Newbie just starting fishless cycle on new 25 gal tank

[cwmont13]

Continued from here.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/newbie-with-questions-checking-in-211050.html

I'm starting a new thread just for my cycle.


I started my fishless cycle on the 13th (13 has always been lucky for me, so hopfully my cycle will go smoothly).

Here's my setup.

Aqueon 25 gal premier tank kit.

Ameriwood stand

Topfin gravel substrate.

Rena 400 pump connected to a 4 inch long airstone that came with the pump placed UG

On suggestion from librarygirl, I replaced the filter that was in the kit with an Aquaclear 50. Replaced the carbon packet in the Aquaclear with a piece of foam from the standard Aquaclear foam filter. So I'm running just foam and the ceramic ring bag in the filter.

Coralife Aqualight Dual T-5 Fixture & lamp

Aqueon 100 watt adjustable submersible Heater

Decorations and placement picked out by my 6 year old Daughter.

Mercury thermometer

Hit up ACE Hardware for the "right" ammonia! Picked up some new 5gal buckets too.

API Freshwater Master Test Kit

Seachem Prime

Have read "The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling by Eric Ogilvie" at least 10 times.

My tap readings

ph 7.6
hph 8.2
Ammonia 0 ppm
nitrItes 0 ppm
nitrAtes 5.0 ppm

Tank readings at end of first day (6/13)

ph 7.6
hph 8.2
Ammonia 4 ppm
nitrItes 0 ppm
nitrAtes 5.0 ppm


06/15 same readings

Dropped the water level in the tank down a bit so I have a lot of bubble action going on right now. Added a small pinch of fish food at the end of the first day. Tank temp 80 degrees.

I'll be posting here throughout my cycle and I'm sure I'll have questions as I progress. TIA for any help or advice.


The obligatory picture.

 

[jlk]

Keep us posted!

 

[cwmont13]

latest readings - looks like the party's starting?

06/16/2012

ph 7.6 - color is a bit darker than the 7.6 scale so it's my best guess

high ph between 8.2 / 8.4 color a bit darker than 8.2 but not as dark as 8.4

Ammonia looks to be around 3.0 ppm - It's starting to drop so I think that's a good sign that the cycle is starting.

nitrIte 0 ppm

nitrAte 5.0 ppm (same as my tapwater)

Going to keep watching the ammonia and when it gets down to 1 ppm, I'll dose it back up to 4 ppm and keep an eye out for nitrItes. Tank temp holding steady at 80 degrees.

I added a small amount of finely crushed fish food at the start on the 13th. Do I need to add more as the cycle progresses, or let it ride?

Any other advice?

TIA

 

[jlk]

Looks good! Make sure theres lots of aeration & you can bump the temp up a few degrees for optimal bacterial growth @83-84). I would wait for your ammonia to drop below 1 (preferably closer to zero) before redosing. No need to add anymore fish food yet. You really only need to check your high range ph for right now- if you get a reading below 8, then you can double check it with the regular ph test.

 

[librarygirl]

looks like you're on your way! Ask JLK said, if you can bump up the temp to 84-86 that would be good, but if not 80 is fine too. Good luck! I'll be following.

 

[cwmont13]

jlk, librarygirl

Thanks for helping out.

I'm just a bit concerned about cranking up the water temp in the tank. I'm in AZ and my tap water out of the cold faucet is really warm in the summer. Close to 90 somedays. If I up the heater I'm worried about the tank temp when I do my PWC's. I know that after a few days of running the filter and bubbler the aeration will drop the temp. Without the heater on my water temp hovers around 78 degrees or so. I have a lot of aeration going on right now, lots of bubbles.

Do you think I'm OK with the PH readings? My tap water has pretty high PH here. I wish the low PH was at least somewhat lower so I could get a reading on the chart. We use Sparkletts bottled water here at the house which I tested and it has a PH of 6.8. I could use that 50/50 with my tap water if need be?

Once again, thanks

 

[Samzter]

What are you planning on stocking it with? Looks good so far

 

[jlk]

Unless you plan on keeping some exotic species of fish, your ph is fine & I honestly would not try to manipulate it. Working with what you already have will be easiest for you in the long run. Dont worry about bumping up the temp- your tank will cycle just fine with the conditions you presently have.

 

[cwmont13]

Unless you plan on keeping some exotic species of fish, your ph is fine & I honestly would not try to manipulate it. Working with what you already have will be easiest for you in the long run. Dont worry about bumping up the temp- your tank will cycle just fine with the conditions you presently have.

