starting up finally! 72 gallon bowfront...

[oneball]

ill just keep this kind of stuff in one thread as not to overdo it. going on day three of my fishless cycle, keeping a good record of everything right now. not the water temp at ~82 degrees, ammonia at ~4-5 ppm, and took some of the gravel out of my old tank. Cut the legs out of a pair of panty hose my wife cannot remember ever having worn, grabbed a few handfuls out of my old established tank and threw them in there. think the stuff i threw in there is enough? getting decorations now, buying texas holy rock at the store now, piece by piece as i have money. that stuff is expensive! any and all recommendations/ input is greatly appreciated on deco and anything else. this newb needs all the info i can get! i will keep you updated... will get better pictures too i took this on my phone.

 

[mfdrookie516]

youre stocking cichlids right? definately add more rock, the pfs looks great. if you had your filter running on your old tank, that would be great. if youre using the same type filter, put a cartridge from the filter on the other on this one... always worked for me what are you using as your ammonia source?

 

[oneball]

youre stocking cichlids right? definately add more rock, the pfs looks great. if you had your filter running on your old tank, that would be great. if youre using the same type filter, put a cartridge from the filter on the other on this one... always worked for me what are you using as your ammonia source?

im using that fluval 405 in my new tank but a HOB filter on my smaller tank. i thought about replacing the sponge in my established tank with a new one and cramming that in the fluval but didnt want to shove anything in my new filter lol....yeah chiclids, im nowhere near done with the rock. that stuff is just really pricey lol. im using ammonia hydroxide from meijer... i hope thats the right stuff thats just ammonia and water mixed right? it says thats all it is no cleaners soaps smells or colors, and no phosphates or whatever.

 

[mfdrookie516]

sounds about right on the ammonia, ive never personally used it, but ive heard its better. also heard it takes VERY LITTLE lol... as far as the filter goes, i would definately put a filter cartridge from your other tank in your new filter, that will push the cycle along much much quicker.

 

[oneball]

sounds about right on the ammonia, ive never personally used it, but ive heard its better. also heard it takes VERY LITTLE lol... as far as the filter goes, i would definately put a filter cartridge from your other tank in your new filter, that will push the cycle along much much quicker.

Oh yeah, teaspoons man. Very little, good thing but it's cheap as he'll so not that upset. I think I could ut it into chunks and put them in one of the baskets.

 

[johnny_zanni]

as long as the water from the tank is touching the filter media it will work

 

[oneball]

as long as the water from the tank is touching the filter media it will work

so if i took out the sponge, cut it into strips or pieces, and put then in one of the baskets in my fluval ( maybe in with the carbon packets or the bio media) that would work? and just put a new sponge in my old tank?

 

[mfdrookie516]

yep, if youre cutting it up, put about 3/4 in the fluval, put the rest in your other tank to seed the new filter cartridge to prevent a possible mini cycle (always better to be safe than sorry)

 

[oneball]

Well forth day of the cycle, ammonia is still around 4-5 ppm, no nitrites as of yet. Something that I hadn't tested yet that I just did was ph and I'm scared. My kit says it's 8.4-8.8, maxing out my kit. That's probably bad huh?

 

[mfdrookie516]

thats aweful high... test your tap water and see what it says. Unless you have something in your tank raising the ph, which it doesnt look like you would, the tap water must be super high in ph

 

[mfdrookie516]

btw, what kind of test kit are you using?

 

[oneball]

Tap water is 7.4-7.8

 

[oneball]

API freshwater master test kit

 

[mfdrookie516]

wow, thats a big jump. My tap water is 7.8, and all my tanks are 7.8... hmmm, wonder whats bringing it up... It could be the fact that its not cycled, though im not sure if that even happens... i never test my ph until im ready to put fish in, then only every month or so... So did you ever put the filter floss from the other filter in the canister? Should be bringing down the ammonia pretty soon. My 150 cycled in 4 days by running 2 filters from existing tanks on it. That filter floss is pretty much the same concept

 

[mfdrookie516]

let me make a correction on that last post lol... according to melousa58 (i think) in another post, while cycling, the ammonia will cause the ph to jump aruond. so dont worry about the ph. wow i feel stupid, i should have known that

 

[oneball]

No I haven't yet. What I think I'm going to do is cut it in half , leave half in the filter and put half in the fluval, when it's done I will put it back in the old tank, tie it together with fishing line or something. Just didn't have time tonight

 

[mfdrookie516]

i know all about the time thing... that will really help move the cycle along...

 

[oneball]

That about the ph makes me feel better. Ya I'm getting anxious I was about to drain the water and go get one of those cycle kits but I thought better of it and wanted to do it right, even if it takes some time

 

[johnny_zanni]

the texas holey rock also raises the PH

 

[DragonFish71]

You'll want to remove the carbon from your fluval. You shouldn't run carbon or the ammo-carb mix while doing a cycle. After your cycle is done, add it back.