Living The Dream 15 Years On

[Salam]

Good to read that death pockets are not as bad as they sound. I am also getting MT snails soon, so they will help then.

Rhiny, community is best for children. My son loves the tank, he even greets them all by name in the morning. You get lots of interaction with a few friendly fish.

 

[Rhiny]

I filled the beauty up just now. Purchased the new lamps for the hood and a new heater in Braintree today. Fired all those up. My Fluval 205 sprung a leak. Bit of vasoline on the rubber seal solved that. I will leave it to run for a day or so then start my fish less cycling. Ammonia should arrive in post by Saturday.

Exciting stuff. Really pleased with the size of the tank. As in a previous post I think a 126 litre tank is a good starter for a nice community for my daughter to watch. She probably won't be interested in the slightest now!

Also need to decide on watch fish I want. So hard to choose. I swear it wasn't this hard when I kept fish 15 years ago.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Oooh this is so exciting! I love watching these threads

 

[Rhiny]

Well the external filter didn't leak overnight which is pleasing. The ammonia arrived this morning and my API test kit will be here this afternoon. I will test my tap water to gauge the correct amount of ammonia required and away I go following the pinned instructions.

I have loads of small bubbles in my tank on the filter intake pipe and on the heater. I need some live plants to put in my tank but not sure if I need to wait util the cycling is complete.

A C02 kit will be my next purchase so I can have nice green flourishing plants

 

[Tizer]

You want to look at ferts if you are adding CO2, without it, it will pretty much turn into an algae fest. I would also wait until after the cycle before you add plants as ammonia and light = algae and the plants and glass will become very manky very quickly.

 

[KkAaNnEe]

I don't know how much you know about planted tanks, but the CO2 kit is not going to do it all for you, there is a fine balancing act and you could be throwing yourself into the deep end here, why not start low tech first?

 

[Rhiny]

Ferts I take it is fertiliser. Where do you add this to your tank? Got my test kit though. Will test my tap water tonight then start adding the ammonia

 

[Rhiny]

The ammonia is in my tank and I'm on the way cycling!!! Woo. Quite enjoyed using my master test kit.

On the plants issue what are the easiest plants to keep for my new tank. I think I will leave the C02 as advised and keep low tech until I feel more confident.

 

[Rhiny]

Day 4 of my fish less cycling. Tested Ammonia levels just now and they are the same as when I started 5ppm. Tank looks so nice and clean. There is a bit of surface dust it looks like on the top of my water.

I have turned my heater up and it's now sitting at 27*c. I did read it can speed up the cycling but hey ho.

Need to start looking at what fish I want to keep.

 

[Rhiny]

One week on and I have been checking ammonia levels daily. They haven't really changed colour. Still about 5 ppm. Long waiting game me thinks. Still haven't a clue on what fish.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Don't worry! Those levels will drop eventually Then you get to do the happy dance! ...or maybe that's just me

 

[Rhiny]

Don't worry! Those levels will drop eventually Then you get to do the happy dance! ...or maybe that's just me

I certainly will do the happy dance. Thing is once they drop I have to increase the ammonia levels again!! My tank looks so clean and crisp but so empty.

 

[Rhiny]

Day 10 of the fish less cycling. Ammonia levels still reading around 5ppm. Is it everrrrrrr going to drop. Tum tee tum.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Yeppp! When it drops to 0 (or very close to 0) dose back up to 2-3ppm instead of 5ppm. It is possible to over do it on the ammonia but is fine to add that much on the first dose

 

[Rhiny]

Ah maybe I added slightly to much ammonia. Just have to sit it out a while. Haven't taken any other readings as I don't think there is much point. The tank looks so clean, crisp and pretty.