OK I'm going to continue on course. Thanks

 

[cwmont13]

What are you planning on stocking it with? Looks good so far

Not quite sure yet my daughter likes tetras and glofish so I know I'll probably want to get about 6 of either of those . I'm open for suggestions on anything else?

 

[Samzter]

8 neon tetra or 6 golfish ( your daughter might like cherry barb, if she does you can do the same number of the neons)
6 panda Cories
10 red cherry shrimp
2 dwarf gourami or 3 honey gourami. With dwarfs you need to outnumber males , ratios are the same as livebearers
You could do another centrepiece like 2 german blue rams.

 

[cwmont13]

Just an fyi my readings today are about the same as on the 16th. Maybe a very slight drop on the ammonia.

Time to wait and see what tomorrow brings.

 

[cwmont13]

06/19/2012 update ?

OK here we go with today's readings.

Ammonia looks to have dropped to around 2ppm (pic attached) It actually might be a bit lower, I seem to have a hard time judging with the green color.

PH I read as 7.6 but color might be a bit darker (pic attached)

HPH I read at 8.0 (pic attached)

nitrItes at 0ppm but wasn't really expecting anything yet.

So just keep watching the ammonia and when it drops to 1ppm then re-dose to 4ppm and start keeping an eye out for nitrItes?

Thanks

 

[cwmont13]

8 neon tetra or 6 golfish ( your daughter might like cherry barb, if she does you can do the same number of the neons)
6 panda Cories
10 red cherry shrimp
2 dwarf gourami or 3 honey gourami. With dwarfs you need to outnumber males , ratios are the same as livebearers
You could do another centrepiece like 2 german blue rams.

Thanks I'm going to have a look at all of those. Whatever I get I want to make sure they are hearty and relatively easy to care for. My 6 year old Daughter is very interested in helping out with the tank.

Knowing her she will want to name every fish and have them be her "friends". So I want to be able to get off to a good start hopefully without losing any fish. I've already talked with her about the possibility that even with the best care sometimes things happen.

Thanks

 

[cwmont13]

cloudy water ??

My tank water has gotten cloudy over the last two days. Is that good?

I saw on a couple of threads where that's normal for some when cycling a new tank. Just wanted to find out.

Thanks

 

[jlk]

Cloudiness is pretty normal. Dont worry about it right now! When your ammonia drops further (1 or lower), go ahead & redose. Just make sure you are only dosing once every 24hrs (or so)- dosing more frequently is not necessary.

 

[cwmont13]

Cloudiness is pretty normal. Dont worry about it right now! When your ammonia drops further (1 or lower), go ahead & redose. Just make sure you are only dosing once every 24hrs (or so)- dosing more frequently is not necessary.

Jlk

As usual thanks a lot. I was thinking that was probably normal. So I would dose back up to 4ppm when it drops to 1ppm, is that correct? I haven't added any more ammonia since I started. If I accidentally overdose the ammonia then I would do a small PWC To bring the level back down to 4ppm? I'm really not too worried about overdosing I just want to make sure in case it happens.

 

[jlk]

Easier to try & not OD on the ammonia! But, yes, a water change to bring it down in the event you accidently dump the bottle in. A slight OD is no worry (say 5-6ppm) & I would not even bother with a water change but just dont make a habit of it. Dose up to 4 when it drops to 1 (or lower)- I know theres some other cycling threads where this is not what I am recommending but we start with with the basics & then adjust the strategy if need be.

 

[cwmont13]

Easier to try & not OD on the ammonia! But, yes, a water change to bring it down in the event you accidently dump the bottle in. A slight OD is no worry (say 5-6ppm)

No problem. I'm using the ammonia calculator and a baby dosing syringe marked in ml's so I don't think there's a chance of overdosing, but just wanted to know.

I would not even bother with a water change but just dont make a habit of it. Dose up to 4 when it drops to 1 (or lower)- I know theres some other cycling threads where this is not what I am recommending but we start with with the basics & then adjust the strategy if need be.

Basics work for me We'll just keep going on and roll with it.

 

[cwmont13]

Well my ammonia reading this morning was at just a bit above 0.05 ppm. Possibly close to 1ppm, so I dosed it back up to 4 ppm.

Looks like I'm waiting for ammonia to drop again and start checking for nitrItes. Correct?

Water is still a bit cloudy but haven't gotten any worse.

Seems like everything is starting to move along now I'm getting excited