Finally upgrading my all plastic tank to all natural!

[foxgirl158]

Day two:

The cloudiness has been cleared from the water. However, the cycle seems to have restarted, as the parameters stand thus:
Ammonia: .50
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 7.4

I ran to my LFS for some quick start to hopefully help reset the parameters so I can add the platies tomorrow. They seem ok in the bucket, and all parameters are in order. However, I will do a water change on the bucket tomorrow to ensure that it stays that way.

While at my LFS, I found that they had small Amazon Sword plants for $1 a plant! I grabbed the two healthiest looking ones. They will stay in their plastic bag until tomorrow, when I will have time to bleach dip them to remove any snails, then they will be quarantined for at least two weeks. I’m not taking any chances! However, I am excited to have my main plant in my possession!

 

[connorlindeman]

Cool! I'm glad that it all worked well for you but was the tank contaminated as this one seems to be?

Just Cyanobacteria. No trace of it yet

 

[Rocky998]

Day two:

The cloudiness has been cleared from the water. However, the cycle seems to have restarted, as the parameters stand thus:
Ammonia: .50
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 7.4

View attachment 164596

I ran to my LFS for some quick start to hopefully help reset the parameters so I can add the platies tomorrow. They seem ok in the bucket, and all parameters are in order. However, I will do a water change on the bucket tomorrow to ensure that it stays that way.

While at my LFS, I found that they had small Amazon Sword plants for $1 a plant! I grabbed the two healthiest looking ones. They will stay in their plastic bag until tomorrow, when I will have time to bleach dip them to remove any snails, then they will be quarantined for at least two weeks. I’m not taking any chances! However, I am excited to have my main plant in my possession!

View attachment 164598

Looking good!!

 

[foxgirl158]

Day three:

Tested my parameters again this afternoon, and the quick start seems to have worked.
pH: 7.4
Ammonia: .05ppm (roughly, it wasn’t 0 but not close to .25)
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm

Decided it was safe to add the platies, so I transferred the two original back into the 30g, and the three new fry into a small breeder box. My judgement is awful today because I got four hours of sleep, but I wanted to make sure that the smallest fry couldn’t be eaten by my adult, so they are in the breeder box for now. All the platies got fed well with BBS, which is why some of them look chubby.

What do you guys think? I’m mostly concerned about the blue ones, I think the red spotted one should be fine. My adult is below.

 

[MetroPlecs]

That was a good price on those Amazon Swords, and that's one of my favorite plants. It's a beautiful plant.

 

[itiwhetu]

I love these threads @Rocky998 is such an expert at this sort of thing.

 

[Fishmanic]

October’s Tank of the Month will feature tanks sized at 17 to 30 gallons. Your tank would make a great entry.