shook the bottle for a whole minute last time, is this too much?

 

[fishdude25]

Day 16
I just re-tested for nitrIte, and the result was:
nitrIte: 0 ppm
Yes! I'm so excited, I'm going to get some fish today! Then, I will post pics

 

[fishdude25]

Sadly, I didn't get fish today, because my lfs was closed before I could get there. But, I did go to Petco and bought 3 melon sword plants! They look really cool, and I moved a couple plants around. My little sister has 2 platies in her 5 gallon that we're going to put in the 75. tomorrow, I'm going to get fish, then I'll post pics!
Here are some pics of my tank!

 

[fishdude25]

So, I was going to do a water change to bring the nitrAte down, because I was planning on getting fish tomorrow. But as I was hooking up the aqueon water changer to the sink, one of the plastic parts broke! Anyone have an idea where I could buy replacement parts?

 

[fishdude25]

So, I got fish today! I got 12 harlequin rasboras, and 4 platies, and my sister gave me her 2 platies! I will post pics tomorrow!

 

[librarygirl]

Awesome!! Congratulations! Your tank looks great. Not sure about the replacement part though, sorry.

 

[fishdude25]

Thanks! Actually, I got the replacement at Petco today, too. Then I got the fish, I really wanted to get some cories, but all my lfs had was long-finned (very creepy looking!) and some that were a bit on the expensive side. here are some pics!

 

[fishdude25]

Sadly, some fish didn't make it through the night. 3 platies and 1 harlequin rasbora
Next time I get fish, I'm going to drip acclimate them, I hope that will turn out better

 

[librarygirl]

Sorry about your fish. How did you acclimate them?

 

[fishdude25]

I put them in buckets and added a 1/2 cup every 5-6 minutes or so of my tank water. Next time, though, I'll do the drip acclimation. Is the temperature of the bucket going to match the tank enough if the room temperature is 66, and the tank is 76?

 

[fishdude25]

So, I tested my water an hour ago, here were the results:
ammonia: 0 ppm
nitrItes: 2 ppm
nitrAtes: 5-10 ppm
It looks like I have a mini-cycle on my hands, huh? How long does it usually take for a mini-cycle to finish?

 

[eco23]

So, I tested my water an hour ago, here were the results:
ammonia: 0 ppm
nitrItes: 2 ppm
nitrAtes: 5-10 ppm
It looks like I have a mini-cycle on my hands, huh? How long does it usually take for a mini-cycle to finish?

Ugh...you'll need to do pwc's ASAP to get the no2 down below .25 and keep it there until it stabilizes.

When was the last time you added ammonia? It seems like you weren't done cycling for whatever reason. Adding fish after cycling at 4ppm is not going to cause a toxin spike like this as long as the cycle truly was complete.

Did anything odd happen at the end? I know you had some weird nitrIte test color. Did the tank sit empty for a long time when you did you last large pwc?