danielle82069
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hello all. I am very new to this forum. I am not completely new to fishkeeping however I have not had a tank set up in several years. I recently inherited a 80 gallon tank. I am in the midst of a fishless cycle. I am somewhat stuck in the tail end of the cycle. The last time I did a fishless cycle I remember the nitrites and nitrates spiking and then everything zeroing out almost instantly (a few days). This time that's not been the case My Nitrites and nitrates are off the charts and have been for nearly 2 weeks. I did a water change and no change really. then I read somewhere that I just need to be patient and the water changes are only if you have fish in the tank. I currently don't have an ammonia testing kit and fear i may have used too much ammonia. I have stopped adding ammonia and have been adding a small pinch of flake food every 3 days or so. I also added a couple of real plants that are not doing so good. (thinking it would help my cycle along.) BTW the water is very clear no algae or cloudiness no smell either
Like I said it is an 80g I have an auquaclear 500 and a whisper running. i have an 80 watt heater that is at about 83 degrees It is completely set up half the tank is gravel and the opposite half is sand.Additionally I also added a bunch of my boyfriends rock collection that I boiled. I have hopes of stocking it with peacock cichlids. The tap water here in Phoenix runs very hard.
this is where my water stands currently
Nitrates 200+
Nitrites 10+
GH 300
KH 70
PH 7.2
So on top of this a friend of mine just gave me a 125gallon and I want to set it up instead.,I want to transfer all the substrate, rocks and decorations,I have another auquaclear 500 to add to the filtration. Is there an easy way to transfer the sand? I am under the impression that I wont have to start over with the cycle it will just continue in the new tank. so I wont mess with the current filters Ill just put them on the back and hope it continues. Do I transfer the water that's in the 80 to the 125 or just start off fresh with new dechlorinated tap water?
finally.. So I mentioned i would like to keep african cichlids. Preferably peacocks but am open to any. How many can I keep in a 125? and what cichlids can i keep together? I have some experience with some cichlids I have oscars and jack dempseys and convict cichlids as well as electric yellow labs. So I am not put off by the aggressive cichlids I just don't want a train wreck either..thank you in advance Any assistance with my questions will be greatly appreciated.
Like I said it is an 80g I have an auquaclear 500 and a whisper running. i have an 80 watt heater that is at about 83 degrees It is completely set up half the tank is gravel and the opposite half is sand.Additionally I also added a bunch of my boyfriends rock collection that I boiled. I have hopes of stocking it with peacock cichlids. The tap water here in Phoenix runs very hard.
this is where my water stands currently
Nitrates 200+
Nitrites 10+
GH 300
KH 70
PH 7.2
So on top of this a friend of mine just gave me a 125gallon and I want to set it up instead.,I want to transfer all the substrate, rocks and decorations,I have another auquaclear 500 to add to the filtration. Is there an easy way to transfer the sand? I am under the impression that I wont have to start over with the cycle it will just continue in the new tank. so I wont mess with the current filters Ill just put them on the back and hope it continues. Do I transfer the water that's in the 80 to the 125 or just start off fresh with new dechlorinated tap water?
finally.. So I mentioned i would like to keep african cichlids. Preferably peacocks but am open to any. How many can I keep in a 125? and what cichlids can i keep together? I have some experience with some cichlids I have oscars and jack dempseys and convict cichlids as well as electric yellow labs. So I am not put off by the aggressive cichlids I just don't want a train wreck either..thank you in advance Any assistance with my questions will be greatly appreciated.
