12L Micro Tank

[Mamashack]

Have just bought a 12L nano tank and am going to start cycling it when the heater arrives.
Will be following TTA's guide for beginners as I've cycled to much higher ammonia levels before and am hoping his method will speed up the process. My last one took 36 days so fingers crossed!
I wouldn't buy a tank this small for fish but am thinking about starting a snail tank. Will see how things progress.

From retailer website
 
 

 
Actually holds 11.5L water so I've ordered a 14cm mini 25w heater from eBay which is probably overkill as it's advertised for 25-50L tanks but it has a thermostat so hopefully it should be ok.
The filter is a simple sponge with a small amount of ceramic gravel and is attached to a somewhat noisy air-pump. Will see how much that gets on my nerves in the next few weeks.
Will update as heater arrives and cycle starts.
(Any constructive comments or suggestions will be gratefully received.)
 
 

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Seed it with something from one or more of your other tanks.

 

[Mamashack]

Good idea! I'll add some gravel from one of the other tanks like with the last cycle I did.
I didn't last long and couldn't wait for the heater

  so I've already added ammonia to 3% (well I think it's 3% - Salifert only goes up to 2ppm and API is either 2ppm or 4ppm and it looks like it could be somewhere between 2 & 4 ppm.)
I know it won't proceed quickly until the heater gets here hopefully early next week, but at least it's started.

 

[attibones]

Are you going to plant this tank? Would be really cool to see what you come up with.

Oh, what are dimensions?
Also, if the air pump is noisy, you can set an old rag under it and wrap the excess over the top. This keeps any sound muffled.

 

[Mamashack]

hi atti! How's the pooch?
Will probably have something like a small java fern and/or anubias on driftwood. The pump is not only noisy but it gets rather hot rather quickly so I turned it off overnight which I know will interrupt the process but I don't want it bursting into flames! I'll put it on for a few hours at a time until I get the weeny filter I've ordered again from eBay.
 
It's an Aleas IPF-338 and it's only 11cm x 4cm x 3cm and processes 300L/hr (that's 4¼" x 1½" x 1¼") which is teeny tiny but they say it can support a 60L tank! It's got a spray bar tho I've never used one of those before and the tank is so small it may be too powerful for occupants but will help with the cycling I guess. It's just a basic sponge filter with no ceramic beads, but that's all I've got in my other tanks and they've served us well so far
 £7.99 from eBay                                 

The heater I've ordered is this one £6.95 from eBay:

Anyway I'm not anticipating much cycling action until these are in place which hopefully will be Monday or Tueday
Not planned what to have as substrate if anything. I may go bare-bottomed

 and then it will make cleaning easier. Not decided that one yet.
 
The tank lid has large appliance cable gaps at the back so I'll probably need to get some plastic craft mesh when the tank is occupied
That's all for now - thanks for your interest!

 

[attibones]

I meant what are the tank dimensions?

My pup is huge. She's big and goofy and doesn't realize how big she is. She's also destructive right after I leave the house. How's Ginger?

 

[Mamashack]

Oops soz atti forgot to answer that question - the tank external dimensions are 30cm long, 18.5 cm wide and 24 cm high.

 
Ginger is doing fine thanks - hard to believe we were just getting them this time last year! In fact we got Ginger a year ago yesterday!
 
 

Good idea! I'll add some gravel from one of the other tanks like with the last cycle I did.
I didn't last long and couldn't wait for the heater

  so I've already added ammonia to 3% (well I think it's 3% - Salifert only goes up to 2ppm and API is either 2ppm or 4ppm and it looks like it could be somewhere between 2 & 4 ppm.)
I know it won't proceed quickly until the heater gets here hopefully early next week, but at least it's started.

Of course I meant 3ppm not 3% (I really shouldn't type things so late in the day when I'm tired! lol)

 

[Mamashack]

Now I'm confused and I don't know why I tested it so soon TTA, (maybe the devil made me do it

) and it's reading 1 ppm from 2-4 ppm less than 24 hrs ago at a temperature varying from 19.2°c this morning to a current reading of 21.5°C without a heater. Explain that one cos I can't. I put half a cupful of gravel from an established tank about 22 hrs ago. Could it possibly be working so quickly???
I've got a 2nd set of reagent solutions so I'll double check and post the results.

