Fishless Cycle

[Lonewolfblue]

Monday I should be getting my plants and another powerhead that I ordered. Today I also ordered a new impeller assembly for my Emperor 280, and the little rubber end is cracked, due to my messing around, lol. But still works fine, just want to get it replaced. Also ordered more Prime, some small lava media and ceramic rings for my media cartriges. And I got a black background as well. And then I decided to get 2 more powerheads. Will have 3 RIO 600 powerheads for water movement to keep the waste afloat more so the filter will remove more, and keep the AquaClear Powerhead in the small tank. The sharks will love it too, as they like the powerhead in my small tank when it's on. They try to swim up-current for some good exercise, lol.

 

[greenmaji]

greenmaji

Here's a link for you to check out. Scroll toward the bottom where it talks about the fuzzy stuff....

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/driftwood.php

so.. it was the driftwood.. lol of course it was.. lol
yea.. I hadnt studied up as to what exactly it is and according to that link they dont know what exactly the stuff is either..
belive it or not I dont google my advice.. unless of course I say I reaserched it wich is very rare..
Ive seen it before and it does normaly go away eventurally.. sometimes that can take a long time but this is a long term investment..

hay.. good to hear that cycle is moving for you.. seeding the tank really does help

 

[greenmaji]

try a dab of super glue gel on that impeller cap if you would like to try to salvage it.. I would but of course I try to make everyting last too long.. LOL

 

[Lonewolfblue]

lol...

I figured that since I was ordering from Big Al's anyways, I'd order a replacement anyways. My 55G has the Emperor 400, and will also have 3 RIO 600 powerheads for some current.

Should be getting all my plants, etc tomorrow. Will have more pics when all the plants are in place. Artificial plants of course, lol.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Sunday Nov 20, 2005

Day 7 Results....

ph - 7.2
Ammonia - .00ppm
nitrite - 5ppm
nitrate - 20ppm.

Did PWC of 10G. Added ammonia, 2ppm, can't let those bacterias starve, lol. Checked nitrates. Will do another pwc tomorrow to bring them down. Can't wait til the nitrites go down to 0.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Monday Nov 21, 2005

Day 8 Results....

ph - 7.2
Ammonia - .00ppm
nitrite - 2ppm
nitrate - 20ppm.

Nitrites are falling. Will do another PWC this afternoon. Adding another 2ppm ammonia.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Everyone here keeps asking me when I'm going to move my fish to the new tank. I keep telling them, "Patience my friends, patience...." LOL

 

[Lonewolfblue]

The algae is still growing. Gonna leave it til I ad the fish, maybe the CAE's will devour it all. It's growing not only on the driftwood, but the pool filter sand as well.

Water is now starting to clear up again. I think it's because the nitrite spike is passing, and the tank is just about cycled. I bet it's crystal clear tomorrow.

 

[Legacy]

So the eels only come out at night, huh? If you get yourself a moonlight you should be able to observe them at night quite easily. I love watching my archer under the moonlight and they're not even nocturnal. =)

looks like your 55G is coming along really nicely!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

They come out at about 9pm. I leave my kitchen light on, gives enough light in the front room to play with them.

I stick my finger in and they come up and sniff it, and rub their heads on my finger. And they dance saying, feed me, feed me, lol.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

When they were small, around 4 inches, they used to come out during the day. But not no more.... One is 9" and the other 10".

 

[Lonewolfblue]

And to think, in the new tank they will be watching over me while I sleep, lol. 55G is next to my bed in the master bedroom.

 

[Zagz]

LOL, sounds like it is coming along really great. I can't wait till you post pics!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Got my shipment in today. Got all my plants, lol. It's like Christmas, lol.

I put in my 300W heater that was in the shipment. Gonna wait a day or 2 to put the plants in, as one of the plants I'm putting on top of a cave and drapes over it. Will look pretty cool. Then I got 2 plants, didn't really know how tall they were going to be, lol. I think the bigger green one will fill some of the empty space in my small tank, and the redish one, just a little shorter, will go in the big tank, along with other assorted plants small to medium size. Will look like a desert wasteland when I get done, lol.

