My First Tank, 10gal, Ammonia...

[CriX098]

Hi Everyone,

I've just started a new 10 gallon tank... my first. I plan on eventually doing a large mini reef but am getting my feet wet (!) with this small tank first to learn to do things right. Seems like I'm not the only one that was had by that pesky surfactant. After reading the fishless cycle pinned article I ran out and grabbed ammonia without any scent... and I just assumed the surfactant was benign. Oops! But at least I've learned to do a water change already.

Can I suggest that the fishless cycle pinned article be updated to let newbies know to avoid SURFACTANT ?! Thanks.

I am interested in learning more about the "Python" I think it's called.... I had trouble getting my siphon started last night and I don't want to make a habit of sucking on the tube. I ended up getting some water in my eye and while the Ammonia level was only ~5ppm I still washed my eye out for 30 seconds or so... not fun! I know I need to shorten the tube a bit but I best siphon method I can think of (scooping up water with vaccum end repeatedly while holding far end closed with thumb until air is removed) still seems not the most elegant. Did someone say that buckets are outdated?? I think I'll still need them to prepare (dechlorinate) my water for the partial water changes.

It's funny, I am almost more excited about being a successful bacteria farmer than a fish owner! The invisible symbiosis of the fish and the bacteria really touched my inner nerd and I knew I simply HAD to have an aquarium! Having a lot of fun so far.

Will be rinsing the tank and rocks and (fake) plants tonight to get the surfactant off and starting over. Mwuhaha, can't wait to log all the data and plot it in excel! I want to see those spikes come and go.

 

[Hero]

I would recommend a gravel vac from the LFS with a siphon starter on it. Its a round ball in the middle of the tube and you simply give it a couple squeezes to get the siphon started.

I'm not sure about buckets being outdated, but I use a 5gl to treat my water.

G'luck with your cycle!

 

[new2fishes]

You don't need to suck on the siphon hose, The directions mine came with didn't make much sense to me but I have a meathod that works pretty well, and rarely splash myself.

Fill the wide end of the tube with water, cover the other end of the hose with your finger. Then you hold the large end up so the water can drain into the hose (release the finger on the small end but be ready to cover it again.) When the hose is mostly full, put the small end inside your bucket and put the other end back in the tank so it refills. If your bucket is lower than your tank, it should be flowing well.

For my 10 gallon, I use gallon water jugs because it makes it easy to judge what percentage of water I change. Since my stupid tank still hasn't cycled I am doing alot of water changes. I am about to set up a 50 gallon and not sure what I will do then.

 

[CriX098]

Cool. I will try out a couple different methods tonight for siphoning off water... none of which will involve sucking on the tube! haha... I can't believe I even resorted to that last night.

Yeah, I purchase two 2.5Gallon buckets which I promptly labeled "G" and "B" to keep the dirty "bad" water seperated from the clean good water.

One thing I have noticed that I haven't seen written about yet is the need for chillers. I recently moved from the East Coast and here in Southern California (especially with the fires) the temperature shot up to 99F yesterday from the smoke trapping all the heat. My water with the heater unplugged was sitting at 86F !

I'm starting to think that a 'dumb' heater won't do and in fact I'll need a digital thermostat with chilling and heating... BUUTTT, I'm assuming this getting into some pretty serious gear. I'm doing this small tank with all the precision I will need for mini-reef for good practice... I like to do things RIGHT.