Si's Fishless Cycle

[waterdrop]

 

[PDSimon]

what are my nitrites doing! The test tube isn't even turning a transparent black colour anymore, its turning green which it never has done which would make you think its still going up!

Won't they come down already

 

[kaivalagi]

Cheat and get some mature media

I said I was going to do a fish-less cycle but didn't in the end, media added along side 4 fish in the morning, more fish added in the afternoon, then 3 days of big water changes to be safe...

Not what you want to hear right now though I guess, but in all seriousness can you not get hold of some to speed things up considerably? You could still dose and read before fish go in but you would have the benefit of not waiting for long...

 

[PDSimon]

Cheat and get some mature media

I said I was going to do a fish-less cycle but didn't in the end, media added along side 4 fish in the morning, more fish added in the afternoon, then 3 days of big water changes to be safe...

Not what you want to hear right now though I guess, but in all seriousness can you not get hold of some to speed things up considerably? You could still dose and read before fish go in but you would have the benefit of not waiting for long...

Half the mature media of a U2 filter is in there! remember me saying about my brothers tank? maybe it just didn't accept it It was a ~20 minute trip to get it back(from his tank to mine) too which probably didn't help

I saw the pics of the fish, really nice

I have some of that cycle stuff that came with the tank but I've read its useless countless times.

 

[kaivalagi]

Sorry, totally forgot, that's a bit of a #28### then...

Yeah, I'm well happy with the fish, getting on fine right now...still trying to make my mind up as to put them in the main tank next weekend or to wait for a while longer to get them well and truly past the 2-2.5" mark.

That bottled bacteria is a sales gimmick, it wont hurt I don't think but wont do any good...I would personally just throw it

 

[PDSimon]

patience is the important thing right now unfortunately!

I have no idea which is better so I can't really have an opinion

I'm hoping that when the nitrites finally do drop, they'll be so many of them it'll be a quick drop and the follow on of the 12 hour testing week should be soon after.

 

[PDSimon]

Nitrites still ridiculously high

Did a little sketch on plants and sort of general layout.

Need to get the bogwood soon so I can soak it. Do I need to soak the driftwood too?

would these bring pH up?

My link
My link

edit: I was also wondering, there are actually mirror doors next to my tank. I completely forgot..this won't annoy the fish will it? I can always cover the left side of the tank, but they might see the reflection infront of the tank and be a bit confused...

 

[kaivalagi]

Nice sketch! Looks cool...

Yep, soak all the wood, driftwood might take even longer before it will stay under on it's own. The pH will not go up with wood, it may go down...maybe

Would a background on the back of the tank help for the mirrored doors, I can't picture where they might be in relation to the tank, the old thread with the pic has long since gone from my topic subscriptions...to be honest I think it would be fine as the glass of the tank acts as a mirror a lot of time anyway...you're not getting a betta are you?

 

[PDSimon]

Nice sketch! Looks cool...

Yep, soak all the wood, driftwood might take even longer before it will stay under on it's own. The pH will not go up with wood, it may go down...maybe

Would a background on the back of the tank help for the mirrored doors, I can't picture where they might be in relation to the tank, the old thread with the pic has long since gone from my topic subscriptions...to be honest I think it would be fine as the glass of the tank acts as a mirror a lot of time anyway...you're not getting a betta are you?

Just wanted to get an idea of the tank with two main ends and the general planting

I know with breeding yellow convicts ( ) if you shine a mirror and they think theres another fish there the male darts around protecting its eggs but like you said, the aquarium itself is very reflective. Just wouldn't want to confuse the poor guys

No bettas...

I want this

8 x Rummynose Tetra (Hemigrammus bleheri)
3 x Bolivian Ram (Mikrogeophagus altispinosus)
5 x Black Widow Tetra (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi)
3 x Amano Shrimp (Cardina multidentata)
5 x Kuhli Loach (Pangio kuhlii)
5 x Blue Pearl Shrimp (Neocaridina cf. zhangjiajiensis var. blue)

not sure about the black widow tetra, but there were a few bigger species that didn't need to shoal so much which I quite like (black widow and also phantom black)

edit: the links in the previous post were rocks not wood kaiv

 

[kaivalagi]

Sorry, thought you were still talking about wood

Should be fine....although I would take a trip to the garden centre and pay a lot less for a lot more...granite/slate is fine...

