Starting Tank Again - Advice Please (pics)

[MrRipfrog]

Hello to all.

I am new to the Forum and any online community for fish but look forward to all the information shared.

A quick preface;
I have a Jebo 55 Gal tank which housed roughly 14 assorted brackish fish. About 1 year ago I made the mistake of not cleaning the tank for a few weeks and then doing a complete cleaning including changing the filters. The result was the tank cycling again and killing all my fish. I was devastated. I have since moved and am now ready to start a community of fish again, along with a thorough education.

If you would, I would like feedback about my setup and any advice to help establish my tank. The end goal is to keep the Scat's and Mono's and add various Puffers, Gobies and maybe a few others in the Brackish family.

First off, setup:

-Jebo 55 Gl tank w/ extra bubble wand
-Mixture of rock & coral rock for the bottom
-No live plants yet
-Temp in tank ranges from 82.6 F to 83 F
-PH level is 8
-Salt level is 1.010

I started the tank Sunday, August 2nd and added the 3 Scat's and 2 Mono's along with a bottle of SuperBac Nitrifying Bacteria.

I am testing daily and at this point and the ammonia rises from .25 to .50 while showing 0 Nitrite and 0 Nitrate. I do a partial water change (around 15%) every 3 to 4 days to keep the Ammonia levels down. I feed the fish once per day to also minimize the Ammonia buildup.

Now for the questions;

-Am I on track with the cycling process and how long do you think it will take to build up the bacteria to start showing Nitrite? (by the way, I have now read up on the fishless cycle process, however, I already started the tank so trying to make the best of it)

-Does my setup look good, meaning, do you feel I have enough of the honeycomb ceramics, aeration, etc?

-It looks like I am starting to build up algae already. Any thoughts on algae?

-and of course, any comments, constructive criticisms and advice welcome.

Thanks very much!

 

[jsoong]

Hi & welcome to AA!!

I don't know much about cycling a brackish setup, but I would expect it to take about the same time as fresh. Since you are keeping the ammonia low, it will take quite a while to get it fully cycled. At 2 weeks, you are prob. not going to be seeing much action yet. <Someone here did an experiment a while back & cycle with fish while keeping ammonia less than 0.25, he went somewhere around 20 weeks before the process is finished.>

You can speed up the process greatly if you can seed the tank. Most people have no luck with the nitrifying bacteria in a bottle. BioSpira <properly refrigerated & stored) is about the only thing that people had found to work. <I am not sure how well it will work for brackish, as the bacteria are FW.> A better bet is to seed from an established brackish setup.

 

[MrRipfrog]

Thanks for the input jsoong!

And that is crazy about the 20 weeks for the cycling process.

It appears that the SuperBac Nitrifying Bacteria didn't work at all because there is no conversion at all. I am still showing 0 Nitrates.

-Would you explain "seed" from another brackish tank? Does that mean to take some of the filter elements from another tank and place them in my tank?

Thanks again!

 

[jsoong]

Most people find that they can only seed successfully with live bacteria culture. Those in a bottle are supposed to be dormant spores, but they tend to be dead after storage & shipping ...

At any rate, all those cultures are FW bacteria. I have only pushed my tank to 1.003 (for disease treatment). At 1.010, the FW bacteria prob won't survive.

Seeding simply means taking the bacteria culture from the tank. Usually, this means taking part of the filter floss & putting it in your filter. <You can usually take 1/2 the filter floss from a setup without creating a mini-cycle in the donor tank.> In sumps & other setup, you can also take some ceramic rings/ bio-balls, etc. If you can't take the filter floss, you can squeeze out some of the gunk from the filter element onto your filter (keep wet during transport.) This won't be as good as the floss, but will still help.

 

[MrRipfrog]

Thanks again for the input jsoong. I will keep this in mind if I continue to get no conversion soon. Maybe I can talk my local store into selling me some of their Brackish water.

Just to let everyone know, I have spoken to a representative from SuperBac regarding the treatment of my tank with their Nitrifying Bacteria. After taking a sample of water to my local store, with test results in hand, the representative came to the conclusion that the salinity was killing off the "Freshwater" Bacteria. My water was perfect, except the presence of Ammonia.

He is being kind enough to let me pick up a bottle of "Saltwater" Nitrifying Bacteria from my local store tomorrow (Tuesday) and credit the store through distribution. He informed me that even though I am not at full marine salinity (16 actually, or 1.010) that the Saltwater Nitrifying Bacteria should help the cycling process.

So time will tell and I will post results for those interested in starting a Brackish tank.

 

[MrRipfrog]

Update:

Wanted to update the Forum members here for those that are interested.

Yesterday, my tank still had 0 conversion. My Ammonia was steadily rising at apx 1.0 ppm with 0 Nitrites and 0 Nitrates. Water structure is still excellent.

My local fish store was completely out of stock of the "Saltwater" SuperBac Nitrifying Bacteria so the company mailed me 2 bottles (at their cost). They even 2-day'd it to me. The package showed up Thursday (Aug 27) and I added both bottles to my tank around 7:00 PM that evening.

I tested the water today and I have serious conversion going on! 0 Ammonia! Now, my Nitrites are up around .25 ppm but I know things are looking better now and it's just a matter of time for the tank to settle down.

I have to give credit to SuperBac as they stood by their product and gave support when support was needed.

And those that want to start a "Brackish" tank and are interested in using a Nitrifying Bacteria should use the "Saltwater Nitrifying Bacteria" and NOT Freshwater Nitrifying Bacteria. The salt was killing all the freshwater Bacteria and thats why I was getting 0 conversion.

Now I can look forward to the tank settling and getting the rest of the fish I want. Especially Puffers, I love those little guys!