 

[Mamashack]

Well the 2nd set of API reagents showed 1 ppm too, so I checked it twice with the Sailfert test and it didn't even register on that either time!
Am well confused and tempted to add some more ammonia, but I'll have another read of the cycling thread to double check first.

 

[Mamashack]

Ok - so here's the deal -
1 ppm ammonia - API
0-0.25ppm ammonia - Salifert
no nitrItes on either API or Salifert tests.
However:
5ppm nitrAtes in the tank water compared with 2.5ppm in the tap water so there's some bacterial activity going on!
Now the point is - to add or not to add more ammonia yet?! If I was going on the Salifert test I'd be panicking and adding it pronto but the 1 ppm API result has me hesitating. 
I'll have a coffee and ponder a while unless anyone else has any suggestions?

 

[Mamashack]

In the end I decided to add a bit more ammonia last night (0.3ml this time whereas I added 0.4ml first time) API showed increase to 2-4ppm after ½hr whereas Salifert didn't register at all so there's something wrong there. I'll retest for ammonia and nitrAtes today. 
I'm a bit concerned with the Salifert test - all this time I've been thinking my other tank results were good. I can see a marathon testing day coming on! lol

 

[daizeUK]

I had a problem when I tried using a Salifert ammonia test.  The results were zero or incomprehensible when I tried to setup tests with known ammonia values.  I sent the test kit back for a replacement which did exactly the same thing, so I gave up on Salifert.
 
I did wonder if it was just my kits that didn't work or how many people out there think their water is fine when the kit doesn't actually work...

 

[Mamashack]

Thanks for sharing your experience daize!
I've checked the other tanks with the 2nd lot of API ammonia reagent fluids this morning and got 0ppm results so that's a huge relief!
I think I'll stick with API for ammonia, nitrItes and pH and just test for nitrAtes with Salifert since the API NO3 test needs a lot of physical effort to mix the chemicals.
 
UPDATE:
Tested the water again this morning and got:
ammonia 2 ppm (down a nudge from last night's 2-4 ppm) API
nitrItes 0 ppm same as before API
nitrAtes 2.5 ppm and tap water also 2.5 ppm again Salifert
They can't have gone down on their own but in my defence whatever the numbers they did look quite different last night.
So I think the moral of this one is not to do the tests in the evening and wait until daylight.
 
 I shall now stick to TTA's recommendation of testing every other day now I have added gravel to help the process.

 

[Mamashack]

Well this morning the pH is 7.8, ammonia is 1-2 ppm API , nitrItes 0 API and nitrAtes look darker than 2.5 ppm but lighter than 5 ppm Salifert. (I hate colour comparisons as I'm sure I convince myself it's what I want it to be! lol)
Have been investigating whether ammonia can evaporate and apparently it can unless it's bound up with water as ammonium hydroxide so maybe that's where it's going. Who knows!
So I'll test again day after tomorrow and see how things are then.

 

[Mamashack]

Well I'm as good as my word and I'm not testing again until tomorrow! 

 (Honest, TTA!)
In the mean time some of the replacement equipment has arrived and some of it is even in tact.

The heater is in place and it's a dinky 6" long. For those of you with eagle-eyes - the temp is 22° and I'd only just put the heater in when I took the photo. Hopefully it will get to 29° soon! Already it's at 23.7° after only ½ hr. The naff little plastic plant that came with it and the rocks (mine) are there only for something to look at until it's fully cycled.
 
The little filter also arrived tho sadly not in tact. It looks just the job apart from that so am hoping they'll send me a replacement pronto! It is about 5" tall max so fingers crossed, won't take up much room. The filter that came with the tank is just too loud and the air pump gets far too hot so had to get something to replace it. I'll leave in place until the replacement replacement filter gets here and more than likely transfer the sponge especially if any bacterial activity is evident before it arrives.

Watch this space - will update when something interesting happens