Fishless Cycle - Results So Far

[waterdrop]

I'm no one to talk, that's exactly what I plan to do and I don't have any idea which low-light plants are going to work for me - you're certainly ahead of me in the game.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah tank looks good, just a touch too structured. but about a zillion times better looking than my first tank so no I reckon you'll have it looking tip top in no time

 

[pastabake]

Its a good start ... I have no problems with symmetry ... though I understand why many do.

I'm unsure though as to why you would want CO2 if you haven't got the high lighting to go with it?

 

[waterdrop]

yeah tank looks good, just a touch too structured. but about a zillion times better looking than my first tank so no I reckon you'll have it looking tip top in no time

So that's where she was this morning, out getting her picture taken...

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah tank looks good, just a touch too structured. but about a zillion times better looking than my first tank so no I reckon you'll have it looking tip top in no time

So that's where she was this morning, out getting her picture taken...

eh ???

you on about my new avatar?

 

[waterdrop]

Its a good start ... I have no problems with symmetry ... though I understand why many do.

I'm unsure though as to why you would want CO2 if you haven't got the high lighting to go with it?

Hi pasta, do you think co2 is usually not a limiting factor in low light? I've never been quite sure, clearly mostly used in the high light full-blown planted tank setups but not sure what those folks feel about using it in low light situations.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[stormy78]

Its a good start ... I have no problems with symmetry ... though I understand why many do.

I'm unsure though as to why you would want CO2 if you haven't got the high lighting to go with it?

I dont have the lighting at the moment BUT Im thinking of adding another T5 unit to the back lid panel (as seen on these forums somewhere) to take me into the realm of 2WPG. The light unit is cheap compared to a decent CO2 unit so I'm thinking of saving for the CO2 unit and then buying both the new lighting and CO2 together. I may not go down that route if the plants I have survive/hopefully grown, but having seen some of the tank on here I am starting to think I would like a mid to heavily planted tank.

I have looked at the Red Sea Turbo Bio yeast based system which says it will cover tank upto 160 litres as a cheap option (£30)but I doubt whether it would touch the 160L of water I have after responses from people on the planted forum. For £60 I can get the JBL Easy Set 1 and the new light unit and tubes would be around £40. Again having never used CO2 before I'm new to it and I'm having to do some digging around. The lighting in the Trigon 190 is a bespoke size (Thanks Juwel!) so I cannot just add a higher Watt bulb or longer tube, hence needing the new unit.

After Waterdrops post last night and a few comments from the good lady wife I decided to combine fishing snails out of the tank with a bit of a rework. Hopefully I will post a few pics tonight with the Ammonia results so any feedback would be appreciated!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Its a good start ... I have no problems with symmetry ... though I understand why many do.

I'm unsure though as to why you would want CO2 if you haven't got the high lighting to go with it?

Hi pasta, do you think co2 is usually not a limiting factor in low light? I've never been quite sure, clearly mostly used in the high light full-blown planted tank setups but not sure what those folks feel about using it in low light situations.

~~waterdrop~~

if you use Co2 in a low light set up you're likley to just get a load of algae.

a low output DIY Co2 can work but it's unstable, and like most of fishkeeping, stability is key

 

[waterdrop]

MW, thanks for that. Good "to the point" answer as usual.

(btw, I'm trying to sit quietly with my back straight and keep my feet still now that the nanny is here )

 

[Miss Wiggle]

lol, sorry was that a bit blunt, i'm v v v v v tired and a touch poorly today

you'll find i'm 'to the point' when i know the answer, but not all the background behind it.

i'm the first to admit i'm a bit of a jack of all trades, master of none!

plants aren't my speciality but my other half is quite into planted tanks so i've picked various bits up from him!

 

[waterdrop]

ah, that just didn't "cross the ocean" right, it was a compliment, not a comment on shortness or anything!

Usually, the shorter statements like that coming from you and the other people here with lots of experience are really valuable and very much appreciated by us newbies. One of the reasons I have so much verbiage with my comments is that I'm still so new to this new generation of fishkeeping know-how. I can't pull from direct experience with it - my stuff is obviously pulled from a mixture of "way back" old stuff and just lots of current reading and new curiosity.

Neat that ian does planted - does give you direct experience to draw from! Hope tomorrow finds you better!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

lol ok,

just cos i'm tired and grumpy probably, tend to take things the wrong way when i'm like this...... hey i'm a woman, it's my perogative! lol

Yeah we've a good mix of fishkeeping skills tbh. I know quite a lot about the basics in a wide range of fields, i can ID a lot of fish and tell you something useful about them, I know the basics of water chemistry, bits about various diseases all the basic fish husbandry stuff. Then anything that's a bit sciency or technical and I can't get my head around Ian will understand and can generally explain to me so that I understand it.

I do the fish selection and a lot of the day to day care. Ian does the setting up of stuff, tinkering with gadgets and making the tanks pretty basically.

but thankyou anyway, i'll be a lot better for a good nights sleep. just been a v long week, been flying round the country with work, doing 16 hr days when you're under the weather is not a good idea really, but needs must sometimes.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

back on topic, as i understand it with plants and Co2 and that side of things you have 2 main options

low tech - give the plants low light, low Co2 and low nutrients, choose plants that can cope with that and you will get slow growth but a low maintenance set up that eventually matures into something really nice

high tech - give the plants more light, co2 and nutrients than they can use, they will outcompete the algae and grow really quickly, requires a lot of maintenance and work but you get quick growth and lovely results if you hit the balance just right.

if you go for anything in between e.g. high lights but low Co2 and nutrients, then the plant growth will be inhibited by the lack of Co2 and nutrients, but the harider algae's will be able to grow and will then take over.

so youy either balance things at a high or low level, or just deal with it that you'll get some algae!!

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, I'm trying to figure out what would be a good second light unit to add behind the one low-watt T8 that came with the tank. I want to take the light level up but not cross over into the high lighting territory. Like everything else, its tuff when you start casting about in the real world of products. Its all a lot worse since the aquarium world got stuck talking about watts and then the world of lighting went off and changed efficiencies and threw all the recommendations into a mess. Too bad it couldn't have been lumens or some real light measure that was talked about all along! I'm going to have to have a go at it (am I sounding right there, ha!) over in planted, just need to make myself do it.

(hey, you could have at least photoshopped in some red on the hair..)

 

[stormy78]

Day 13 (Friday 25th April)

Tested Ammonia at 8.20am
Ammonia: 2.00ppm
NitrIte: Did not test
PH: Did not test

Tested Ammonia at 6.00pm
Ammonia: 2.00ppm but a shade between 1 and 2ppm
NitrIte: 0.25ppm
PH: 7.2