Six Days Cycled! :)

[dwhit13]

After Six Days the new 120 gallon shows 0 Ammonia 0 Nitrites and 5.0 Nitrates PH 8.2 25 African Cichlids put in over the course of days 2-3 and 4

 

[dragon14]

Wow that is fast! Did you seed it or something?

 

[dwhit13]

Wow that is fast! Did you seed it or something?

yes heavily. I took a filter pad out of my Penguin 350 from my 40 gallon cyled tank...moved then entire emperor 400 over from my cycled 55 gallon tank along with the cichlid caves, also put a big bag of gravel from the 55 into a bio bag and set it on top of an air stone

 

[dragon14]

Oh that's great! 6 days in such a big tank, I was surprised but when you seed it that heavily, that makes sense

Congrats!

 

[dwhit13]

I was too, I read and read on how to do it, but I have to say I wasnt 100% confident putting them in there but it appears to have worked.

Thanks

 

[dragon14]

You're welcome!

Did you test it a few days in a row to make sure of your readings?

 

[dwhit13]

yeah, ive tested on day 3,5 and tonight 6...it showed a very slight amonia reading and no nitrates the first night but perfect since

 

[dragon14]

That sounds absolutely perfect

Yay! How many tanks do you have?

We have 1 10g with our betta in it, a 5g with our pygmy catfish (temporarily since we just got them) and a 2g that we got when we got our betta. They are all going to live together in a couple of weeks in the 10g Our fishless cycle finished on the 20th of this month & we started it Sept 1st! We got the catfish yesterday and I am getting two more in the morning! We will have 7 of them total plus our betta that we've had for 3 1/2 months.

 

[dwhit13]

awesome congrats to you to....I currently have four. I have a ten gallon that I have a few guppies in that I'm going to use as a quarantine tank, A fourty gallon with platys, mollies , tetras and cories a 55 that my cichlids were in now just has two dojo loaches and a rubberlip pleco and a baby bristlenose....Im about to convert that tank to something diff...Im thinking Angel fish and bosemani rainbows but am not sure yet..then the 120 which has all my African Cichlids in now

 

[dragon14]

Thanks!

Oh wow! You have a lot of little lives to take care of and watch! I really wanted angel fish (they're so pretty!!!) but then I learned how much space they need, actually I learned how much space a lot of fish I wanted need... we have extremely limited space so that's why we have a 10 g. We could probably make a 20g fit where the 10g is instead, but, 10g is enough for us for now!

We love catfish but learned that only a pygmy kind should be in a 10g, so there we are, we get catfish, our betta, and a 10g I wish they were a smidge bigger, but, they could still grow another half inch, so, yay!

Maybe someday we can have a bigger tank... it is definitely rewarding and fun! I never knew how much I could like fish until I had them...

 

[dwhit13]

I know what you mean, my wife is already trying to put her foot down on not taking up space lol...I just fell in love with these guys and im always wanting more. The 120 was a major step up for me and Im very excited about stocking it up and the bonus is I can redo the 55 now that its almost empty....I love catfish too, my cories are awesome...was looking at maybe adding a few featherfins in the cichlid tank. those guys look super cool

 

[dragon14]

hehe!

good luck redoing the 55g

what kind of cories do you have?

I just looked up featherfins, very neat looking fish!!

 

[dwhit13]

I have some albino cories and leopard cories...five of each...Yeah I got to see a full grown feather fin and it blew me away...I called it the vampire catfish lol. Those cories are so much fun to watch

 

[dragon14]

Very cute! catfish are among my favorite of the fishes!

I love looking at the columbian catsharks in the petstore. I hope they move them to a bigger tank eventually...

I looked them up online and I guess they need at least a 75g since they get so big... there went my hopes of having one when I first saw one lol. They probably need even more space than that though... We'll probably never get a big enough tank, but, I can dream right?

I hope one day we can have a saltwater tank, but it seems a little complicated! There are many freshwater fish that are amazing, but, there are so so many really neat saltwater fish too! Clown fish and tangs and black and white clown fish, and there are these silver and black fish that are saltwater that I just love looking at at the petstore that I really want someday... just tried to look them up, looks like they are called banggai cardinal fish.
http://www.fishchannel.com/images/fish-species/saltwater/cardinalfish.jpg
Just beautiful

 

[dwhit13]

wow thats a good looking fish, I hadn't heard of that one. I know what you mean about the salt water, def some awesome fish but looks like a lot of work . I'm still trying to master the freshwater lol. I get lost at the pet store too, I can look all day and want one of each lol. My hopes is to eventually get a six foot long 150 gallon, but thats down the road...need to redo my family room in the basement to fit that in and It def has to go into a main living area, but when that day comes Ill have about a million fish i ll want to put in lol. The Cichlids for me were because I liked the colors so much , alot like the Salt water fish and you can make the tanks look really cool and different than the normal planted tropicals I see. Makes a great contrast having one of each

 

[dragon14]

Yeah it's a gorgeous fish! I look at them every time we go hehe

hehe good luck with that project down the road!

Having a variety of colorful fish definitely is fun! Cichlids are neat

 

[gilpi]

yes heavily. I took a filter pad out of my Penguin 350 from my 40 gallon cyled tank...moved then entire emperor 400 over from my cycled 55 gallon tank along with the cichlid caves, also put a big bag of gravel from the 55 into a bio bag and set it on top of an air stone

Best way to cycle a tank! I remember years ago the local LFS's would give you a little dirt from the filter to help you get your tank going.

 

[dwhit13]

Yeah it was a real life saver. took me two months on my first one, I thought id never get it right.