Progress

[garth7]

just pure excitement over here... I am seeing progress with my cycle. Ammonias are on the decline and Nitritites are on the incline!!! Bring on the Nitrates!!!! I am going to have to make a decision on the first fish soon!!!!

 

[Zagz]

Congrats. You are on your way, now the fun part, deciding which fish to get. Then shortly you will actually be able to stock with the fish you choose.

 

[drobertson]

way to go, better start working on that stocking list

 

[Esra]

The cycling can be amazingly frustrating.

I remember having to stop myself going to the LFS cause i knew i'd end up with something.

Needless to say i failed and bought a fish too early, but it was a molly and they're strong and she's still around today!

good luck with the rest of the cycle and the actual stocking!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Just remember if you are dosing ammonia, to keep adding 1-2ppm ammonia when it reaches 0ppm until both ammonia and nitrites hit 0ppm in 24 hours. Don't let it go to 0ppm and just stay there. But if cycling with decaying food or shrimp, then no problem, when ammonia is 0ppm, just keep testing til you see 0ppm nitrites and lots of nitrates.

 

[7Enigma]

NitrItes are going to really be the only way you will know when your cycle is finishing up because you are moderately/heavily? planted. Ammonia level really isn't going to tell you anything about the cycle since the plants (and any algae) will be the primary consumers. You need to make sure your nitrAtes NEVER go to zero. Purchase some dry nitrogen ferts or get a liquid suppliment. Just don't go to zero!

 

[garth7]

What will cause the Nitrates to go to Zero? Do the plants cause use these?

Also, on my bottle of fertilizers, it says to wait a month before dosing. I wish I could remember the brand name. I am tempted to start the dosing relatively soon due to the plant volume.

Are dry ferts better than liquid? If so, where can I get these dry ferts from?

I hope to get a pic up soon so people can see the tank and give me some suggestions.

I feel bad asking so many questions, but soon I hope to be able to throw my two cents in.

Thanks for all the help,
Doug

 

[7Enigma]

What will cause the Nitrates to go to Zero? Do the plants cause use these?

Also, on my bottle of fertilizers, it says to wait a month before dosing. I wish I could remember the brand name. I am tempted to start the dosing relatively soon due to the plant volume.

Are dry ferts better than liquid? If so, where can I get these dry ferts from?

I hope to get a pic up soon so people can see the tank and give me some suggestions.

I feel bad asking so many questions, but soon I hope to be able to throw my two cents in.

Thanks for all the help,
Doug

Plants use any nitrogen source they can get a handle of (and they preferentially use the easiest which is the form most similar to ammonia), so nitrAte and ammonia are both readily used. Plants prefer ammonia since its easier to use, but we in the planted hobby use nitrAte since algae cannot, and it won't hurt fish like ammonia will. So if you have a lot of plants and good fertilization and light only adding a couple ppm of ammonia here and there will probably not be enough. Instead of dosing more ammonia, dose a nitrogen product.

I don't understand the waiting period on the bottle. Plants sometimes take a bit to acclimate to a new tank (water conditions different than previously grown), but I'd rather not take the chance of bottoming out on a fert, as this is when algae comes into play.

Dry are not "better" per se, but they are cheaper in the long run, especially on the larger tanks (over 20gallons). www.gregwatson.com is a great place a lot of us have used. I'd recommend potassium sulfate, potassium nitrAte, monopotassium phosphate, and CSM+B. If you plan on a fully stocked (fish) tank I would get 2lbs of potassium sulfate, and 1lb of the others. If a lightly stocked tank I'd get 2lbs of potassium nitrAte and 1lb of the rest. This is just a starter supply, and with shipping rates it might be better to double my recommendation on amounts, but it is far FAR cheaper in the long run than using liquid ferts.

Please post up a couple pics so we can get a better picture of exactly how heavily your stocked (ie 10small java ferns are much different than 10 monster basketball sized ones!).

And we prefer lots of questions. It allows us to preempt a mistake you might do otherwise, and it makes it a lot easier for us since we get to answer all of them in the same post!

Remember the only stupid question is the one you don't ask!

EDIT: This is an excellent short article on some background science. While I don't agree with all of her conclusions, the science behind them are sound.

http://www.aquabotanic.com/plants_and_biological_filtration.htm

 

[garth7]

Ok, I took some pictures tonight. I have them attatched I hope. I did some more tests. Ammonia seems to be at 0 still. I fed the empty tank rather heavily last night to put it to the test. The Nitrates are at a 1.3. They seem to be really high. I havent had time to do the nitrates though. I did do my first dosing tonight. I really need to start a schedule for this. Enjoy the pics and let me know what you think....

