Update on tank

garth7 · 10-27-2006, 07:28 PM

I copied this from my other post in hopes to get a better response and to put in the appropriate category. Currently, my Ammonia tonight (10/27) is at .6ppm Nitrite is .3 and PH is 7.6.

"Just to give everyone an update and in hopes of some contsructive critisism. I have had my tank setup for a week. I used some old aquarium rock that I had found at my parents place. This stil was sitting in some water (dirty water might I add). This actually looks as if it was taken straight out of the tank and put into a tupperware container. I am not sure if it woudl considered seeded or not due to the fact that it had to be sitting there for a long time in the attic (over a year). I also rinsed out my filter media from my canister filter out being it had saltwater running through it.

So after being setup for a week later and feeding the tank, I went to the petstore and bought ten plants. I also have 4 bulbs I am experimenting with from wal mart. I currently have just over 200 watts of light over my 55 gal tank. I plan on leaving this on for 9 hrs on a timer. I did an ammonia test yesterday and appeared to come out at 0ppm. I plan on letting the tank sit for two weeks or so and see how the plants do.

Anyone got any ideas or comments??? Do you think the substrate I put in my tank would still have some microbacteria in it??? Will this make the cycle time shorter? I will post again once I see the ammonia or Nitrites change."

Thanks for all you do,
Doug

gm333 · 10-27-2006, 08:21 PM

So your saying there was water in it for over a year? Was it just sitting there without filtration and fish? Im not too sure there would be any bacteria without waste for it too feed off of, I could be wrong though I would add something to kickstart the cycle as well just to make sure, cocktail shrimp work very good to start a cycle as well.

Tommy Gun · 10-27-2006, 09:12 PM

I would tend to think like gm333 in that bacteria wouldnt be very likely to survive in this water; at least not the type of bacteria you are looking to put in your tank anyways.

It appears that you are in the middle of your cycle. A nitrate reading would also help you out. I try to stay away from saying anything can or will 'take less time' or shorten the time of a cycle since there really is no way to tell how long it would take in the first place, so longer and shorter cannot apply.

Still, I think you are on the right track here. From what I have read, mostly from Jay's advice, plants can be added any time so you are ok. I am still learning about planted tanks as my first attempt is just around the corner! Otherwise, I would stick to what is working right now and just wait it out. You are much closer to having a cycled tank than when you began, so no real need to fix what isnt broken.

Loman · 10-27-2006, 10:52 PM

Garth7,
Based on what you say it does indeed sound like the cycle is progressing so I would see what happens next. In terms of taking the old gravel that can be bad if it gets to a point where the old bacteria die and all that remains is ammonia producing surfaces and deposits. It does not look like that is the case here fortunately but I would keep a close watch to make sure the ammonia comes down

Jay · 10-28-2006, 08:19 AM

There may well be a bunch of bacteria that remained in the old substrate, but it will not be the essential nitrifying bacteria, looks like the tank is cycling and building those colonies.

Your light, at 3.6 watts per gallon, puts you in the almost high light category. IME I would rethink the 9 hours a day, as you do not have anywhere near the plant mass needed to out compete the algae that much light will trigger.

I would cut back to eight, and watch the tank.

What were the 10 plants? Using that amount of light you are definitely going to accelerate the photosynthesis process and therefore accelerate the plants need to uptake nutrients and carbon. That does not mean you need CO2, but the plants would benefit from regular dosing of Seachem Excell, which is a carbon source for plants. I would also look into dosing NO3 and
PO4 and K. You might be able to find a starter kit NPK by Seachem at your LFS.

But my plants look fine

! Plants have the capacity to do what is called "Luxury Uptake" of nutrients. If they were well fed at the plant farm, they will be able to live off of those stored nutrients for a good while. Weeks later they may start to gradually decline and the hobbyist can't figure out what went wrong.

Well that's my $ .02

Regards,
Jay

jd@ga · 10-28-2006, 12:06 PM

Hey Doug! The bulbs from wal-mart mine took like 4 or 5 months to start growing due to my lights I`m sure , but they are growing. Good luck!

garth7 · 10-28-2006, 07:04 PM

I did some more testing tonight (10/28) and realized I really need to purchase that nitrate test. Are there any other tests you think I may need other than the ones listed below?

Ammonia .6
Nitrite .8
PH 7.6
General Hardness 120
Carbonate Hardness 70
Phosphate .25

Again feel free to comment and thanks for all you do!!!

Doug

Loman · 10-28-2006, 10:40 PM

Doug,
IMO Nitrates is the other big/common test. For the nitrogen cycle I believe you have the most latitude on Nitrates too. It is nice to know where it is but not as critical as ammonia and nitrite levels. Hopefully you will see the nitrites raise and the ammonia decline but the old gravel may effect that. You need to give it acouple days and see