Rapid Nitrogen Cycle start?????

[DBTetraguy]

OK, sorta new at this so heres my question. First the setup.

29 Gallon aquarium, Penguin 280 filter with regular cartridge and 100% balck diamond (activated carbon) in the loose media carrier. Tank Temp is 80 degrees with 1 150W heater. Lighted 6.5 hours per day with normal Flouescent tube. Tank occupants are 3 Buneas Areas Tetras and 6 Black skirt Tetras all about 1 inch, and several live plants not sure of species, but reccommended by LFS. Initially the system was treated with Prime, and run for 5 days. I began treatment with Nitrivec (cultured bacteria) two days prior to introducing live fish. Prior to fish introduction Ammonia level was .5 ppm, Nitrite 0 and Nitrate 0 with Ph of 7. three days after fish where introduced Ammonia is now 0, (never rose above .5 in daily tests), Nitrite is 1ppm and no detectable Nitrates. This seems rapid from what I have read should happen.... Does this seem normal to you? New to aquatic pets myself so Im unsure.

 

[loganj]

Yeah, that is fast. Bear in mind though that the nitrosoma, which is the bacteria that converts the ammonia to nitrite, grows faster than the nitrobacter (nitrite to nitrate)...almost twice as fast. You have jumpstarted the process by adding the cultured bacteria and allowing it some time to get established. You also do not have an extremely high bioload in the tank. I think you'll see the nitrite take a little longer to cycle, but it sounds like you're on the right track. I'd keep testing for ammonia for another week or so just to be safe. Also, you have an excellent filter (guessing it's the Emperor 280) and I think you'll find that the bio wheel is hard to beat in FW applications. We have some Emp 280's at the store that have been running 24/7 for over 4 years with no maintenance other than an occasional cleaning.
Logan J

 

[DBTetraguy]

Thanks for the help, I bought the Emperor 280 on the reccomendation of a long time friend who raises cichlids, she swears by Marineland filters. I had planned to keep up the testing, right now my primary concerns are the nitrogen cycle and keeping my plants healthy, I've read that carbon filtration can be harmful to the plants so Im trying to find an alternative that will keep my water quality up without causing undue problems with my flora

 

[Guest]

Lighted 6.5 hours per day with normal Flouescent tube

and several live plants not sure of species, but reccommended by LFS.

Even if they are low-light plants, as I hope your LFS recomended, the lights should be on for 9-10 hours per day (on a timer, so it's a consistent photoperiod), for them to survive and hopefully thrive!

 

[DBTetraguy]

Thanks for the advice

The clerk at the fish store said that I could have an algae problem with more light than 8 hours a day. I raised tropical orchids for several years and it sounded fishy (no pun intended) to me. Seems that they need more than that, Im also concerned that i dont have enough light for the tank, Ive done further research and found that I have a 20 watt fixture with a standard light tube, this seems far too small in my estimation, before I invest in a grow tube I was wandering if it would be possible to find a higher wattage fixture to fit my existing tank hood or if I needed to get a different cover system. As far as the activated carbon in the filter is this a big problem for the plants in the system?

 

[DBTetraguy]

High Speed cycle update

Its been three to for days now that no ammonia has been detected in the tank, today was the first time that I found nitrates, the nitrite level came up at an alarming rate(it alarmed me at least) about two days ago to about 3ppm. I was nervous about that much being in the system so I did a 20% water change and replaced my activated carbon with a blend of activated carbon and ammonia absorbant to slow the nitrite production by removing part of the precursor ammonia from the tank. Not sure if that was the right thing to do. My reasoning was to attempt to reduce the nitrite buildup while the second type of bacteria (nitrabacter?) developed. Any thoughts on this theory?

Thanks
Drew

 

[Chrismac]

I would probley forget about the Carbon all together when you add it to your filter its only going to be effective for a couple of days.
I use peat and foam, in my filter I only use Aqua clear for filteration on our planted tank I got a 300, with two foam inserts and Peat. My levels are all fine.
as for your light Go with 9 - 10 hours as corvuscorax said, you still have to keep in mind that there are way more than 6.5 hours of daylight in a natural enviroment.
as for an Algae Bloom very common in new planted set up, The only thing Algae harms is your eyes. just buy a few algae eaters I would go with SAEs or Ottos
anscitorus are good as well ( In our baby cichlid tank I let the Algae grow as the Labs and Aceis Love to pick at it). I put SAEs in our planted tank and they cleaned it up in a matter of a week or so.
Good Luck
Chris.

 

[loganj]

I'd have to disagree with the statement that carbon is only effective for a couple of days. IME, it will work for much longer than that. As to whether it's really needed in a FW plant tank, I don't know. I would probably only use it to remove meds or if I started getting yellow water.
I'm going to hazard a guess that you have a single bulb strip light? You could install a 55 watt PC in the housing that you have now. I don't think it's a good idea to do that because of the heat generated by the PC bulbs. The ballast would have to be remote mounted also. You could get a canopy for the tank and use 2x55w PC's. If you wanted to stick with NO lights, you could use a ballast for four 32w T-8 bulbs. It will slightly overdrive 4 of the 20w bulbs like you already have. Or you could use a ballast for two 40w bulbs, wire the bulbs in series, and get the normal output from them. If you're not into the DIY thing, and not willing to take the chance of getting electrocuted 8O , a PC retro-kit would probably be the best bet.
Check out the following links for lighting options:
www.ahsupply.com
www.hellolights.com
www.il-solutions.com
www.championlighting.com
Logan J