125 Gallon Tank

[Amunet]

Just checked pH and nitrite again.
After taking the first tests today, added in the usual 2 caps of ammonia.
Wasn't really sure what to expect from the nitrites... but the color was darkened a little bit. So that at least tells me that the bacteria is still functioning properly.. woot! Time will only tell how much the pH crash affected this.. if at all
pH was back up to a 7.8 reading which is good and where I like to keep it.
Will def be testing pH now along with ammonia and nitrites.

 

[Amunet]

Something weird is going on w/ the nitrites...
I just tested it again b/c I was curious, and this is what I got

It's like a very dilluted 0 reading. Never had it look this way before.






and a random trumpet snail from our 28gal tank. Was looking at the hundreds of snails in there and spotted this huge one. It's a lot bigger than the rest and even has algae growing on its shell lol. It must be one of the original ones that we got from petsmart.


Ok so I did a nitrite test on our 28gal just to see what color would come up, and it's the usual 0 reading that should. That bright aqua color.

 

[Amunet]

Daily Cycle Update!

So I asked what the weird nitrite color was about on the tropical general section, and was told that it means that nitrites are off the scale. BOOOOO I was hoping this tank was close to being done dernit! heh

So yeah... pH is staying up, and nitrites are still off the scale apparently.


Someone suggested that I take 1ml of tank water and 4ml of tap to see what nitrite reading would come up, so I did that.
And it came up as a 5! SHEESH

Maybe I should do a water change or something..... I'll give it a few days to see how things progress.

 

[Amunet]

Woot! More photos!
Got in the plants today. They didn't send me the pelia? Or whatever it was for some reason. Gave me a refund for it. Dern.. I was hoping to get it in but oh well.
The java fern and the anubias look great though.. specially the anubias.
I haven't tied it to anything yet. Think I'm gonna tie it to the big piece of wood whenever I decide to put that in to the tank.
Have the anubias floating in our 29gal right now.... fat platy begging for food and the tail biting guppy... poor thing looks awful, but other than raggedy tail it's healthy.

I put the smaller piece of wood in to the tank after taking frackin forever trying to tie the new java fern to it lol. GOD It took forever! I was about to throw it all across the room. It's not exactly tied the way I want but oh well.
The wood looks great in the tank though, the colors are amazing.

Photo of the java fern windelov

And couple of bad photos of that side of the tank.... I'll get some better photos tonight when there's not so much glare

The other piece of wood behind the castle... I don't like the way it looks there, so will eventually move it again after the big piece of wood is put in. Freakin java fern came loose from it so took forever once again tieing it back on.. GRRR

And full tank shot.... as I said.. will try to get some better photos tonight when there's not so much outside light. Hopefully there will be more plants as well that we get from Petsmart

 

[Amunet]

Alrighty, have some night photos! woot! heh
Hopefully these are a little better

The cave thing... need to get some more plants to put around it.. think it'll make it look a bit better.

The castle being invaded by snails! Oh NOES!

The planted part... really like that piece of wood, the colors are so nice and really pop

And a full tank shot

We went to petsmart tonight and they freakin got rid of their root tablets!! WTH! Grrrrrrr Didn't get any plants either... sigh.. maybe tomorrow.

 

[Amunet]

Daily cycle update... cause it's sooooo exciting! lol
Same ole same ole

SIGH...... can't wait for it to finish cycling already!

 

[Amunet]

Alrighty, we grew a bit impatient and got some clown loaches today lol.
We wanted to put them in to our 29gal tank to see if they could bring down the snail population some until it was time for them to go in to the 125 , but turns out they have ich.
So now they're calling the spare 10gal tank home.
Have the temp turned up and put in half the dose ich treatment. Hope they make it!
We started off with 3, but we figured we'd go ahead and get the other 3 to treat as well.. hopefully w/ that number they'll be less stressed out and will get better quicker... at least that's what I'm hoping for!
They're all pretty tiny... think the biggest one isn't even 2 inches.

Oh man, really hope they get better! Will be doing another water change in that tank tomorrow and will get photos of them after water clears

 

[Amunet]

Daily cycle update!
Nothing has changed.... SIGH
*kicks cycle in the butt* Hurry up!

