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It's been a while, thought I'd upload a picture of how my tank has evolved in the last few months since adding stock. Current inhabitants are 10 harlequin rasbora, 2 otos, 6 shultzei Cory and 2 german blue rams. No deaths / disease or illness to date (touch wood). Plant life; Cabomba, various...

Wow, 380+ views and only 2 people have bothered to offer any input (thanks guys). Is this forum dead or do you need to be in some sort of elite club before anybody gets involved with you?

OK so 36 hours ago I added 6 harlequin rasbora and 2 Oto. Water test readings are 0 ammonia 0 nitrite 5 nitrate.

Additional pic

Few pics, tank seems to have clouded up a little since adding the fish, hopefully that subsides soon. Any ideas on how to improve the look and actual habitat of the tank. It feels a bit bare to me but I don't really want to crowd the floor too much. My eye isn't spotting good places too add...

I did check on my phone in the shop that they would suit my water parameters - PH 6.8 Unfortunately the test kit I have doesn't have anything for GH / KH but according to the water provider report for my area the water is very soft - hardness Clarke 1.47. Didn't intend to take the fam but it...

Ok, so, tank finally cycled. Yesterday I went to the LFS for some initial stock - I intended to come back with 6 orange Venezuelan Corys however I thought they were a little expensive for the initial stock, would have cost £30 for the 6, so I will get them a little further down the line. I did...

Yes the taps are fully open, flow Smisby nice etc, intake and outlet are on opposite sides of the tank, everything seems OK. I might let ammonia drop to zero, do a 50% water change and then add fish the following day. I only intend to start with about 6 Cory's...

Thanks again. My tank is 180 litre and I have the external Eheim Ecco Pro 300. I have the filter outlet above the water line so it's literally blasting bubbles about 2 inch below the surface, so gas exchange to oxygenate the water should be more than enough. Just seems like a slow process, not...

Hi, thanks for your input Yes nitrate reading is sky high. I tested yesterday and ammonia was around 2ppm with a 0.5 nitrite reading. The tank is definitely processing the ammonia, just not as fast as is suggested in the guide located on this forum.

Getting really annoyed now. Ammonia dropped to about 0.5 again 48 hours ago, so I dosed ammonia back to 3ppm in the tank. Tested daily and ammonia has slowly dropped to around 1ppm after 48 hours. Nitrite reading is just constantly zero and I just don't get it. Getting sick of this now, fish...

Well, disappointed. After dosing to 3ppm ammonia, 36 hours later my readings are around 1.5 ammonia and 0.75 nitrite. Feel a bit lost in the middle of this cycle now!

Thanks for that. I do have live plants but the filter was brand new no mature media. I did the nitrite test again this time with the tap water and again it returned a 0 reading. I don't really understand the biology of the cycle fully but in my small mind, if there is no ammonia present...

I'm at stage 4. I'm waiting to dose the 1/3 ammonia. Today is the first day I've had a 0 / 0.25 reading off ammonia, so I'm waiting for my second day of that until I dose.....BUT nitrite is now reading 0 as well. Are you saying the nitrite reading at this stage is irrelevant and I should wait...

So far my tank has had two full doses of ammonia but it looks cycled to me now. I mean there's no ammonia to covert to nitrite and not nitrate to convert to nitrate, so essentially nothing is happening right now. But the guide suggests snack dosing on Sunday?? I'm tempted to dose ammonia back...

Thanks for your replies. So, I've just tested again and I'm getting what looks like 0.25 ammonia but It could be closer to 0. 0 nitrites 20 nitrates According to the guide on here I should wait now until Sunday and test again, if I get 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites I then snack dose ammonia. Am...

Getting a bit tense with cycle now and i'm being told different things so would really appreciate some help! Today is day 22, I've been following the guide on here, to the letter. The tank has had dose two last week and I've been testing every other day as per the guide. I tested last night and...

Tested again this morning, ammonia at 1ppm and nitrite over 2ppm so it looks like the second does is imminent. It's a very tedious process this cycling business, I can't wait to get some fish in there now! Which brings me on to stocking. I thought fish selection would be relatively easy with a...

Got a nitrite reading yesterday, things are moving forward! Made some additions to the tank as well...

So tested again today and the results are the same..... Is this usual?

OK so my test results showed ammonia has dropped to around 2ppm but my nitrite was still reading 0. Does that look about right at this stage? Thought I should be showing nitrite once the ammonia starts dropping?

hi again, and thanks! I basically want to create a bit of a drop in the sand right in the middle of the aquarium. So I was thinking of using rock/stones as a kind of barrier for the sand and create a semi circle in the middle of the tank that's lower down and has no plants at all. And then have...

Ok, so today is the first day of testing following initiating the cycle. Will be doing that when I get home from work and will update the results on here later. I've had an idea for a cool aquascape though now and I'm bummed that I'll need to empty the tank in order to do it, wish I had thought...

Nice tank! I did want quite a bit of open swimming space as well as plants but I do like the carpeting type plants so I may go all out. Thanks again for your help, will look into your plant recommendations. Cheers

Thanks for your reply. And thanks so much for the plant id. I had a feeling that was java fern, I will attach it to the bog wood tonight. I didnt mention it but I have put some API root tabs in the sand already and i also dosed some King British liquid fertz as well. Any recommendations on...

Managed to include some pictures this time! I re arranged the tank slightly and I'm a bit happier with it now. Although I think I've made the mistake of going too symmetrical. Not quite sure, but something is bothering me about the scape. Wasn't really what I had in mind at the beginning. I may...