29 gallon tank journal

[Convict2161]

Ok I'm not familiar with that kit. I use API. Anyway what I would do is take a deep breathe and just relax. Do your water changes and keep testing. Like I said you may never see those other readings. Keep pH stable and temp stable. And keep your ammonia down. Are you using Prime or another additive?

You will eventually see nitrAtes when it starts eating up the "bad" stuff. I would still test for everything right now just to be safe. How long has it been cycling?

Ideally you wanna keep your ammonia under 0.25ppm.

 

[Convict2161]

Here's the bit from the link on fish in cycling that I have been looking for:
"How do I know when my tank is cycled? Your Ammonia levels will gradually give way to higher Nitrite levels. Nitrite will lower to zero and Nitrates will start to rise. When you consistently test zero for Ammonia & Nitrite and have increasing Nitrate, you have a cycled tank! (Woohoo!)"

And the author does mention using media from an established tank, but doesn't say anything about maybe skipping the nitrites.

I can tell you first hand that you may not see those readings. It's a good read but I know many many people that did fish in cycle and didn't have nitrites. I just never saw them. Now I just read nitrAtes and sometimes ammonia.

 

[ErinMcG]

I use Prime for all my water changes. I know that I am being impatient with the cycling. It's only been three weeks. It's just that I am being impatient because I had the seeded media and so I expected it to go quickly this time.

I started a fish less cycle in January and it took ages (8 weeks?) to finally cycle. But, I had a bad case of Cyanobacteria that I couldn't kill and I lost my two cories. So, after much frustration, I stripped it all down and started fresh with a new, bigger tank about three weeks ago. It's looking good. I just want more fish! And I would love to not need to do water changes daily.

I will remember what you said about nitrites and try not to worry so much. I test for ammonia and nitrites daily and pH and nitrates every other day right now.

 

[Convict2161]

Your heading in the right direction. Just relax and take it slow. It's gonna take time but you'll be fine. If you can use some media from an established tank or get some decor or driftwood or even some rocks etc from an established tank, that will help. Keep testing and doing your water changes.

You'll get there.... I'll keep checking back to see how your making out and if you ever have any questions feel free to drop a PM.

Oh and tank looks awesome!! Nice job!

 

[ErinMcG]

Might have seen traces of nitrates today. My lighting in the living room is pretty poor and I find the tank light too bright to tell.

Ammonia was either 0.3 or 0.6 so I did a big water change. And since I had so much water out of the tank, I played around with it a bit. I like this look better. More stuff higher up.

I have to go away in a week for a conference and I will be gone for just over a week. I wonder how I am going to convince my husband to do regular pwcs for me...

 

[derail]

Not bad, new look is great. It will look great with more fish. As far as convincing him to do the pwc's, you ask real nicely and make a goooood dinner. That's how my wife gets me to do stuff: you know that old saying "quickest way to a mans heart is through the stomach" which anatomically is not accurate lol.
Do let me know how you convince him. I've yet to talk my wife into doing a pwc for me lol

 

[Jess1ca]

Looks good! I always get nervous leaving my tanks in the hands of my husband haha. He isn't as particular as I

 

[ErinMcG]

Good news is that I definitely had nitrates tonight. You were right derail, do sign of nitrites, but the nitrates have shown up. Small amount, but there. Ammonia was lower that it has been too. It was at 0.1 instead of the usual 0.3 or 0.6 I have been seeing.

Bad news is that my filter just wouldn't restart after this water change. I had to pull out the back up and it's noisy. It sits higher up, so now there is a constant sound of running water. It will drive me nuts, but worse, it is going to drive my husband nuts when he gets back from his trip tomorrow. I had better look into replacing it.

EDIT: ordered a new fitter. Aquaclear 50. Good price on Amazon, so I figure it will be worth it. Will have to wait a while to get it though as it is going to a friend south of the border. She comes up fairly often though, so hopefully within a few weeks.

 

[Jess1ca]

Good news is that I definitely had nitrates tonight. You were right derail, do sign of nitrites, but the nitrates have shown up. Small amount, but there. Ammonia was lower that it has been too. It was at 0.1 instead of the usual 0.3 or 0.6 I have been seeing.

Bad news is that my filter just wouldn't restart after this water change. I had to pull out the back up and it's noisy. It sits higher up, so now there is a constant sound of running water. It will drive me nuts, but worse, it is going to drive my husband nuts when he gets back from his trip tomorrow. I had better look into replacing it.

EDIT: ordered a new fitter. Aquaclear 50. Good price on Amazon, so I figure it will be worth it. Will have to wait a while to get it though as it is going to a friend south of the border. She comes up fairly often though, so hopefully within a few weeks.

