Stubedoo's 300litre Tank Log - My First Ever Tank

[waterdrop]

Sounds like you'll be off to a good process.

Just thinking of details for the fun of it, I'd say you could definately cut those light hours down to 8 or 10. Sadly though, algae is a really tough problem and one can never get to excited that any one thing will necessarily make much of a dent in the problem.

You could ease the temp on up yet another degree to 29C/84F, as this seems to be about the high number for a good "bacterial soup" before you start hearing reports of it getting too high.

Members give lots of reports that bogwood will often get all sorts of funguses, films and other growths when new, so you are in good company. You can either just wait it out or there's nothing wrong with giving it a clean whenever you want to. Tanks are actually fairly fussy things and take well to the aquarist being willing to clean and "fiddle" in them at a pretty frequent rate.

Good luck and don't be reticent about posting up your ammonia and pH results as you begin taking them next week. Members enjoy the details and following along!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[stubedoo]

Okay quick update before I forget.

Day 6 (11:20am): Ammonia 4.0ppm
(although the green colour seemed a touch less deep than previously, almost as if it might even have been a touch under 4.0, maybe 3.95 - nothing wrong with a bit of positive thinking)

Hopefully we shall see some proper movement in the ammonia levels over the coming days!

In other news we are currently thinking about how best to do the background, and have stuck a sample piece of background using the seaview stuff to see how that looks and evolves over the next few days. Will update with progress as I know Schmill asked about this. For anyone who is interested in the seaview product there is a video worth watching on their webiste - www.seaviewinfo.com

Also added a handful more plants into the tank today. Went to three different shops and was pretty disappointed with the selection, and even more so with the lack of labeling, so it was difficult to know what I was buying. Think I picked up some Amazon Sword, but apart from that I have no idea... will have to post pics later.

 

[Schmill]

Going well Stu, keep wit the positive thinking, but don't use it all up just yet, there's surely going ot be times when you will need to draw on it

Thats for the link to the seaview stuff, certainly looks impressive in their promo.
I'd almost be tempted to go for it if I didn't have a plain black background now fitted
In fact I've just had a look at the tank to see if I could get my hand down the back of it for "squeegying", and I think I've decided I don't actually want to use the Seaview stuff - lol From their video it shows that because it seals the background to the back of the tank tightly, when you look in from the side you can see the background, not the usual 'mirror' effect you get on the back glass.... the thing is... I like the lightness that the 'mirror effect' gives the tank

Out of interest what shops did you go to for your plants? I've pretty much resided myself to now buying either from other members, or online shops. None of the LFS near me seem to stock much range, and like you say, what they do stock is poorly labelled. As you know the first load of plants I bought I ended up with 2 / 3 being non-aquatic, and since then I have just survived on my ever muliplying cabomba

 

[stubedoo]

Day 7 (11:30am): Ammonia 3.0ppm

Hooorah... I wasn't just seeing things yesterday, the green colour has definitely gone lighter today. Difficult to tell exactly how much, but I think it is somewhere between 2.0 & 4.0, thankfully the lower end colours/numbers are much easier to tell apart.

Thats for the link to the seaview stuff, certainly looks impressive in their promo.
I'd almost be tempted to go for it if I didn't have a plain black background now fitted
In fact I've just had a look at the tank to see if I could get my hand down the back of it for "squeegying", and I think I've decided I don't actually want to use the Seaview stuff

Yes I forgot to say the "squeegying" element is a lot harder than they make it out to be, and you would definitely need good access to the back, and some elbow grease. The problem I've found with it, is that is illuminates the blue so much that it is almost like a day-glo blue, much much lighter than the actual colour, see below:

It is difficult to capture the exact colour with my photography skills, but this kind of shows what I mean (it is even more day-glo in reality)... I'm thinking I might go for black too, fortunately the background I have has blue one side, black the other.

Out of interest what shops did you go to for your plants? I've pretty much resided myself to now buying either from other members, or online shops. None of the LFS near me seem to stock much range, and like you say, what they do stock is poorly labelled. As you know the first load of plants I bought I ended up with 2 / 3 being non-aquatic, and since then I have just survived on my ever muliplying cabomba

They were just 3 local-ish aquatic shops. I have been to four local ones now, and while some are better than others none are that great. At the moment it is just about getting a few cheapie plants to grow, and give the fish some sort of habitat. I think in the future I'll get a bit more serious with the plants and like you I imagine that will involve trying to find a decent online store and/or purchase from other members.

