Pics of my newly cycled tank! And some questions.

[eco23]

Just finished my (fishless) cycle today! Took 20 days on the dot. I included a few pics of the new tank. I'll probably wait until at least this weekend to get some tenants. I don't want to take any chances since I worked so hard to grow all the little buggers that are gonna take care of it for me .

Couple questions...

Is it possible to under-stock the tank initially? I've got it used to 4ppm of ammonia > nitrItes > nitrAtes in 24 hours. I don't want to put in too few fish and have a bacteria die off.

Looking at my tank lay out and the fish I want, does it look suitable to you? Do I need more plants?

Here's what I plan to have when it's fully stocked-

8 x Neon Tetras
8 x Bleeding Heart Tetras
8 x Guppys
8 x Glo Fish
4 x Cory Catfish
-possibly a Dwarf Gourami later down the road

Thanks for the advice!!!

 

[Deckape]

I think you did good my friend! As you know my cycle finished today too....21 days, 20 if you don't count the first day. I over added ammonia because I didn't know there were 2 parts to the ammonia test. I thought they were the same....Live and learn. I have the same questions as Eco. So we are standing by for more advice! Thanks for all the help everyone.

My readings as of one hour ago were. 0 ammonia/ 0 nitrites/ 10 nitrates/ ph 7/. Water temp 80.

Dosed with 2.5 ml of ammonia and will retest and add 2.5 ml again unless advised otherwise. 2.5 ml gets me to 2ppm in my 55 gallon regular.

Getting my first installment of 6 danios Friday or Saturday in a tank that was cycled for them, not with them. Thinking of getting 30. Maybe a little more or less depending on the advice I get here...not at the LFS.

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[cichlidpaul]

hey dude thats one nice tank you have there now i was thinking about putting the same plants in my tank (the long ones) in the back two corners but not sure its right for the cichlid look

great tank though nice one

 

[fort384]

I wouldn't worry about understocking...

Be sure to keep feeding ammonia until about 24 hours before you intend to add fish...

 

[cichlidpaul]

how many gallons is it by the way

 

[fort384]

I forgot to say... Nice looking tank!

 

[eco23]

Hey!

I'm glad my 2 buddies Deckape and cichlidpaul got to weigh in! I can't wait to see pics of your tanks! Hopefully for cichlidpaul lots of pics with nice clear water without all the stuff we've been chatting about. Fort384 I'm sure you're cool too!
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[cichlidpaul]

how many gallons is it by the way

im not sure if it is poss to under stock once you put fish in to the tank but i sure would not add more ammonia once the fish are in the tank and fish should look after them selfs now i would have thought even with the fish your putting in

 

[eco23]

I think it's 48. I saw a slightly updated one at the store I got it from and it was like 46.8 gallons. I think when I bought it they made it at 48.

 

[cichlidpaul]

mate im well jealous and yes i sure will put more pics up when its all sorted took my fish list to a good aquatics shop today to see what they can get for me lol some real rare ones on their to test them lol but they have some i want have to say if the wife wasnt their well i might have bought them lol

 

[cichlidpaul]

ok so if we go by the amount of water im looking at about 60 days for the cycle to be complete

 

[eco23]

hey dude thats one nice tank you have there now i was thinking about putting the same plants in my tank (the long ones) in the back two corners but not sure its right for the cichlid look

great tank though nice one

The long plants look really good in there, but if you've got a strong current going in there, those things basically stay sideways. I've got my filter so jammed right now with seeding material that the filter isn't sucking at 100% so they're actually upright for the moment.

 

[fort384]

ok so if we go by the amount of water im looking at about 60 days for the cycle to be complete

No... It will take roughly the same amount of time. It isn't dependent on volume of the tank.

 

[cichlidpaul]

fort im on day 16 now and no where near the finish

 

[eco23]

When people told me the nitrItes would drop to zero "overnight", I thought it was just a figure of speech. It literally did in my case. They were off the charts last night, and this afternoon they had dropped to zero. I thought maybe I did the test wrong so I actually repeated it!

 

[cichlidpaul]

to be honest i thought by now my nitrites would have peaked and started to drop much like yours im starting to think its the tank but hayho i will keep going with it for now

so out of intrest how long do you think it should take for a 120 gallon and do you think its volume of water or not ie no matter the size its the same time

 

[eco23]

to be honest i thought by now my nitrites would have peaked and started to drop much like yours im starting to think its the tank but hayho i will keep going with it for now

so out of intrest how long do you think it should take for a 120 gallon and do you think its volume of water or not ie no matter the size its the same time

I keep hearing 2 weeks is the fastest, 5 weeks around the longest. I think average is 4 weeks. Seeding material helps a TON! If you had enough, it would basically instantly cycle your tank.

 

[cichlidpaul]

im gonna have to get some from some where will make a phone call tomorrow to another fish shop see if they will do it for me but i know their ph is sky high at the min so he might say no not that it would worry me about that

 

[siva]

If you put the measurements in here Aquarium and Fish Tank Volume Calculator it will tell you what size tank it is

 

[Deckape]

Paul, don't get wrapped up too much in the seeding material. I didn't have any either. I had to use the Aqua Safe. It worked for me. Just be patient and if your nitrites and nitrates get too high, just do a or a coulple of PWCs and try to keep your ph from getting crazy high or low by doing PWCs. I saw a big.change when I added the bubble wand and got a AC50 as an extra filter to the Aqua Tech 30/60. Keep the patience.
Edit: Safe Start vice Aqua Safe
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