New 35g community timeline!

[captaincritical]

Thanks, fishyfriends! I had some limestone in there because it was mislabelled at the store. It raised my pH considerably. It's since been removed and I'm hoping my earlier water change will help to bring it back down. I'll test it again shortly.

 

[fishyfriends3]

Yeah limestone will do that, no problem glad to help. The aquascape looks good some people have a natural gift for aquascaping I'm not one of those but you are. Looking forward to seeing your tank once it's cycled and had some fish in.

 

[captaincritical]

Aw, thank you so much! I'll definitely be posting updates as I go.

 

[fishyfriends3]

Excellent, my cycle took five days with seeded media btw but don't assume that will be the same for everyone but just thought I'd let you know.

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[captaincritical]

5 days sounds pretty fantastic to me! Did you add ammonia to keep the BB fed or do something else?

 

[fishyfriends3]

No I added a pinch of tropical flake food and as much seeded media as I could ram into the filter. Then kept testing the water everyday. The only other thing I did was a massive water change on day five to reduce the nitrates.

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[Brookster123]

If you get some serious bugs you could be ready to roll in 4/5 days.. Easy!

 

[fishyfriends3]

Bugs ?

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[Brookster123]

Sorry, beneficial bacteria, my Lfs gave me a bag Of bugs to kick start my cycle!

 

[fishyfriends3]

Oh I c gotcha.

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[captaincritical]

Now I just have to resist the urge to add some fish along with my seeded media. Patience, Laurie! Patience.

 

[fishyfriends3]

I think that's the one thing fish keeping has taught me more than anything else Patience.

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[captaincritical]

Tested the water again this morning. Can't tell if the pH says 7.4 or 8.0. Are those two colours really close or am I just insane?

Also my ammonia is higher again. I wish I knew why! Can algae create ammonia?

 

[fishyfriends3]

Looks like 8.0 again to me, or it is I who is insane?

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[fishyfriends3]

Regards ammonia I think it's just part of the cycle ammonia goes up then down then nitrites go up etc.

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[captaincritical]

It just seems curious to me because I haven't added anything that should be creating ammonia. I checked it again just now and it's gone down, but no nitrites or nitrates yet. Odd.

 

[Brookster123]

How's the tank doing? Get a figure on ph yet?

 

[captaincritical]

I'm almost certain the pH is 7.4. I asked my boyfriend, who thought the same. He's a tattoo artist so I'll have to assume he has better colour sense than I do and take his word for it.

 

[jwh0818]

I think its safe to say your ph is 7.8-8.0 I don't have a true answer to mine either. It's 7.8-8.0 on mine as well

 

[captaincritical]

Thanks for the input! My only concern is that my phone camera makes it look more pink than it appears to the naked eye. Either way it appears to be stable, so I suppose that's what's important.