20 Gallon Low Light Tank Build Journal

[Scottyhorse]

Yay you are almost done! Congrats!

 

[PattyCakes81]

Yay you are almost done! Congrats!

Thanks! I hope so. Going to test it again.

 

[Scottyhorse]

That cycle didn't seem to take to long. At least, not to me. To you it probably felt like it took forever. Haha.

 

[PattyCakes81]

That cycle didn't seem to take to long. At least, not to me. To you it probably felt like it took forever. Haha.

Yesterday, after testing water I dosed ammonia back up to 4ppm. I checked now and its 0.25ppm (I know this is a good thing). Do I keep on dosing back up to 4ppm.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

You can add fish as long as the ammonia and nitrite are fully converted to nitrate and you do a water change to get the nitrates below 20ppm. If the nitrites are taking more than a day or two to fully convert then dosing more ammonia again would be a good idea.

 

[PattyCakes81]

Wisteria rotted away to nothing over night! Did major WC! No matter how spread out I placed the stems it fell apart. :'(
Did I new rescape! What you guys think?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Not bad. What's that perforated ball under the wood arch? Never seen that before. It would look more natural if is was placed somewhere else.

 

[ktomminello]

Sounds like a combination of a couple things- light coverage, ammonia and ph fluctuation- crypts, wisteria, camboba, ludwigia and other similar plants tend to melt more often than anubias and sword plants, they are also shade tolerant... hmmm

 

[PattyCakes81]

Not bad. What's that perforated ball under the wood arch? Never seen that before. It would look more natural if is was placed somewhere else.

Its called a shrimp rock. Its made of clay with 1/2 inch deep holes in it so the shrimp can hide. You are right will moved it to the back of the wood arch.
I am so happy. My crypt is adjusting no more melting. It actually has a new leaf! Also the Cabomba is growing healthy. I already had to trim and replant it. It is almost covering the heater!

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Its called a shrimp rock. Its made of clay with 1/2 inch deep holes in it so the shrimp can hide. You are right will moved it to the back of the wood arch.
I am so happy. My crypt is adjusting no more melting. It actually has a new leaf! Also the Cabomba is growing healthy. I already had to trim and replant it. It is almost covering the heater!

A shrimp rock? Hummm, sounds interesting. Gonna have to look into those. Thanks for letting me know about it. What type of shrimp are you planning on keeping again?

Really glad to hear that some of your plants are recovering nicely. Crypts may be delicate in some ways but once you start seeing new growth they can really take off! The ones in my tanks started off from one plant I got 12 years ago. You'd think after looking at it for that long they would start to get old but they so don't. Even though they don't really fit in my new scape I can't make myself get rid of them. It was my very first plant.

 

[PattyCakes81]

A shrimp rock? Hummm, sounds interesting. Gonna have to look into those. Thanks for letting me know about it. What type of shrimp are you planning on keeping again?

Really glad to hear that some of your plants are renovating nicely. Crypts may be delicate in some ways but once you start seeing new growth they can really take off! The ones in my tanks started off from one plant I got 12 years ago. You'd think after looking at it for that long they would start to get old but they so don't. Even though they don't really fit in my new scape I can't make myself get rid of them. It was my very first plant.

I got the shrimp rocks from this website:
http://www.plecocaves.com/Caves.htm
I love crypts. Especially the Mi Oya like the one I have. I am actually going to order another one. Also going to order this sword:
http://www.shop.plantedaquariumscen...RAND-NEW-Smaller-Sword-Plant-KLEINERPRINZ.htm
Its suppose to stay small just 12 inches!

 

[swifty]

Interested to see how this continues to go along.

 

[PattyCakes81]

Interested to see how this continues to go along.

I had a lot of up and downs with my cycling. A couple of times I overdosed with the ammonia. Other times my pH would go down from 6.8/7.0 all the way to 6.0!
But wait! There is a plus side. I think I am almost done with my cycling and the plants are nice and getting healthy.

 

[ktomminello]

I had a lot of up and downs with my cycling. A couple of times I overdosed with the ammonia. Other times my pH would go down from 6.8/7.0 all the way to 6.0!
But wait! There is a plus side. I think I am almost done with my cycling and the plants are nice and getting healthy.

sounds about right- your ph instability should balance now that you've got your plants back, though you will probably run on the low end.... Did you do a change out when you overdosed your ammonia?

 

[PattyCakes81]

sounds about right- your ph instability should balance now that you've got your plants back, though you will probably run on the low end.... Did you do a change out when you overdosed your ammonia?

Yeah, I did a 95% water change. I hope it does stabilize. My nitrites have gone down to zero.

Re-dosed ammonia back up to 4 ppm last night.

Going to wait 24 hours to see if ammonia and nitrites are processed down to 0. Going to test that for a couple of days before I am positive that the cycle is complete.
then I will do the recommended 90% water change the night before getting fishes.

 

[PattyCakes81]

Do I still have a lot to go in my cycle?
My test results in 24 hours went from this:

I dosed ammonia back up to ~4ppm

24 hours later:

What do you guys think?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

You can do a water change to get the nitrate down to 5-15ppm then test for ammonia and nitrate and if all is good add a few fish. The ammonia isn't all gone but 4ppm in this size tank is a lot to add all at once IMHO. If you do add fish just feed lightly and check the water. I doubt you'll have problems but you always have water changes to correct things. It's up to you.

 

[PattyCakes81]

You can do a water change to get the nitrate down to 5-15ppm then test for ammonia and nitrate and if all is good add a few fish. The ammonia isn't all gone but 4ppm in this size tank is a lot to add all at once IMHO. If you do add fish just feed lightly and check the water. I doubt you'll have problems but you always have water changes to correct things. It's up to you.

So you think I should order fish already? Why is 4ppm too high? I thought if you don't go over 5ppm at one time it is okay to do 4ppm? Doesn't they create a bigger BB colony? I was just following the fishless stickie.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

So you think I should order fish already? Why is 4ppm too high? I thought if you don't go over 5ppm at one time it is okay to do 4ppm? Doesn't they create a bigger BB colony? I was just following the fishless stickie.

Oh, I wasn't saying you added to much. I was just saying that 4ppm is a strong dose. You're doing it 100% right and it will definitely feed a large BB colony. How many fish are you planning to order?

 

[PattyCakes81]

Oh, I wasn't saying you added to much. I was just saying that 4ppm is a strong dose. You're doing it 100% right and it will definitely feed a large BB colony. How many fish are you planning to order?

Thank you. You have been very helpful.
This is my stock list:

How many and which ones should I order first?