125 Gallon Tank

[Amunet]

Quick update....
Ammonia doesn't look like it has gone down any. Still no nitrites. BAH!

 

[Amunet]

No nitrites yet! BAAAAAH!
Looks like ammonia is starting to go down though. Not quite sure but I added a little bit more anyway. Will test in a bit.. give it a chance to mix.
pH is still holding firm... and yep.... it's taking frackin forever!!! Grrrr
Was at least hoping to get nitrites in a week, but noooo.. *sigh* heh
I raised the temp last night on the heaters, so hoping that will help it along quicker... might raise it a little bit more.. not sure though. WIll give it a couple of days to see what happens.


Anywho... we were thinking about getting a pvc pipe thing for a cave and siliconing rocks to the outside of it and then filling in the gaps w/ sand. Like Jdubz did for a coconut cave, cept for a pipe
[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=279557"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=279557[/URL]
Just imagine the bottom part buried in the sand and the rest sticking out w/ rocks on it... hopefully it looks as good as I'm imagining it hehe.

Will be getting the mopani wood later this week, hopefully no later than Weds, same goes for the other plants I ordered.
Also ordered one of those CO2 drop checker things, but that's coming from Hong Kong, so gonna be like 2 weeks for that. Really hope we can find a place that refills co2. Found a welding place that sas they sell gas, so will have to get DH to give them a call.... (I hate talking on the phone )

 

[poconoboss]

We saw one like that for a rena canister filter. I don't see where it would attach to the fluval hose though? *shrugs*

How it works is you get an additional piece of hose and connect one end to the output of the filter and the other end to the input of the heater, then the second hose gets attached to the output of the heater and the other end goes to the return in the tank.

I see however in the other posts that the hose size is not compatible with the FX5, however this is solvable with adaptors, if you were so inclined.

 

[Amunet]

So lets see.....
Bumped up the ammonia to 4. Was sitting at around 1... the bumped it to 2, then finally 4.

Plants aren't doing so great.... always find lots of leaves floating around the top, and the filter intake seems to always have a lot of dead leaves stuck to it.
Good news though, the piece of wood is staying down on its own now! YAY! The anubias on it look like they're doing pretty good as well which I'm happy about. Might get more of those for the other wood we get.
The anubias that I had weighted down doesn't look too hot though. Most of the leaves on them are dead, BUT they do have new leaves growing, so there is still hope heh.
I don't think the red tiger lotus is going to grow. Pretty sure it's dead b/c the trumpet snails are all over it. They don't seem to bother the healthy plants (or healthy parts of them).... sigh. Maybe will try to get another later on if this one doesn't grow.



Full tank shot... looks so empty! lol Will probably still look empty even w/ the other pieces of wood & plants we're getting

And the now sinking on its own wood! WOOT! Really like this piece. Most likely will move it over and back a little bit.
Going to be moving some of the plants a bit. Make it a bit less messy looking lol.
Boy! Look at all that pollen at the bottom!... you should see it all on the top too heh

 

[Amunet]

May just be wishful thinking, but I think we finally have a nitrite reading!! It was still blue, but looked like it was starting to get a slight tint to it! OOOO I hope I hope I hope! Going to check it again late tonight if I remember lol.... I dunno if there will be much difference, but hoping so! hehe


EDIT: Just tested again (tested earlier as well heh)... and there is def a nitrite reading! YAY! It's at 0.25 right now but it's something at least and I'm super excited about it! WOO!
GOSH I want to get fish in to the tank so badly!
First fish that's gonna go in there is gonna be the killifish. Then platies, then the cories. Then whatever we go buy


Have I said what fish we're planning on getting for the tank yet?

Well lets see here

1 Black Ghost Knife
6 Clown Loaches
6 Cories (that we already have)
3-5 more Cories (that we'll get.. probably get a different kind if we can't find skunk or julii)
10-15 Platy (currently have)
1 Golden Panchax Killifish (owned)
2-4 more Golden Panchax Killifish (maybe.... will probably be 1 more male and the rest female)
6 Tiger Barb
6 Green Tiger Barb
6 Rosy or Gold Barb
4 Clown Pleco
6 Australian Rainbowfish (that's what they were labelled at Petsmart. They looked exactly like the other more expensive Rainbowfish that they had *shrugs*)
2 Peacock Eels
6 Giant Danio (maybe... still debating on them)


and I think that's about it...... This is what we're HOPING to have in the tank once it's ready. If anything looks wrong, or if you think we should get more of something or not get something, please feel free to say so Not saying I'll do the suggestions given, but I'll listen and consider everything! hehe Oh Should also mention that these fish will have to be able to handle some current in the tank. The filter creates a pretty good current. I don't think it's too strong, but if some of the fish on that list can't really handle it very well, then pls tell me.