 

[MrRipfrog]

So I just tested the water again and really good news!

-0 Ammonia
-0 Nitrites
-5 ppm Nitrates

So it appears that overnight the tank settled quite a bit. So in just about 36 hours or so (give or take) it appears that my tank has cycled.

Now we will see what happens over the course of the next week to see if there are any spikes but I think things are looking good.

All the fish seem to be doing quite well and I'm excited to start adding some fish and filler items to the tank!

 

[MrRipfrog]

Yesterday I picked up a few things for the tank.

-2 Green Spotted Puffers
-2 Knight Gobys
-Some rock for the tank

I am really liking the way the tank is starting to come together. Maybe next weekend I will try to find a couple different puffers. I would also like to introduce some live plants but I know I am pretty limited with the Brackish tank. Does anyone know of any good Brackish plants?

It was really cool because when GSP's become agitated their belly's get dark in color. When I first brought them home in the bag, their bellies were completely dark. After I released them into the tank, they seemed to perk right up and I haven't seen any dark spots since. I think it's a good sign!

I re-tested the water this afternoon just to make sure there were no spikes with the introduction of 4 new fish plus rocks and good news again:

-0 Ammonia
-0 Nitrite
-6 ppm Nitrate

This Forum is pretty quiet. But, I guess with only 55 members and 292 guests, it would be quiet. O'well... here are some pics of the tank at present along with the new fish.

 

[Aquarium1]

Wow ur tank looks amazing. I might have to try brackish before I go to sw. I'll also have to get me some of tht bacteria too lol. I saw some of those night gobies at mylfs but they were in a fw set up . Any way good luck can't wait for more updates.

 

[Aquarium1]

Btw here is a good website for brackish plants. BracPlants

 

[MrRipfrog]

Thanks very much for the comments! I really love the Green Spotted Puffers and Scats. They have such great personalities. Especially the GSP's, they are like little dogs.
I can't wait to add more items to fill the tank. Over the next couple of weeks for sure.

The Bacteria really worked well for my tank. I couldn't believe how fast it cycled and then settled and everyone looks good.

Wow ur tank looks amazing. I might have to try brackish before I go to sw. I'll also have to get me some of tht bacteria too lol. I saw some of those night gobies at mylfs but they were in a fw set up . Any way good luck can't wait for more updates.

And thank you for the link! That is exactly what I was looking for.

Btw here is a good website for brackish plants. BracPlants.

 

[Aquarium1]

np, can't wait to see what you do with this tank. What is your planned final stocking?

 

[MrRipfrog]

np, can't wait to see what you do with this tank. What is your planned final stocking?

Good question, and one that I am researching. I really like the puffers and will definitely go with a couple more, just not sure which particular puffers. Most likely 3 or 4 more fish will complete my stocking for this tank.

Current stock:
-2 Monos
-2 Ruby Scats
-1 Silver Scat
-2 Knight Gobys
-2 Green Spotted Puffers

The Knight Gobys really hold their own when it comes to feeding time. I was wondering about them but they really get in there and get their share. Very big mouth's as well and can swallow large pieces. I am very pleased with these guys and they look great!

Seeking:
-Stone Fish (These guys actually bark and are really cool to watch feeding on ghost shrimp)

Looking into:
-Ceylon Puffer
-Orange-Spotted Puffer (It seems they may not be a good match for the tank)
-Siamese Tigerfish (These guys look really cool)

I like the Figure 8 Puffers but they are low-end Brackish fish so I will not get any.

I plan on getting more rock to create more of a cavernous look.

Still researching brackish plants. I would like to get some live plants to replace the plastic as the Scats and Monos need greens in their diet and actually nibble on live plants (feeding flake greens currently). Also to help fill in the top of the tank as it seems a little bare on the top.

Maybe this weekend I will head to a few of the local fish stores and see what they have?

 

[MrRipfrog]

What is your planned final stocking?

By the way, I see you have a 55 Gal in the works. What are your plans for that tank?

 

[Aquarium1]

It's going to be a cichlid tank as you might see in my sig. It's kinda too late to go brackish since I already have the rocks and evertying lol. And im ok with cichlids. If something happens to my 10 g as it is having an ammonia spike for some reason, I may turn it brackish (if the parental units don't care).

 

[Etunes]

Looks like a good set up. Can't wait to see more updates. I miss my old brakish tank, maybe i should start another 1.

 

[MrRipfrog]

It's going to be a cichlid tank as you might see in my sig. It's kinda too late to go brackish since I already have the rocks and evertying lol. And im ok with cichlids. If something happens to my 10 g as it is having an ammonia spike for some reason, I may turn it brackish (if the parental units don't care).

I just read your entire thread and caught up. Didn't even see your sig... silly me. You have been very patient. Can't wait to see some fish in your tank!

 

[MrRipfrog]

Looks like a good set up. Can't wait to see more updates. I miss my old brakish tank, maybe i should start another 1.

Thanks for the comment Etunes! There should be some updated pictures this weekend for sure!

Put your arm out so I can twist it (convincing you to do another Brackish tank). I do love the Brackish fish. They really have a lot of personality and people who see the tank always love it.

 

[Aquarium1]

Any more updates, (fish, rock, etc.)? Also, I'd like to see more pics. I hope everything goes well.

 

[MrRipfrog]

Any more updates, (fish, rock, etc.)? Also, I'd like to see more pics. I hope everything goes well.

I am heading to a couple fish stores this weekend and should have some updates then. I will also take more pictures and post them.

On a side note, the new Puffers and Gobies and really starting to get comfortable. Anytime I go to check them, they come up smiling and almost wagging their tails! I just love those little guys!