Seeing that tube turn Orange is awesome isn't it lol. I prayed for a nice tint of Orange everyday during my cycle haha. Your gonna love that filter. My AC's are awesome

 

[ErinMcG]

Seeing that tube turn Orange is awesome isn't it lol. I prayed for a nice tint of Orange everyday during my cycle haha. Your gonna love that filter. My AC's are awesome

Pink on my tests (I have the nutrafin tests), but yes, I have been praying for pink daily. Resisting the urge to test now. It's an evening thing, not an afternoon thing. Don't want to rush myself just because I am impatient!

 

[Jess1ca]

Pink on my tests (I have the nutrafin tests), but yes, I have been praying for pink daily. Resisting the urge to test now. It's an evening thing, not an afternoon thing. Don't want to rush myself just because I am impatient!

I'm kind of jealous urs is pink lol! I tested a million times a day everyday haha. I was a little ocd

 

[ErinMcG]

Sadly, the one day of pink seems to have been an aberration. Still no nitrites or nitrates. :-(

And now, I am in Ontario for a week and trusting my husband to tank care of the tank. He's agreed to do a pwc every other day, but doesn't want to fidget with testing, etc. Fingers crossed that my three wee neons will still be ok when I get back.

Plus, though I remembered to do the weekly pwc on Alfred's 5 gallon in my office, I forgot to do the one on Jupiter's tank in my son's room. Best send an email about that!

I knew I should have ordered that sponge from Angels Plus for the 29 gallon tank. I just kept thinking it was cycling. I will order it just before I head home and hopefully we will get there around the same time. Though, I worry about ordering it and not being home to receive it...

 

[ErinMcG]

So, I came back after about 10 days away to find...

3 neons, still happily swimming around
More plant growth
Still weird grey stuff on my sand
Diatoms
Ammonia (0.6)
NitrAtes! (5)

Yay for nitrates, boo for ammonia. But, while my husband says he did pwcs for me while I was away, he can't exactly remember when the last one was, so the ammonia may not be a surprise. Still, a couple of pwcs and things will be fine. Plus, I have nitrates. Oh, and did I mention the nitrates?

I am beginning to think I have a lot of java ferns, though they aren't hugely big. Maybe I should take some to Alfred's tank at my office.

There are a lot of bubbles on the glass from my first pwc tonight. Second one will come when I work up the energy.

 

[ErinMcG]

Well.... Things went crazy for a bit and my entire life (including my tank) has been neglected. Just moved and successfully moved the tank in the process. Sadly, there was no time to test my water prior to the move, but I am worried that I have started a new cycle. I kept the filter in tank water and left a couple of inches of water over my sand and plants. It's only been a since Friday, but I am worrying because I still have traces of ammonia but no sign of nitrates. I should test my tap water in the new place.

Still only have the three neon tetras.

I was day-dreaming about my stocking again though.

I am thinking that I will keep the neons after all. They have been through tough times with me. So, I need to get them some buddies soon.

Plan is currently:
6 neon tetras
8 ember tetras
6 panda cories
1 bn Pleco

And....? Any suggestions?

 

[ErinMcG]

Plants seem reasonably happy too, by the way.

 

[ErinMcG]

New acquisitions today!

Little red ramshorn (who has been busily cleaning the debris from one on my anubias), plus two baby bn plecos. Don't think I can snag pics of them though.... Hah! Got one.

 

[ErinMcG]

Better shot.

 

[ErinMcG]

Hmmm.... Trying not to get frustrated here. Maybe I need to buy new water tests. I added 3 new inhabitants, bringing me to 5 fish and a snail. It has been close to a week. Not change in any of my levels. Ammonia is steady at 0.1 and my nitrates and nitrites are still at 0. I decided to do a water change because it has been a few days and I wanted to vac over my sand anyway. Why do my levels stay the same?

 

[bud29]

Kind of odd, since plecos carry a large bioload. I would just stick with what you're doing, keep testing the water and changing the water. Nothing bad can really become of that.....And what test kit are you using?


A sidenote: BN plecos are awesome. especially babies. I'm getting one that's ~1" for my 30 gallon. I'm more excited about that fish than all the others

 

[Wy Renegade]

Hmmm.... Trying not to get frustrated here. Maybe I need to buy new water tests. I added 3 new inhabitants, bringing me to 5 fish and a snail. It has been close to a week. Not change in any of my levels. Ammonia is steady at 0.1 and my nitrates and nitrites are still at 0. I decided to do a water change because it has been a few days and I wanted to vac over my sand anyway. Why do my levels stay the same?

Have you tested your water source yet? If you're filter was seeded and maintained, you may have experienced a small minicycle as a result of disturbing the substrate, but that should be settling down.