dearmschris
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hello,
I'm a beginner trying to do a fishless cycle and I am hoping someone might be willing to take a look at what I've been doing with my tank and tell me if I'm doing ok so far. I'm doing my best to be patient and I'm happy to keep on waiting and being patient as long as I'm doing things right! If I'm doing things wrong please let me know what I could do better. Thanks!
38g bowfront tank with Penguin biowheel filter
7/22 -- set up tank (including lights, filter), rinsed gravel and decorations, filled with water treated with QuickStart. (I have since been told that QuickStart is fairly useless.) I looked for ammonia without surfactants and wasn't able to find it near me so I ordered Dr. Tim's Aquatics ammonia drops online and waited for that to arrive. I also ordered Seachem stability which was recommended to me by another member.
7/25 -- tested water (using API Freshwater Master Test Kit) to get some kind of baseline
pH: 7.6
ammonia: 0 -- 0.25 PPM
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 0 ppm
7/27 -- added Seachem Stability (day 1 -- one capful per 20 gallons, as directed) and Dr. Tim's Aquatics ammonia drops (one drop per gallon, as directed)
7/28 -- added Seachem Stability (day 2)
pH: 7.6
ammonia: 0 -- 0.25 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 0 ppm
7/29 -- added Seachem Stability (day 3)
pH: 7.2
ammonia: 0.25 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 0 ppm
7/30 -- added Seachem Stability (day 4)
pH: 7.2
ammonia: 0.5 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 0 ppm
7/31 -- added Seachem Stability (day 5), added Dr. Tim's Aquatics ammonia drops (1 drop per gallon)
pH: 7.6
ammonia: 0.5 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 0 ppm
***Does all of this sound ok? If not, what can I do to get things on the right track?
***Seachem Stability says "Fish and other aquatic species may be introduced at any time as long as dosage is maintained for 7 days." Is this true? I thought I needed to wait until the tank was cycled. Of course I'd love to add a few fish if it is safe for them but the reason I chose to do a fishless cycle was because I read that it could be harmful or at least uncomfortable for fish to be in the tank before it is completely cycled.
Thank you very much.
I'm a beginner trying to do a fishless cycle and I am hoping someone might be willing to take a look at what I've been doing with my tank and tell me if I'm doing ok so far. I'm doing my best to be patient and I'm happy to keep on waiting and being patient as long as I'm doing things right! If I'm doing things wrong please let me know what I could do better. Thanks!
38g bowfront tank with Penguin biowheel filter
7/22 -- set up tank (including lights, filter), rinsed gravel and decorations, filled with water treated with QuickStart. (I have since been told that QuickStart is fairly useless.) I looked for ammonia without surfactants and wasn't able to find it near me so I ordered Dr. Tim's Aquatics ammonia drops online and waited for that to arrive. I also ordered Seachem stability which was recommended to me by another member.
7/25 -- tested water (using API Freshwater Master Test Kit) to get some kind of baseline
pH: 7.6
ammonia: 0 -- 0.25 PPM
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 0 ppm
7/27 -- added Seachem Stability (day 1 -- one capful per 20 gallons, as directed) and Dr. Tim's Aquatics ammonia drops (one drop per gallon, as directed)
7/28 -- added Seachem Stability (day 2)
pH: 7.6
ammonia: 0 -- 0.25 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 0 ppm
7/29 -- added Seachem Stability (day 3)
pH: 7.2
ammonia: 0.25 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 0 ppm
7/30 -- added Seachem Stability (day 4)
pH: 7.2
ammonia: 0.5 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 0 ppm
7/31 -- added Seachem Stability (day 5), added Dr. Tim's Aquatics ammonia drops (1 drop per gallon)
pH: 7.6
ammonia: 0.5 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 0 ppm
***Does all of this sound ok? If not, what can I do to get things on the right track?
***Seachem Stability says "Fish and other aquatic species may be introduced at any time as long as dosage is maintained for 7 days." Is this true? I thought I needed to wait until the tank was cycled. Of course I'd love to add a few fish if it is safe for them but the reason I chose to do a fishless cycle was because I read that it could be harmful or at least uncomfortable for fish to be in the tank before it is completely cycled.
Thank you very much.