55Gl Fw Planter Tank

[stanleo]

I moved the Java fern to the driftwood. It looks ok. I really wanted a tall leafy plant for that corner but I guess I can wait till my other plants come in. I didn't want java fern though, they take a really long time to grow IMO. But I didn't want it to die on my and I do like how it looks. Thanks again MIke. 
 

 

[stanleo]

I need to adjust this so I don't forget. Thanks to some good advice I changed the second dose of ammonia to 20ml to make the level 3ppm. I must have added done something wrong on that first dose.

On a side note I added Hygrophila (Hygrophila corymbosa) to my order. I'm going to try and stop adding more plants.

 

[stanleo]

Day 9 of the fishless cycle. Ammonia is 0ppm, Nitrite is over 5ppm, Nitrate is 40ppm. According to the article, if I get ammonia at 0 again on my next testing the day after tomorrow I will be doing the maintenance feeding of 1/3 the original amount of ammonia.

 

[mike455555]

no problem =] always happy to help, personally i love that plant 

 

[stanleo]

My plants came in today! Most of them anyway. I still haven't gotten the tiger lotus or ruffle plant and they were out of stock of the four leaf clover and the other two this store doesn't carry. The clovers were going to go on both sides in the front so that's where I will put them if they come in. I don't know if I will get the tiger lotus now. I was thinking of Amazon sword for the background plant in the middle section. What do you think? I like it so far and I think it will look really nice once everything has a chance to grow out a little. And I am going to move the equipment to the sides. 
 

 

[mike455555]

aponogeton crispus red or a nymphaea of some type would fit well 

 

[stanleo]

I tested yesterday, day 11, and got 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite and nitrate was somewhere between 80ppm and 160ppm so I went ahead and did the maintenance feeding of 1/3 the full amount for dose #3. I haven't tested yet today but I will. 
 
I got the CO2 system in today and it couldn't have been easier to setup. I set the counter at 1 bubble every 2 seconds for 4 hours a day. Light comes on at noon and I leave for work at 4PM, that's why the 4 hours. I have to get the test for CO2 to ensure that I am doing the right amount still. I have some pics. 
 
This is the gauge reading when I first set the bubble counter. 

 
This is the whole system. 

 
And these are the dwarf baby tears as they are today. I want to keep track of how fast those grow. I am dosing API macro supplements once a week. 

 

[stanleo]

Yesterday I tested and these are the results

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate over 160ppm
pH 7.6
kH 4

I did dose 4 which was a full dose and will test tomorrow.

 

[stanleo]

Test results today

Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 5ppm
Nitrate is still off scale
pH 7.6
I will test again tomorrow.

I did notice my first pest snail today. It was tiny, less than a mm. I found it to be a good thing so now I can get assassin snails, I love those little guys!

 

[stanleo]

Test results today

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Didn't bother with nitrate test. Test is not very reliable and nitrate is definitely still off the scale. I will have to do a massive water change when the cycle is complete.
pH 7.6

I did dose 5 today which was a full dose. Will test again tomorrow.

 

[stanleo]

Test results today
 
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite .25ppm
again didn't bother with nitrate
pH 7.2 (I have learned that it will lower because of the CO2 injection and organics in the substrate)
KH was 80ppm (LFS only had test strips which are unreliable but it should be in the ball park) Liquid test shows 4 degrees
GH was somewhere between 60 and 120ppm (again with test strips)
 
I added dose number 6 today. If all goes well I should be cycled in a few days.
 
This is day 15 of the cycle.

 

[stanleo]

Test results today

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Again didn't bother with nitrates as I will be doing a 90 percent water change because I am officially cycled!!!!
PH is 7.2

My cycle took 16 days total and 6 doses of ammonia. Mine probably went faster because I used the substrate, driftwood, and the media from my old tanks. The media and driftwood sat in a box dry for 2 months but the substrate still had water from the old tank when I opened the bucket so I probably still had some colonies of bacteria to start with. If I had started this tank with all new substrate, decor and media I would have expected it to take closer to 6 weeks for the cycle to be complete. It was worth the wait because now after the water change I can add all my fish at once rather than gradually, and it gave me time to pick out what exactly I wanted. I have discovered that my water is too soft for rainbows so I have adjusted my stocking list.

15 harlequin rasporas
10 albino flame tetras
10 cardinal tetras
5 sterbiia corys
5 peppered corys
5 otos (waiting for the tank to establish)
1 BN pleco (waiting for the tank to establish)
3 pearl gouramis (1 male 2 female have to find them at some fish store so I know what genders I'm getting)
5 assassin snails
20 or so glass shrimp. Maybe, I might try to find other shrimp that I know the pearls won't bother.

The first 5 I am getting tomorrow, the rest I have to wait on because I can't find them locally or the tank needs more time. I can't wait. I am going to the store to get a forty gallon bucket to do the water change today!!!!!

 

[stanleo]

I did the water change. I siphoned the algae growing on the white sand but other than that I left the substrate alone. It brought the pH back up to 7.6 but brought the nitrates down to 20ppm which is perfectly safe for fish and the plants use nitrates so I should be all good there. I changed 35 gallons of the 50 gallons of water in the tank which is about 65% of the total volume. I am going to do a 50% change on the next water change and then after that 20% per week changes. I will continue to monitor ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, daily for the 2 weeks after stocking then go weekly for a month or two and if everything is fine then I should be good. 
 
I added some pics for reference of the volume of water I had to change. 
 

 
Here is a pic after the water change. I want to document the growth rate of the plants. 
 

 

[stanleo]

I got some fish today!!!!
 
I had to clean out Petco and Petsmart of all their harlequins but I got 14 harlequins, 10 albino von rio tetras, 6 peppered corys, 3 julii corys and 3 sterba corys. I'm going to observe the corys for a while and if they don't school together i will get two more of the julii and sterba. I told them just to give me all their rasporas so I got one that is not looking too healthy. I will  watch him for a couple days see if he makes it. He did eat some flakes. The rest all look very healthy and happy and started swimming and schooling immediately throughout the tank and eating well. 
 
I really like how it looks with them and I am considering not getting the gouramis or any big fish and instead getting several different species of shrimp. I am going to get the otos and BN pleco when the tank has some time to establish. 
 
Thanks for reading!

 

[stanleo]

Test results today.
 
pH 7.6
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 20ppm
 
All looks good with the new fish. I did euthanize the sick raspora. He couldn't swim right today so I took him out, put him in a bag and slammed him against the counter so he would go quick. I put his body in a planter so he could nourish one of my plants.
 
I went to the LFS today to get some frozen brine shrimp and they had a black and white angel that was beautiful so I got an angel fish today. He is doing good but he is still shy.
 
I will post some pics of my new fish when I have time later.