Day 2 of my 125 community cycle. Time to stock.

[MyDaughtersKeeper]

So I used 7 gallons and an old filter from my other tank to kick start this and I must say I'm impressed. Ammonia 0. Nitrite 0. Nitrate 10. Has it not started or is it complete? Back to stocking. I really like new world cichlids, but I've up gravel down so not sure i should get them without having the sand. I would like to have a large community with 1-5 larger fish, but not sure what gets "Larger" without out snacking on the community? Any suggestions?

 

[cmbtengnr43]

I have new world cichlids in my 75 with gravel they do fine! As far as larger how large are we talking? Fire mouth cichlids are pretty mild and do fine in a community and get around 6 inches most others would prob. Be to aggressive to be housed with tropical community fish if anyone else knows of some mild new world cichlids please chime in maybe severums or angels?

 

[MyDaughtersKeeper]

Six inches would be about the biggest and I like angels but correct if I'm wrong my 7.8 ph is a little too high for them isn't it. I think a firemouth and a couple angels would be nice with maybe a large school of cherry barbs. Maybe a few clown loaches? Would need some more seasoned folks to chime in on that mixture.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

That looks like tufta rock which is a big problem with soft water cichlids. It will keep your pH high and your water hard. It's better for saltwater or African cichlids. It's best to replace it with a non calcium based rock or more driftwood.

This could make an ideal angel tank without the rocks.

 

[cmbtengnr43]

Yea 7.8 is high bit fish will adjust to ph and if say as long as it doesn't get higher then that you'd be fine for angels I agree you should take any rocks out that will make your water hard and if ph is still a little high adding driftwood will buffer it down a little

 

[librarygirl]

You won't know about the cycle until you add an ammonia source, either by adding some fish or pure ammonia. The readings are 0 now because there's no ammonia to feed the bacteria and if they aren't fed they'll start to die off.

 

[MyDaughtersKeeper]

You won't know about the cycle until you add an ammonia source, either by adding some fish or pure ammonia. The readings are 0 now because there's no ammonia to feed the bacteria and if they aren't fed they'll start to die off.

If I need to add an ammonia source is there really a benefit to starting your cycle with water from another tank? I was under the assumption your cycle did sort of a "bypass" of certain aspects of the cycle if an established tanks water was used?

 

[librarygirl]

Not really actually. There isn't much bacteria in the actual water column. You did well by using a filter from an established tank, that should have some bacteria on it depending on how large the filter is, how long it was on the established tank and how many fish were in the tank (e.g. a filter on a 10 gal with a couple of fish won't instantly cycle a full load of fish for a 125 gal). So you probably do have some bacteria but again they need to be fed or else they'll start to die off.

 

[MyDaughtersKeeper]

That looks like tufta rock which is a big problem with soft water cichlids. It will keep your pH high and your water hard. It's better for saltwater or African cichlids. It's best to replace it with a non calcium based rock or more driftwood.

This could make an ideal angel tank without the rocks.

The rocks in the tank are Holey Rock, slate, and multiple pieces of Driftwood. Just clarifying as it may help anyone who is interested in commenting/helping. My thought was the two would counter each other in the balancing of the pH? Again, any thought greatly appreciated!!

 

[MyDaughtersKeeper]

Not really actually. There isn't much bacteria in the actual water column. You did well by using a filter from an established tank, that should have some bacteria on it depending on how large the filter is, how long it was on the established tank and how many fish were in the tank (e.g. a filter on a 10 gal with a couple of fish won't instantly cycle a full load of fish for a 125 gal). So you probably do have some bacteria but again they need to be fed or else they'll start to die off.

The filter is out of a 20 high with 15 fish. So to get this dude going I need to do what exactly? Add some fish food and let it ride? Thanks again!

 

[cmbtengnr43]

I wouldn't do that with the fish in as ammonia levels will sky rocket if you have fish in just let it cycle naturally the fish food in a net or dosing pure ammonia is called a FISHLESS cycle yours is going to cycle fish in

 

[MyDaughtersKeeper]

I wouldn't do that with the fish in as ammonia levels will sky rocket if you have fish in just let it cycle naturally the fish food in a net or dosing pure ammonia is called a FISHLESS cycle yours is going to cycle fish in

I have no fish in the tank.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

The holey rock are the ones that will make the water stat hard. Those should be removed. Nothing will counteract it. It just dissolves and adds minerals. Anything that lowers the pH will only make it dissolve faster.

 

[MyDaughtersKeeper]

The holey rock are the ones that will make the water stat hard. Those should be removed. Nothing will counteract it. It just dissolves and adds minerals. Anything that lowers the pH will only make it dissolve faster.

So I'm pretty much putting African Cichlids in here then because there is no sending the rock back. Now I suppose the problem will be the gravel. Anyone here use gravel with their Cichlids? And is that all that can handle the water with this rock? I guess I need to wait for the cycle to complete and see where I'm at. This info has just about ruined my day, but live and learn I suppose.

 

[librarygirl]

The filter is out of a 20 high with 15 fish. So to get this dude going I need to do what exactly? Add some fish food and let it ride? Thanks again!

It'll take a lot of fish food to decompose into a good amount of ammonia. If you can get some pure ammonia I'd use that instead, unless you're planning to get fish fairly soon, then you can add some fish and just monitor the levels as you go along.

 

[cmbtengnr43]

Just s shake the bottle and make sure there are no such at the top after you get done shaking it if there are then that means the ammonia has other ingredients in it such as soap for sense you need 100 percent pure ammonia you can buy it at Ace Hardware it says janitorial or industrial strength ammonia

 

[cmbtengnr43]

and I forgot to say that this is very important and crucial if you're going to use ammonia to cycle your tank it is much faster but keep track of how much you add to get to the level that your desiring and don't add too much if your levels of ammonia get too high it is just as toxic to the bacteria as it is the fish you want to keep your levels between 3&5 ppm check everyday once level start to drop add just enough to get your level backup repeat this everyday until no matter how much you add your ammonia levels keep falling at this point you should start to see an increase in nitrite just keep adding the normal amount of ammonia fall 2 nothing at this point you're going to see nitrates once you see nitrates and your Monia and nitrite levels r 0 then your cycle is complete

 

[CorallineAlgae]

I don't mean to say angels can't be kept at all with high pH or hard water. I'm just saying you won't be able to have soft water with those rocks and it certainly won't be ideal. Lots of people keep soft water fish with hard tap water just fine. I only mean that trying to change the water hardness will be a loosing battle and waste of effort with the rocks. If you have a stone yard around it's should cost less than $20 to buy more rock than you already have now. Those places usually have stone for around 16¢ a pound. I've been to 5 or 6. They're way more common than people realize. Most fish shops get their stone from those places. It's a well kept secret.

 

[imtcurveball]

It was a well kept secret

 

[MyDaughtersKeeper]

So my pH Sunday was @ 7.8. Last night it was @ 8.4. I immediately took out 40 lbs of the lace rock and did a 20% water change. Will the lace rock continue to make the pH climp forever or will it level out at some point? I really don't want to remove the last piece as I bought it specifically for a center piece.