 

[greenmaji]

Everyone here keeps asking me when I'm going to move my fish to the new tank. I keep telling them, "Patience my friends, patience...." LOL

8O 8O 8O 8O

Lets just say there lucky they didn't PM me asking about adding the fish before the tank was cycled.



good work!!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Did a 30% PWC tonight. Tank is looking good. Yesterday I had taken the rock cave out to dry, as I got all my plants today, and I just siliconed the plant to the top of the cave. The plant drapes over the cave and entrance, giving it some nice cover. Should be completely cured tomorrow. Will probably wait til Wednesday to dig in and set up the tank with the plants. Would like to get some small pieces of plexi to silicone some of the smaller plants to so they don't keep getting pulled out.

Also need to find exactly where I'm going to place my heater and all 3 powerheads. This is where all the fun of aquariums is. Yes, it's a lot of work, but it's a lot of fun. And if it looks great when you are done, you get a sense of accomplishment.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Wonder if I'm doing anything wrong, lol. Thought I'd be cycled by now, after seeding the tank pretty well. lol.

Tuesday Nov 22, 2005
Day 9 Results....

ph - 7.0
Ammonia - .50ppm
nitrite - 2ppm
nitrate - not checked.
Temp 82.6

Water still just very slightly cloudy, but looks much better than the other day. Also, when I seeded, I tried spreading some stuff off the cycled biowheel onto the new one, and it wouldn't stick. Was like teflon, lol. So I wasn't able to do the bio-wheels good. I looked at them today, and still look clean. On my small tank, when I put the Emperor 280 on it, the bio-wheel started looking a little dirty after a week. But it's been 9 days and still looks clean, lol.

I had another hitch-hiker. Aparently there was a baby snail in the driftwood from the small tank. I got home from work and saw a spot on the tank. A few minutes later I looked again, and it was in a different spot, lol. So I looked closer, and sure enough, a tiny, tiny snail. Will keep him in there, as I will be adding loaches when it's finally cycled. If it cycles, lol.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Looks like my ph dropped another notch. Been 7.2 for a while, now 7.0 exactly. The color on the card is exact. I like driftwood.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Wednesday Nov 23, 2005
Day 10 Results....

ph - 7.0
Ammonia - .00ppm
nitrite - 5ppm
nitrate - not checked.
Temp 81.2

Added another 2ppm ammonia.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Thusday Nov 24, 2005
Happy Thanksgiving all.....

Day 11 Results....

ph - 7.0
Ammonia - .00ppm again, added 2ppm yesterday
nitrite - 2ppm
nitrate - not checked.
Temp 81.2

Added another 2-3ppm ammonia this morning.

Not sure what to think. I put my new 300W heater in the tank, took the 200W heater out, and the tank stays above 81 degrees. I'm trying to lower to 78 now so when it's time to add fish, it will be where I want it. I set it down to 74 on the heater, and still maintains above 81. Room temp is about 65 degrees. I wonder if it's the lights that is bringing the temp up. I don't want it that high when I add the fish, as I would like it to be around 78. But then again, when the lights are off at night, it still maintains that temp. And I don't see the heater turn on either, or the elements glow, unless I turn it up to above 81 degrees, which it then turns on. Any other thoughts of a heat source? My filter is a Emperor 400 and also have a powerhead in there, the one from my small tank. I have digital thermometers on both my tanks, the same one, with the probe about mid-tank. I just turned the heater down further to see what happens. It's a Aquarium Pharmasudicals Rena Cal Top Light excel submersable 300W heater for aquariums 55-100G.

On my last water change, I lowered the temp to 77, and it's back above 81. And I didn't see my heater turn on. So there's got to be another source. Is there a chance that the cycling process geneates some heat? Kind of doubt it, but some chemical processes do create heat.