Did a couple of things today.. the larger piece of wood wasn't leeching any tannins, so tied the anubias to it. Also tied some java ferns to some of the black rocks we have.

First up are the java fern... I just plopped them in.. will probably move them a bit later

And the piece of wood... I did tied one of them, and was getting frustrated w/ the other ones, so DH came and tied those down heh

And a full tank shot... definitely going to need some more plants in there... looks strange...

 

[Amunet]

SIGH.... Daily cycle update
Same same same same same... BLAH
Cycle damn you... cycle!

Also looks like the smaller piece of wood was the one producing all of the tannins. Pretty sure the water is getting a color to it. It actually looks ok though. W/ the purple color the lights give off.. I dunno.. it just looks tranquil heh... I'll get a photo of it tonight.. not sure how well it'll show up though.

 

[Amunet]

UuuuUuuuuuUuuuuuuuuuuUUUuuugh..... the tank is never gonna finish cycling!!!!
You know how I know it's going to take forever? B/c there are still almost no nitrates!!!! BBBAAAAAAH I tested it 3 times tonight b/c I thought something was wrong w/ the test, but no.... it's only b/c there is hardly any nitrates to pick up!!! *SOB*

SIGH....

Here are some photos of the tank tonight.... same old same old... just waiting for something to happen! heh... MAN I wish it would finish already!!
Also wish those darn root tabs would hurry up and get in so we can go get some more plants!
Think I'm going to snip off the sister plants of the sword plant we have and plant those in the foreground temporarily.... Would love to get some sword compactas.. might order some if no one here has any to sell.

Should also mention, you can't really tell by the photos that the water has a tint to it. I've only noticed b/c I've been expecting it lol

 

[mancin]

Looking good so far.

 

[Amunet]

Thanks mancin



Daily Cycle Update!

Something is happening!
I waited, and waited, and waited a little bit more, but the nitrite wasn't turning gray.. WOOT! I think it's starting to finally get converted to nitrates.
I'll probably be testing nitrites all day today since this is what I've been waiting for... Oh god, this cycle better be coming to an end already! lol

 

[minxfishy]

Enjoying the daily shots of the test tubes

Is the nitrIte test still turning purple immediately upon adding the drops?

I would be tempted to do a 90% change, re-fresh with ammonia to get those nitrItes down to a good level for the bacteria to cope with, maybe speed it up a bit?

Otherwise the tank looks great

 

[Amunet]

Lol thanks minx

I was planning on doing a water change in the next few days if the nitrite reading was still super high, but it seems like it is finally coming down now.
So will wait and see what happens. Hopefully by tomorrow, will see a bigger difference in color.
I just tested nitrites again, and it still didn't turn to that gray color, so taking it as a great sign
It is still turning purple instantly when I put the drops in, but not turning to that eventual gray off the charts color.

So excited!

 

[Amunet]

The water is getting pretty brown now. Doesn't look as pretty as it did before lol.

Nitrites tonight were still staying purple instead of turning gray.. woot!

Uhm, what else... Oh.. the clown loaches nearly gave me a freakin heartattack today.

I had this big fake log decor in the tank for them so they'd have a cave to hide in.
I took it out though so I could check on them easier to see if the ich treatment was working.
So I take it out, peek inside the log to make sure that no fish were still in there, and didn't see anything.
So I take it in to the bathroom and place it in the tub to dry off. Well suddenly I see one of the CL inside of the log!!
I quickly take it back to the tank and get it out.
So thinking there might be more in there, I took a flashlight and looked inside, and sure enough, another had found this small little hole in the log and gotten stuck in it!!
I got that one out as well, but just... good grief. These fish are already a handful! lol
I would've seen that there were only 4 in the tank and gotten back to the log asap... but still... just..... geeze.


OO Also got the CO2 canister today! WOOT! Just waiting on the regulator now. Hopefully it will come tomorrow, and either thursday or friday we'll get the canister filled Really can't wait to get the CO2 up and running! So excited to see what it's going to do for the plants