Thanks for all you do.

 

[eah]

Nice looking tank! I really like how you've set it up.

 

[garth7]

thanks, I hope it will look even better once it is grown. All those guys in there now are stem plants. I need to decide on fish sometime soon i hope.

 

[gheitman]

Douglas,

If an hour's drive isn't too long I suggest you visit Sailfin in Champaign. They are the best LFS in the region IMO and have a good variety of plants and fish. I was just there tonight and they have SAEs (they call them Thai flying foxes), otos, plecos and many other freshwater, as well as saltwater, fish. They also stock liquid fertilizers, substrates, pruning tools and other things that someone with a planted tank could use. How big is your tank BTW?

 

[garth7]

Wow, its a small small world. I've been up there before to check their saltwater stuff out. I didnt buy anything though, I didnt want to stress the fish out with long drive. This is an excellent store. I will probably venture back up sometime. In fact, my local lfs suggested I go up there a long while back.

It is good to hear from someone local. I have a 55 gal tank.

Do you have freshwater fish? Plants?

 

[gheitman]

I have seven freshwater tanks planted now with another one about to be set up this weekend. My first tank was a 29 gallon that I got as a Christmas present about five years ago. I bought all of my plants at Sailfin and most of my fish. I also order a lot of equipment online from www.drsfostersmith.com and www.bigalsonline.com. I still go in Sailfin about once a week (they get new stock in on Thursdays).

 

[7Enigma]

Ok, I took some pictures tonight. I have them attatched I hope. I did some more tests. Ammonia seems to be at 0 still. I fed the empty tank rather heavily last night to put it to the test. The Nitrates are at a 1.3. They seem to be really high. I havent had time to do the nitrates though. I did do my first dosing tonight. I really need to start a schedule for this. Enjoy the pics and let me know what you think....

Ammonia at zero definately sounds like that part of the cycle is complete/near complete. I'm assuming you have a typo and your nitrIte is 1.3? That's not that high at all. Definately dangerous for fish, but without that's not that high (during my fishless cycle my nitrIte went above 10ppm).

You really need to test the nitrAtes ASAP. Hopefully they are not too low, as you are relatively lightly planted. That will change very quickly as some of your plant species (wisteria) are very fast growers under good conditions and can soak up nutrients like a sponge.

Definately get on a dosing schedule. For reference I dose potassium and CSM+B (trace mix) on one day, and then the next day a very small amount of phosphate. You never want to mix iron suppliments with phosphate, so always keep them dosed on different days.

 

[garth7]

have seven freshwater tanks planted now with another one about to be set up this weekend. My first tank was a 29 gallon that I got as a Christmas present about five years ago. I bought all of my plants at Sailfin and most of my fish. I also order a lot of equipment online from www.drsfostersmith.com and www.bigalsonline.com. I still go in Sailfin about once a week (they get new stock in on Thursdays).

What do you use for dosing? Do you get this local as well?

Definately get on a dosing schedule. For reference I dose potassium and CSM+B (trace mix) on one day, and then the next day a very small amount of phosphate. You never want to mix iron suppliments with phosphate, so always keep them dosed on different days.

Thanks for the info. I need get some of those chemicals off of the site you suggested. How many times a week do you dose?

I will have to also have to get the info on what I am currently dosing now.

 

[7Enigma]

I dose every day, but alternate between phosphate and the potassium/CSM+B on separate days. I don't adhere strictly to the EI dosing, but have it down pretty good now. If I could just go pressurized (CO2) I'd probably never see algae again...

 

[gheitman]

I dose my plants with virtually the entire Flourish line from Seachem (Flourish, Flourish Excel, Flourish Iron, Flourish Potassium, Flourish Nitrogen, etc.) depending on the the amount of light, types of plants, etc. I dose with Flourish 2x a week and Flourish Excel/Iron 5x a week on almost every tank. Two of my tanks also get Flourish Potassium 2x a week and the most highly illuminated tank gets Flourish Nitrogen as well. I almost always buy them on the web at one of the two web sites I mentioned earlier because they are about half the price of what they sell for locally. Unfortunately there are some of them that Sailfin can't stock because they don't have room for everything that is available.