New aquascape with Fluval edge using ADA amazonia

[MarcoPereira]

Hi everyone. Glad to be back here. I remember last time how generous you all were in advice given to such a "newbie". Well...2 years later my Fluval Edge has been a great success and has brought many great moments, baby shrimp, baby Cherry barbs, all very motivating. I have you guys to thank for all the advice and suggestions given and it has all been a blessing really...
Ok, well, I now have a need to redo the tank and do something a tad more adventurous, I want to try my hand at an aquascape featuring live plants. I have worked out a layout and chosen beautiful stones and plants (plants now I have plenty as Java fern varieties have taken over...need to cull some....lol) but my main question is that I have been given half a bag of ADA amazonia soil to use for a thick carpet of Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, plants of which are being donated by a very good friend that has way to many.
How do I cycle this tank?
My water from the tap is around 7-7.2 Ph and very soft 12-45 mg/l in Kh according to our water supplier.
Will that tank cycle with the initial ammonia spike with the aid of existing bacteria in my HOB filter?
The rocks I am using are supposedly inert and only a small amount of driftwood will be in use, currently I have Seiryu stone and that has maintained water at 7-7.1 Ph.
I hear that it is best to have some hardness in the water as that helps speed up cycling....would adding one of these stones help with that even if I bury it as it will clash with new Pagoda rough rock in colour? or should I just let the aquarium do it's own thing and find it's own balance?
I believe the ADA is quite acidic and will buffer to 6-6.8 Ph, am I losing a battle before I start this project considering my native tap water? any suggestions on the best way I can get this done without RO water?
And lastly, I believe it mentioned a few times on the net that people suggest heavy planting... will this help? and by heavy what does that mean exactly?
Sorry for the short novel, am starting this project in a month or so so would rather be prepared for the trials ahead (unlike last time).
Look forward to your replies and advice and thank you for taking the time to read my rant....lol

 

[Jordan_Deus]

For cycling look up "silent cycle", Byron also knows a lot about this so that can help. It's basically cycling with plants.

Good Luck.

 

[MarcoPereira]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I remember Byron was most helpful last time, I was more curious about the specifics of the ADA amazonia soil cycling but will indeed look that up. Thank you,

 

[thrujenseyes]

I'm super excited to see what you do!
I too have a fluval edge and very much enjoy it.
I can't help with the question but I know Byron can (he can do anything, he's a superhero).
But I can be a cheerleader for your progress...and I will!
I hope you post a step by step!

 

[MarcoPereira]

Thank you so much! That is just terrific motivation. Will indeed keep up with updates and am hoping Byron will chime in soon with his amazing knowledge and advice. Thank you once again... Very kind.

 

[Gruntle]

If you are using the same filter on the tank, there should be no need to go through a cycle at all. Most (it's hard to tell but the science says) of the bacteria will be living in your filter, you will have a mature colony if the tank has been running for 2 years, and the plants will assist in ammonia, nitrite and nitrate disposal.

 

[eslingerl10]

I was looking to start a new planted tank sometime in the near future, but I'm overwhelmed with all the information out there online. Good luck with your new tank!

 

[MarcoPereira]

If you are using the same filter on the tank, there should be no need to go through a cycle at all. Most (it's hard to tell but the science says) of the bacteria will be living in your filter, you will have a mature colony if the tank has been running for 2 years, and the plants will assist in ammonia, nitrite and nitrate disposal.

Thank you for your reply Gruntle. Yes, in theory, yes but what concerns me is the fact that ADA has so much ammonia that it may overwhelm my filter's bacterial colony and also my native tap water Kh being so low...will the cycle stall and stay in limbo? my Ph in the tank is 7-7.2 Ph, tap water is around the same.... and knowing that the bacteria detest a very acidic environment will all this lead to a disaster?

 

[MarcoPereira]

I was looking to start a new planted tank sometime in the near future, but I'm overwhelmed with all the information out there online. Good luck with your new tank!

Well, all I can say is best of luck. I am certainly no expert but if you need help please feel free to ask....I found that with my Edge it was hard even with just a sand substrate, but....we got there in the end after making a few mistakes.... Thank you so much also for the well wishes....got all my fingers crossed all will go well.

 

[MarcoPereira]

Hi guys. Well, the re-scape has been done and I am rather thrilled with it. Can't wait for things to get growing a bit and this ammonia to clear up a tad... One question though regarding this ADA soil, I have had readings ranging from 0.25 ppm to 4ppm of ammonia in the last week and yet no Nitrites are showing? also, Nitrates are fairly low (< 20 ppm) is this tank's filter media doing anything? it is a cycled media from last set up so I would assume things would be moving onwards a tad quicker. Temperature is 25C and water changes of 50% every second day.
Also, when I do water changes should I add Ph down to match aquarium water? my tap water is very soft at a Ph of 7-7.3 with low TDS (according to our water board report).
I thought that adding similar Ph water back into aquarium would benefit the ADA soil by not depleting it's buffering capabilities and get more life out of it. Also, am planning on CRS and yellow RCS shrimp for the future... any thoughts on this guys? thanks

again

 

[thrujenseyes]

I really wish I could answer your questions but I'm not going to attempt that as I just don't have the knowledge, so i'll hope someone that does comes along...
BUT OMG YOUR TANK LOOKS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You must be beyond thrilled!!! What an OASIS!!! I absolutely Love it!
You did a phenomenal job!!!
Definitely one of my favorites that I've seen!
You are going to have very lucky inhabitants!!!!

