New Member From Bournemouth

[Sophie]

I accidently deleted it on my phone and couldn't be bothered to re-write it aha.

 

[daizeUK]

It's probably too late now but I wouldn't boil those rocks.  Risk of them exploding.
I wouldn't boil the wood either.  I boiled mine and then found out it degrades the wood fibres.  I just soak mine for a month

 

[Alexarium]

Yeap... pretty late...
I didn't know that explosive piece of information... wow!
 
Anyway, no more boiling from now on for me.
Thanks though!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yup, best to just pour boiling water over them and let them steep for a while.

 

[Alexarium]

OK, after 3 days of changing aquascapes, I finally got a look I like.
Probably tomorrow I will add water for the first time and start the fishless cycling.
 
I have a question: should I add the plants now, or after the cycling is complete?
I have read both opinions 

 

 and can't decide...
I'm going for a low tech planted tank, if that makes any difference.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'd wait until the end of the cycle, but that's just me.

 

[Mamashack]

The plants may slow the cycle a bit since they will directly use up some of the ammonia which is the food source for the first lot of bacteria to grow so I'm with Eagles and would wait. It might also confuse the test results. However it probably wouldn't be ages and it would be something to look at other than a relatively empty tank. Some people do, others don't - I think it's down to personal preference at the end of the day.

 

[Alexarium]

Ok, I think it's time I started my fishless and plantless cycle then!
 
Thank you for your answers.

 

[Mamashack]

Keep us updated with your progress!

 

[Alexarium]

The first day of my first aquarium​

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AquaNano 40​

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Too tired now to calculate Ammonia dosage, so I just left it with the filter and heater running.​

I have the light on a timer switch set to run for 5 hours every night.​

It seems that I'll be following an aquascape similar to the first one in the opening post.​

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Really excited!​

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Will be happy to hear your views, ideas and suggestions​

 

[Alexarium]

First day of my fishless cycle, so here's some chemistry...
 
According to my water company, my water hardness is 93.729 mg/L = 5.25 dGH, which classifies it as moderately hard.
 
Tested my pH straight from the tap and it was 7.8
 
Tested my pH today, after the tank has run for a good 20 hours and the pH was the same, 7.8
 
The rest of the results were:
 

 
Notes:

• The total water capacity of my tank is 52.5 lt. I count that manually, the first time I filled the tank with water (which was yesterday). I dechlorinated the water before adding it in the tank.
• The quantity of ammonia I added was 1.66 ml, according to the instructions of the Calculator.
• Ammonia smells really, really bad. Try not to inhale it or bring it close to your face and store it always upright, even if you think is is sealed. I put it in an extra zip-lock bag just to be safe.
• The API kit is sometimes really hard to read. As there is no indication of 3.00ppm for Ammonia, I presumed that it was 3.0ppm judging by the fact that it was a wee bit darker than the 2.00ppm indicator but not as dark as the 4.00ppm one. Wishful thinking/interpreting of color?
• For anyone using the API kit, please make sure you don't drop any of the bottle's contents to your hands. These things are really bad for your skin... even one drop (as my experience showed).

And some questions (I do apologise if they are silly):

1. I do doubt the test results regarding the existing Ammonia of the tank before adding the Ammonia itself for the first time. As you see in the chart above, this was 0.50ppm which does seem strange. Shouldn't the tank water on its first day be completely free of Ammonia?
2. Is my hardness calculation correct?
3. During cycling, should I be testing all 4 elements (Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH) or only Ammonia and Nitrite?
4. After filling up the tank with water, there are a lot of bubbles trapped in the substrate. Should I try to somehow disturb the substrate to remove them, or will they go away with time? The reason I'm asking this is because I've read that oxygen trapped in the substrate, if left there for a long time, can become toxic and kill fish.

Thanks in advance

 

[Arbee]

Love this thread!  I too am planing a planted tank, and lust over the first pictures you posted!  They are breath taking!  I kill all house plants, but have hope for a planted tank because I won't have to water it lol

 

[Sophie]

Might be worth testing the water that comes out of your tap for Ammonia. Just to double check or maybe triple check those readings. API is good but can be dodgy with results - especially the Ammonia I'm different lighting. Try looking at it inside and outside, artificial and non lighting.

 

[daizeUK]

I agree with Sophie, it's possible to get ammonia in your tap water especially if it contains chloramines, which judging by your water report you do (it's under total chlorine).
 
Your calculation looks fine.
 
During cycling you only need to be concerned with ammonia and nitrite.  It's useful to test your tap water for nitrates so you know how many you're starting with and you've already tested your pH.  You needn't be concerned with nitrates or pH again unless your cycle is taking a long time and in danger of stalling.  Just follow the cycling link at the top of the page and test when it tells you to, you'll be fine!
 
Don't worry about bubbles in the substrate, they won't do any harm at all.  Toxic gas in the substrate is caused by bacterial waste gas and not air pockets.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Bit of a late welcome but welcome to the forum anyway.
 
I love that piece of Wood! It looks nice next to the rocks.
 
I look forward to updates and more pics!