I see now what you mean about the mirror, as you wont be able to view the tank from that side why not get some background sheeting and wrap it from that edge and then around the back...nice black background would be nice too...that wallpaper is a tad bright!

I'd say no to the black widows and instead get something a little more inclined to stay at the top of the tank...don't dismiss Danios...they're fantastic to watch when they get into a breeding/mating frenzy...and they can handle 26/27C just fine...and they're cheap! If you can get some Celestial Pearl Danios they look really colourful too! Or just drop the black widows and don't replace, then get more rummy noses

I'm now thinking about getting some dither fish for my big tank, I'm thinking Silver Hatchets at the mo because they'll stay right up the top and are SA fish too to match everything else. A bit strange looking though

 

[PDSimon]

Sorry, thought you were still talking about wood

Should be fine....although I would take a trip to the garden centre and pay a lot less for a lot more...granite/slate is fine...

I see now what you mean about the mirror, as you wont be able to view the tank from that side why not get some background sheeting and wrap it from that edge and then around the back...nice black background would be nice too...that wallpaper is a tad bright!

I'd say no to the black widows and instead get something a little more inclined to stay at the top of the tank...don't dismiss Danios...they're fantastic to watch when they get into a breeding/mating frenzy...and they can handle 26/27C just fine...and they're cheap! If you can get some Celestial Pearl Danios they look really colourful too! Or just drop the black widows and don't replace, then get more rummy noses

I'm now thinking about getting some dither fish for my big tank, I'm thinking Silver Hatchets at the mo because they'll stay right up the top and are SA fish too to match everything else. A bit strange looking though

Hmm not sure about that stone... and yeah its the only place the tank could go though. Black might be good. I did get a background scene but decided I dont like them but black might be nice.

What have you got against black widows? bigger tetra?

I love silver hatchets I think they're awesome! They'd jump out whilst I am trying to do water changes so gave up on the idea. apparently they jump really high and you have to have quite a high cover otherwise they'll injure them? I really like how they shoal though.

I kind of wanted two smaller shoals of tetra if i could fit them in.

 

[PDSimon]

and waterdrop, when is my tank magically going to get out of this nitrite spike?

Can't you do something with your wisdom?

 

[waterdrop]

What, I'm supposed to make everyone's autotrophs procreate faster?

 

[PDSimon]

Pretty much!

edit: I've bought some bogwood. It's 'tropica bogwood' so lovely and expensive. He was saying it was oak or something. Just needs boiling.

Spoke to them a little about plants in my tank. He said I can have loads in there it's just they may not grow as quick/some might not establish themselvs.

Not that I want loads, I want plenty of open space.

Also might add some of that wood thats mean preserved? I forget the name but its basically turned into a rock. Looks quite nice...

 

[waterdrop]

I believe you're referring to petrified wood? As far as I know its ok. Part of the reason its pretty is that it has various different types of stone that have different colors in the end after the long process of it turning to stone. Its interesting.. to my thinking, the process would have involved water slowly releasing its mineral content within the wood and the wood structure becomeing "calcified" in some way, but it could easily be other minerals besides Ca I suppose, over the centuries it takes. I'm no geologist, so I have not idea whether its likely some of the different stone components that are formed would likely be the "limestone" types that we know will slowly dissolve and change the water chemistry of our tanks.

There are types of stone that will dissolve quickly and raise mineral content and pH. Then there are other types that will only have effects very, very slowly. Then there are still other types that will do nothing at all within the aquarium environment. I don't know which are which. (There may have been some posts on TFF over the years, can't remember if I've run across any (vaguely want to remember one with pictures but I may be mis-remembering the nice post that had different woods somewhere.)

~~waterdrop~~