fluval edge

[Aron]

Haha autocorrect is great isn't it!! No problem! For what it's worth I never tried the stock bulbs but I have lilaeopsis carpeting mine at the minute in low light and had a nice java fern and Anubias surviving in there.

 

[tiger terror]

I upgraded to high output led&kept the halogens at the same time...we'll see how it goes..

 

[tiger terror]

Well....the high output led's didn't work out,began to over heat my tank...

 

[Aron]

Just a straight bulb swap!? If so can you try one high output and one halogen? Anyway as I said I never gave the stock bulbs a chance!

 

[tiger terror]

Did some research&found these really cool led srip lights that can be attached to the light housing...they can also be shaped,I went with lunar that can be put on a timer or left on continously...should arrive in 10 days or so..

 

[tiger terror]

Here's one decent pic of the tank now...

 

[tiger terror]

Have an issue,I ran my cycle through& now some days later my ammo shot up to 1.0...what may have caused this? Any ideas?

 

[KittyKat]

I think you may have misread the OP's first post. S/he stated that shrimp, plants, and fish would not be added until after the cycle is complete. […]

Actually, they did say that they added a couple of ghost shrimp on the 8th and were planning to add fish shortly:

So far the cycle is going well,added a couple ghost shrimp& they seem to be doing quite well. Will check levels tomorrow & if all is well will be going to the lfs to pick up plants,my various shrimp&a couple small fish..

Have an issue,I ran my cycle through& now some days later my ammo shot up to 1.0...what may have caused this? Any ideas?

Tiger, a fish-less cycle usually takes 4-8 weeks, while a fish-in (or shrimp-in) usually takes 6-12 weeks, although either can take more or less time. (The numbers are from my observations of 100s of cycles.)
What you are seeing is your expected ammonia spike. Try to keep that reading as close to 0 ppm as possible with water changes and never let it reach 0.25 ppm. Remember to double dose using a dechlorinator which deals with ammonia when treating new water!

 

[tiger terror]

Thanks again....I have added plants...

 

[tiger terror]

So today after getting home I checked the ammo right away...ammo at .25,did a 50% wc w/a double dose of prime & 30 mins later added 4 ml of stability..rechecked ammo&was at 0...

 

[KittyKat]

Keep that up until you're not getting ammonia readings with normal feeding and water changes. If you have difficulty keeping ammonia very low, you can reduce feeding to as little as once every 3 days or less. There's also no harm in doing large, daily (or even more often) water changes with temperature matched water As I mentioned before, the plants really will help, so it's great that you got them.

 

[tiger terror]

So here we are again,tested after getting in early&ammo was at 0...will retest for all parameters before I call it a nite..

 

[tiger terror]

So tonite's tests are as followsh7.0- ammo0-nitrites0&nitates2.5...

 

[KittyKat]

That's great results, it's worth keeping a record of them so you can later go back and see how long it takes for any of the readings to change. If you get double 0s for a week without any water changes, it's probably relatively safe to consider the filter cycled to support the animals which are currently in the tank.

 

[tiger terror]

Did a ammo check this morning,level at 0 currently..

 

[tiger terror]

So,checked for ammo today after work..level was at .25,followed that up with a 50% wc.

 

[KittyKat]

Keep it up You should start checking your nitrites too, because they can cause the fish to suffocate. As with ammonia, I recommend that nitrites are kept as close to 0 ppm as possible and below 0.25 ppm.

 

[tiger terror]

Tested again today after work&ammo was at .25,did a 50% wc&at 10 o'clock my readings were as followsh 7.0-ammo 0-nitrites 0-nitrates 0...

 

[KittyKat]

Since you're consistently getting 0.25 ppm ammonia every day, it is probably worth increasing to 60% water changes at 12 hour intervals and/or cutting down the quantity of food given at every feeding.

 

[tiger terror]

I've already cut on feeding to just short of starving,this morning did some more testing..results as followsh fell somewhat to 6.2- ammo .25-nitrites 0 & nitrates not quite 0 so in between 0 & .25...wandering why the ph dropped though?FYI the plants are all thriving...