Fluval Cycle

[Ceej]

My tank is good. Just order a new LED light for my 29g and 10g. Hoping to start setting up my 40g breeder in the next few months. Building a stand for it sometime in February or March. Today I'm going and getting some Kuhli Loaches and a few Cory Cats. The Kuhli's live sifting thru the sand. Fun to watch!

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[brothergc]

My tank is good. Just order a new LED light for my 29g and 10g. Hoping to start setting up my 40g breeder in the next few months. Building a stand for it sometime in February or March. Today I'm going and getting some Kuhli Loaches and a few Cory Cats. The Kuhli's live sifting thru the sand. Fun to watch!

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which light did you get ? a Finnex ?
I figured out the issue with the high Nitrates ( NO3 ) tested my water out of the tap and guess what I found , high nitrates , yep stupid Indy water is the problem . I knew that their was a reason . I have a soultion , change water conditioners Kordon Amquel Plus Water Conditioner | Petco Store
This stuff does work to rid ammonia , nirtrites and nitrates
I tested it before and I have seen a big drop in Nitrates . Got wind of this stuff on a you tube channel check this out ( yes its salt water)

Oh well changing the gravel did no good for nitrates but I would have done it in time anyway , hated my old substraight and hopefully it will be a big blow to any posibility of a future ich outbreak

 

[Fresh2o]

Glad you found the cause of the elevated nitrate. I was about to suggest testing your tap water. I did not think the substrate was the cause.
A few years back (2012) I had 1.0 ppm ammonia and 5 ppm nitrate out of the tap. I performed smaller water changes as to not introduce too much ammonia. It appeared to be a seasonal thing as it went away in early 2013.


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[brothergc]

Glad you found the cause of the elevated nitrate. I was about to suggest testing your tap water. I did not think the substrate was the cause.
A few years back (2012) I had 1.0 ppm ammonia and 5 ppm nitrate out of the tap. I performed smaller water changes as to not introduce too much ammonia. It appeared to be a seasonal thing as it went away in early 2013.


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hoping Mine goes away . My logic on the subtrate was seeing that it was enhanced for plants, it was possibly leaching ferts reacting with my test kit . Yea I know far fetched , but not outside the realm of impossibility .
As far as Nitrates would carbon have any impact on reducing it ?

 

[Fresh2o]

Some of the higher end substrates will leach ammonia. The type you have is pretty inert.
Water changes should take care of it (oh yeah, you are doing that already). There are nitrate absorbing resins available. I've never used them.


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[brothergc]

fish doing great , cherry barbs are fire red now and very active , no sighns of Ich and the fish flashing is gone . Water is crystal clear , like glass !
next time I buy any fish they will get a seachem para gaurd dip treatment in a 5 gallon bucket before releasing them in the main tank

 

[Ceej]

Drip acclimating them and doing a Para Guard dip is a great idea. I'm a stickler on drip acclimation.

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[brothergc]

Drip acclimating them and doing a Para Guard dip is a great idea. I'm a stickler on drip acclimation.

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yes I wish I had done this before , now I am back to cycling the tank again . nitrites are way up , so I am , of course , doing water changes and using stability again . Interesting trade off , all ich is gone . Tearing down the tank , changing substraight , and dip treating the fish knocked it out . And I have had no fish losses

 

[brothergc]

updating this thread ....
I finally have gotten all water quality in good shape , no ammonia , no NO2 , and trace amounts of NO3 . I do water changes weekly and my water is as clear as glass .
No diseases no ICH
I cranked up the heat to 86 deg for a week that did it
Now have a healthy aquariun with 3 german blue rams , one rainbow shark , one otto (poor guy last of 4 that survived) 3 redwag platies , one cherry barb ( 2 of 3 died )
I did have a high fin pleco that I got when he was only a inch long , had to give it away got to 6 inches ad now had a new home at uncle bills
I replaced the pleco with some new busy nose plecos that they had at petsmart . I was only planing on getting one but these guys were small. I am talking smaller then a fullgrown otto ! itty bitty by anyones standard about .5 to .75 of a inch , just babys . Seeing as these are hard to get locally I got 2 , They are soo cute
What surprises Me is I alway have read that haveing more than 2 GBR is not advised , my 3 germans all seem to get along , no fights or nothing real agressive
I even have live plants growing , with no ferts , no CO2 , and using pea gravel . I have 2 Anubias bunches , 3 bunches of money wart . and 2 java ferns . Lighting is the finnix planted LED light . The Anubias has doubled in size along with te money wart . The java fern has plantlets growing from it .
Well that is my update !