 

[Ch4rlie]

That is a stunning setup for that Edge tank, massive pat on the back for you there

I have had a fluval edge tank before, beautiful tank but a pain for those maintenance. I rather liked it, the filter is actually pretty good and I upgraded the lights and got fair growth but just for low tech plants.

Just wish my set up was as stunning as yours, I just dont have a design or knack for lovely aquascapes unfortunately

Anyway, to help answer your question, if there is no livestock in your tank, I would not do these 50% water changes very other day, this just slows down the cycling progress more than anything else.

Do not add anything to the water to adjust ph when you do water changes btw, not worth doing and makes little difference as your ph of 7 is pretty good and cycling will be perfectly fine at this level.

Its only when ph is very soft, say at 6.5 or below then there may likely be issues with cycling.

From the sounds of things with your readings, our substrate may have sort of started the cycle due to the nutrients in the soil but after 2 or 3 weeks, everything should settle down in terms of ammonia levels.

Have you added ammonia at any stage of the cycle at all so far?

Also what kind of test kit are you using to date?

Do keep up the great work and updates

Oh just remembered, you asked about shrimps, well, shrimps tend to fare better in established tanks, meaning tanks that have been cycled and running with livestock for at least 3 months.
And to start off, I'd suggest Red Cherry Shrimps as they are the cheaper and hardiest shrimps around, ideal for beginners.
Crystal shrimps are much more fickle when it comes to water parameters, so that species could be added to your to do list at a much later date when you have experienced and learned more about shrimp keeping

 

[MarcoPereira]

I really wish I could answer your questions but I'm not going to attempt that as I just don't have the knowledge, so i'll hope someone that does comes along...
BUT OMG YOUR TANK LOOKS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You must be beyond thrilled!!! What an OASIS!!! I absolutely Love it!
You did a phenomenal job!!!
Definitely one of my favorites that I've seen!
You are going to have very lucky inhabitants!!!!

Thank you so much! yes, we are thrilled with the layout....just hope all the plants start growing!! ha ha...
It was a real neck breaker getting everything in there due to the limited space and the awful little hole on the top...took me 3 days to get it right....
Thank you again for the lovely message and great thoughts .

 

[MarcoPereira]

That is a stunning setup for that Edge tank, massive pat on the back for you there

I have had a fluval edge tank before, beautiful tank but a pain for those maintenance. I rather liked it, the filter is actually pretty good and I upgraded the lights and got fair growth but just for low tech plants.

Just wish my set up was as stunning as yours, I just dont have a design or knack for lovely aquascapes unfortunately

Anyway, to help answer your question, if there is no livestock in your tank, I would not do these 50% water changes very other day, this just slows down the cycling progress more than anything else.

Do not add anything to the water to adjust ph when you do water changes btw, not worth doing and makes little difference as your ph of 7 is pretty good and cycling will be perfectly fine at this level.

Its only when ph is very soft, say at 6.5 or below then there may likely be issues with cycling.

From the sounds of things with your readings, our substrate may have sort of started the cycle due to the nutrients in the soil but after 2 or 3 weeks, everything should settle down in terms of ammonia levels.

Have you added ammonia at any stage of the cycle at all so far?

Also what kind of test kit are you using to date?

Do keep up the great work and updates

Oh just remembered, you asked about shrimps, well, shrimps tend to fare better in established tanks, meaning tanks that have been cycled and running with livestock for at least 3 months.
And to start off, I'd suggest Red Cherry Shrimps as they are the cheaper and hardiest shrimps around, ideal for beginners.
Crystal shrimps are much more fickle when it comes to water parameters, so that species could be added to your to do list at a much later date when you have experienced and learned more about shrimp keeping

Hi there and thank you for the great message of support and your information. If not every other day, how often would one do a water change? on ADA site they mention to do large water changes every day...so would once a week doing 50% be the right amount or should I keep an eye on Ammonia and not let it get above a certain level?
BTW, I am using API tests and they are all still under the use by date. As far as adding ammonia, no, I did not see a need to as substrate is adding plenty as it stands.
My pH is at 6.4-6.5 in the tank at the moment... is this an issue with cycling? should I add a chunk of coral to try and bring up pH a bit until cycle is done or will this just cause the substrate to deplete buffering quicker?
As far as Cherry shrimp, yes, I am very familiar with those as they lived in this tank for all it's previous set up (2 years) but had to keep replacing some as they were breeding but the Cherry Barbs kept eating up the babies so this is why I want this to be a shrimp only tank from now on... and also, the barbs were breeding like rabbits so had to give them away as well as the shrimp to start this new set up....
You mentioned establishing the tank with livestock for a few months before adding CRS but how will I do this if I do not plan on having any fish at all? will RCS be enough to mature the tank? only reason I ask is because there are many videos on Youtube of people setting up CRS tanks and after a month or so adding their shrimp and all seems fine...I guess not enough biofilm but with feeding regularly they seem to work ok.
Let me know your thoughts and thank you again for the lovely reply and pat on the back. Cheers

 

[MarcoPereira]

Ps: just checked parametres and pH is now hovering around 6 from what I can tell, ammonia is at between 0.5- 1 ppm and after a week still no Nitrites showing.... should I add some bicarb soda/ coral piece or just let it be as is and hope pH not to low for the BB....I really hate this part of cycling...not sure exactly what is going on...lol