New 55 gallon

[rotorhead22]

New 55 gallon- Fishless Cycling

I will be starting to cycle my 55 gallon tank this evening. I am going the fishless cycle route and have purcahsed the 10% Ammonia Solution from Ace Hardware. I have never had a tank this big, but I have had tanks all my life (10 and 20 gallon). I seeded the tank with some live gravel, water, and some material from my turtle tank which has a seasoned canister filter.

The tank will be home to some African Cichlids for which I will be looking for some stocking advice.

Attached is a photo of the 55 gallon and my daughters 20 gallon tank with a Texas Map turtle....Thanks

-55 gallon African Cichlid Tank
Gravel/Aragonite Mix Substrate
-Emperor 400 Filter
-UG Filter w/ 2 Hagen AquaClear 50 Powerheads
-Luft Pump w/ air stone
TX Holey Rock Decor


rotorhead22

 

[Scouser]

I can't help with the stocking but I am soooo jealous of the new tank, I want one that big lol.

 

[rotorhead22]

I added about 10 ml of the 10% ACE Hardware Ammonia solution to my tank and checked levels after 1 hour:
NH3/NH4 (Ammonia) = 4 ppm
NO2 (Nitrite)= 0 ppm
pH = 8.4

Hope the seeding works and have some active Nitrosomonas and Notrobacter.

When should I check the levels again?

-rotorhead22

 

[tiger terror]

Continue to check levels daily,just finished a fishless cycle myself.I like your tank,your probably gonna want to add some more hiding places for your Africans..I like the yellow labs alot&as of now my female is holding...heres a pic of my 75g Malawi Reef..



75g Malawi Reef

 

[tiger terror]

Sry about the 2 extra pics,all are the same..

 

[rotorhead22]

Continue to check levels daily,just finished a fishless cycle myself.I like your tank,your probably gonna want to add some more hiding places for your Africans..I like the yellow labs alot&as of now my female is holding...heres a pic of my 75g Malawi Reef..

75g Malawi Reef

Nice tank. Yes, I am definitely going to have to get some more Holley rock. I want to stack the rocks higher to create more nooks.

 

[tiger terror]

Nice tank. Yes, I am definitely going to have to get some more Holley rock. I want to stack the rocks higher to create more nooks.

Sry about the reflection from the patio...your main goal is going to be to break up the line of sight between the fish...best of luck with your cycle..

 

[rotorhead22]

I added about 10 ml of the 10% ACE Hardware Ammonia solution to my tank and checked levels after 1 hour:
NH3/NH4 (Ammonia) = 4 ppm
NO2 (Nitrite)= 0 ppm
pH = 8.4

Hope the seeding works and have some active Nitrosomonas and Notrobacter.

When should I check the levels again?

-rotorhead22

Update on my fishless cycling:

This evening (2/3/12)
Temp= 80 deg F
NH3/NH4 (Ammonia) = 4 ppm
NO2 (Nitrite)= .25 ppm
NO3 (Nitrate)= 1 - 2 ppm
pH = 8.2

The ammonia looks to be at 4 ppm, which means yesterday's reading must have been higher than 4 and closer to 8 ppm. Something is definitely happening. The Nitrate is definitely not at zero based on the color not being the bright yellow color (representing 0 ppm) anymore; I'll post a pic of the tubes later.

On the first day of the cycle, I had added some Cycle biological supplement and some fish food to help feed the bacteria. I am happy that my seeding was successful.

Do these levels sound right for 2 days cycling?