 

[Schmill]

I see what you mean with the blue. I guess it's because once it is sealed tightly to the glass it gets the full illumination of those lovely T5's
It's almost like they created a solution for a problem that wasn't really there...
I have to say I also prefer the slight reflection of the plants against the darker blue, rather than the 'shadow' you get against the really light blue, of course those could just be 'fake shadows' caused by the camera flash
Interested to see how the black comes out though, both when view straight on, and also when viewed in from the side of the tank

 

[stubedoo]

Day 8 (24th Dec) - 10:20am: Ammonia 3.0ppm
Day 9 (25th Dec) - 10:30am: Ammonia 3.0ppm
Day 10 (26th Dec) - 10:50am: Ammonia 3.0ppm

Well Santa didn't bring me any drop in my Ammonia levels As I said previously I find it really difficult to tell between 2ppm & 4ppm with the API kit. Yesterday it seemed more like 4ppm, and today more like 2ppm... so I'm just recording them as 3ppm, as it depends on how bright the room is when I record it etc.

I've also posted a thread about some rocks I'm hoping to put in the tank, if anyone cares to have a gander => Some Advice On My Rocks Please

Hope everyone is having a nice Christmas.

 

[waterdrop]

What's your pH stubedoo? You should be posting that along with the ammonia reading.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[reportingsjr]

You may want to check again if you are using pure ammonia, as if you aren't it could be hindering the cycling process.

 

[stubedoo]

Day 11 (27th Dec) - 10:15am:

Ammonia 4.0ppm
pH 6.8

I don't think the Ammonia is actually going up, at least I hope not, but I'm just going to report how I see it on the test kit.

Waterdrop I will start reporting the pH from now on. 6.8 is a drop from about 7.5 when I tested it on day 2 of the cycle, but I don't think we are are dangerously low levels just yet. I've found pH testing a bit random anyway, sometimes my tap water is as high as 8, other times around 7. One to definitely keep an eye on.

reportingsjr the ammonia I use is just listed as household ammonia, and the only ingredients it lists on the back is - Caution contains ammonia solution. I imagine this just means it is diluted ammonia, as you would expect it to be. I gave it a good shake, and there was no a hint of foaming or anything, it is a very clear liquid and has a seriously strong pong, much like superglue or something.

 

[stubedoo]

Day 12 (28th Dec) - 10:50am:

Ammonia 4.0ppm
pH 6.8

 

[stubedoo]

Day 13 (29th Dec) - 10:15am:

Ammonia 4.0ppm
pH 6.8

Day 15 (31st Dec) - 10:25am:

Ammonia 4.0ppm
pH 6.8

Starting to get a bit impatient... at least the ph seems to be staying stable though.

 

[Schmill]

Chin up mate

Hope you had a good Christmas, and at this rate you should have a 'Happy New Year' too as it was Day 17 that was the magic day for me with the ammonia suddenly dropping away.

Good luck!

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, the 6.8 may be making it a bit slower but from now on up through about 21 days should see the A-Bacs reach size and start causing drops.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Truck]

yes as said above 6.8 will slow the cycle down as ammonia is less toxic in more acidic water, another week tops and youll have a nitrite reading

 

[waterdrop]

well, the cycling process will drive the pH downward and the bacterial growth will generally slow as the pH drops. The process will stall once it drops to pH=6.2

Here's a summary of pH ranges and A-Bac/N-Bac growth:

pH below 5.5 = possible danger of bacteria die-off
pH 5.5 to 6.2 = cycling process stalled or stopped
pH 6.3 to 7.0 = slow beneficial bacterial development
pH 7.1 to 7.9 = faster beneficial bacterial development
pH 8.0 to 8.4 = optimal/fastest bacterial development
pH 8.5 to 8.9 = too high, slower bacterial development
ph above 9.0 = possible danger of bacteria die-off

The ammonia oxidizing bacteria will consume ammonia in either the ammonia or ammonium state, there are no toxicity considerations during fishless cycling.

~~waterdrop~~