 

[Amunet]

YAY! Cycling coming along nicely
Checked ammonia and nitrite.
Ammonia is down to about a 2 now, and nitrite went up to 0.50. WOOT!

Hope the snails are ok... they looked fine last night, but I know nitrite can be deadly... so we'll see.

 

[Amunet]

We got some more plants in yesterday! YAY! For the most part, they all came in looking great. The 1 ozelot sword that didn't look too great has already grown 2 new leaves overnight

Did the daily water test, and I'm very surprised at how quickly the nitrites are going up! Already reading a 5!

Ammonia is down from about a 3. Added in about 2 capful of ammonia. Will test again in a little bit... make sure I didn't overkill it lol. And just had to make sure the pH was staying steady

Should be getting the mopani wood today... will start boiling and soaking it asap. From what I've read, it leeches a good bit of tannins in to the water. I wouldn't mind the water turning colors, knowing that it's not doing any harm other than maybe reducing pH, but I do like nice clear water hehe

 

[minxfishy]

Ah bless ya, it always seems to take forever for the nitrIte to show up, then you wish like mad, that it would go down again

Its looks lovely, coming along really well.

 

[Amunet]

Ah bless ya, it always seems to take forever for the nitrIte to show up, then you wish like mad, that it would go down again

Its looks lovely, coming along really well.

Lol, thanks
I am just happy that we finally have nitrites! heh I don't remember how the fishless cycle went the first time we did it... just remember it started off all wrong w/ pH crashing, and not knowing it and wondering why the heck it wasn't starting.

Anywhooey...
I do hope the nitrites don't get stuck like they seem to do for some folks! Hoping in a couple of weeks we'll be moving the first fish in to the tank!

 

[Amunet]

Woot! Just got in the mopani wood! YAY! BOY I wasn't expecting them to be so heavy.
They're both way too big to be boiled, so soaking them in hot water in the bathtub. We don't use this bathroom's shower so might as well use it for something! heh

Was already starting to stain the water as I was filling it

and just checked ammonia. The almost 2 cap fulls of ammonia has brought it back up to a 4, maybe a 5

 

[Amunet]

Tested ammonia when we got home.. it was already down to a 2! WOOT! Ammonia being processed quickly Hopefully nitrites go just as quick heh.

Also drained the tub and refilled w/ hot water to continue soaking the wood. Water was a dark brown tea color. Surprised at how quickly the wood leached. Hopefully won't have to soak them for forever. Really want to get them in to the tank, er well.. get some plants on them first and then get them in the tank
Think I'm going to order some more anubias... I really like those ones that are on the other piece of wood.

 

[Amunet]

Woot woot!

Ammonia is being processed from 4 to 0 in less than 24 hrs... YAY! Now to wait for nitrite to do that heh
AND finally figured out that 2 caps of ammonia equals almost 4... think it might be just a smidgen below 4... but close enough

The wood seems to be losing alot of the tannins which I'm thrilled about. Can't wait to get them in to the tank. Absolutely NO idea how I want them in there. Think I'm gonna put the smaller one where the plants are. Since the plants look a bit wild, the wood w/ all of it's weird nodules and bumps and coloring will look good over there. Won't put plants on it (at least not very much) to let it stand out even more.
The big piece will probably get put in the middle, and then the wood that's in there moved over by the castle.
We still need to get some pipe or something so I can start experimenting w/ a cave. Bought some sealent yesterday when we went to Petsmart for a heater (1 in 29gal stopped working).
Uh what else... bought some more plants last night Got some more of that anubias that's on the wood (lanceolot), uhm, some weird neat looking stuff called pellia?, and neat java fern stuff called windelov.
Plan on tieing the pellia and the java ferns to the big piece of wood... not sure about the anubias that I got lol.. I just got more b/c I really like what we have now heh. WIll probably tie it off to the very bak of the smaller piece of mopani.

 

[bordercollie05]

Wow, I loved reading our thread. That tank looks really cool already. Looking forward to seeing how it develops!

Laura

 

[Amunet]

Just checked ammonia and nitrites again.
Ammonia is going down from 4 to almost 0 in about 12hrs.. woo!
Nitrite is of course still high. Really surprised at how quickly the ammonia is being used up and very happy! YAY!
The ammonia color didn't show very well.. it was between the 0.25 and 0.50 reading.
Added 2 more caps of ammonia to the tank
So exciting isn't it .......... lol

And a random photo of 3 trumpet snails that happened to be right by where I took the photo of the tests.

 

[oliesminis]

Looking good. hope that nitrite starts dropping soon