zombryn
New Member
Hey everyone.
Well - I got my tank last Friday, set it all up and it's been running (fishless) since then. I'm a bit confused when it comes to the fishless cycle as I've read about adding ammonia for a week and taking readings and I've also read about adding natural bacteria which should ready your tank for fish in a few days.
So it's been running for six days with dechlorinated water - just doing nothing untill I added some Nutrafin cycle today. On the second day my readings were:
pH = 6.8
Ammonia = 0
(no nitrite or natrate readings because I didn't have the kits then)
Day 6:
pH = 7.2
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = ? (someone had swapped their old kit for a new one in the shop so I ended up with an old empty kit )
I added some of the natural bacteria stuff (Nutrafin cycle) today and I hope that sorts things out. I don't really know if my readings so far are good or bad. The pH level I need is around 6.8 because I want to keep tetra. The tank (63L) currently has sand substrate with some gravel, bogwood and plants. So yeah, I'm 6 days in and a bit confused as to what I should be doing at the moment (I did read all of the stickies on here but I'm still confused).
Some other things are:
Is it natural for some of my bogwood to produce a weird mucus type layer that covers it?
There seem to be a few snails in there that came with the plants, is that going to be a big problem?
Thanks in advance for any replies and advice. It'll be very much appreciated!
Well - I got my tank last Friday, set it all up and it's been running (fishless) since then. I'm a bit confused when it comes to the fishless cycle as I've read about adding ammonia for a week and taking readings and I've also read about adding natural bacteria which should ready your tank for fish in a few days.
So it's been running for six days with dechlorinated water - just doing nothing untill I added some Nutrafin cycle today. On the second day my readings were:
pH = 6.8
Ammonia = 0
(no nitrite or natrate readings because I didn't have the kits then)
Day 6:
pH = 7.2
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = ? (someone had swapped their old kit for a new one in the shop so I ended up with an old empty kit )
I added some of the natural bacteria stuff (Nutrafin cycle) today and I hope that sorts things out. I don't really know if my readings so far are good or bad. The pH level I need is around 6.8 because I want to keep tetra. The tank (63L) currently has sand substrate with some gravel, bogwood and plants. So yeah, I'm 6 days in and a bit confused as to what I should be doing at the moment (I did read all of the stickies on here but I'm still confused).
Some other things are:
Is it natural for some of my bogwood to produce a weird mucus type layer that covers it?
There seem to be a few snails in there that came with the plants, is that going to be a big problem?
Thanks in advance for any replies and advice. It'll be very much appreciated!