|
Posted by Bill on March 13, 2005, 1:57 am
Please log in for more thread options
> I agree that the NO3 test is a PITA (FYI: and if you leave the solution
> to sit, it gets darker).
I didn't know that. Useful information.
> I wouldn't worry about a few readings which don't quite fit. Cycling
> is proven when you have no NH3/4, no NO2 and lots of NO3.
Call me eager. It's frustrating watching an aquarium with no fish in
it. :-)
> Aerobic nitrifying bacteria is in the air (and in higher percentages
> if you already have fish, like your Bettas), and if you have more of
> the nitrospiras for some reason (like when you added Stress-Zyme which
> I think is a wide spectrum bacterial mix), then they could be moving
> the NO2 to NO3 faster than expected.
Basically, I hear you saying that any of my hypotheses could have been
accurate. ;-)
FWIW, we don't have the bettas *yet*. We were out visiting a few more
LFS today, though, and we got our desk aquaria in which we intend to
keep bettas -- she got a plain rectangular 5.5 gallon with a lid and
fluorescent fixture, and I got a Mini-Bow 5, and a self-ballasted
compact fluorescent bulb. Still need heaters -- we're going to get a
compact 25W each. We also hit pay dirt -- Bio-Spira.
I had been looking around online last night and found one source:
<http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html> . We hit a couple of places[1]
today that we hadn't been, and they had it at both.
When we checked out, they packed the Bio-Spira in its own small brown
paper bag with a cold pack before putting it in the plastic bag with
other items, which I thought was a nice touch.
I just did a 100% water change -- actually, 17 gallons out of 20, but it
was all I could get out, and one or two of the three missing gallons
would have been due to evaporation. I probably wouldn't have bothered,
but there was about three tablespoons of salt in there, which wouldn't
sit well with the cories that we want to get. I'm debating another such
water change tomorrow, but that's probably overkill.
We're thinking a couple of angels and four or five cories for now, and
then adding a few congo tetras and five clown loaches when we get our 80
gallow tank in a few months.
I got a GH/KH test kit today. From the cold tap, it is 300 ppm (16.8 -
17 in dH?) GH and 130 ppm (7.3 dH?) KH. It might be too hard and basic
(pH is north of 8) for tetras.
Lots of fun, and there aren't even any fish yet! :-) Can't wait to get
the little buggers.
[1]For Phoenix-area residents, the stores were Aquarium Arts in Mesa and
Pets Inc in Tempe, about five miles from each other. So far, my wife
and I like Pets Inc the best of any store that we've been to. I'm
probably going to steer clear of Aquarium Arts, personally -- among
others, we saw a firemouth who was laying on its side on the bottom of
the tank, gasping for breath, along with more than a couple more dead or
dying fish. Pets Inc, while not specializing in fish, had quite a large
fish section and selection, the fish all seemed to be doing well. There
were tanks marked not-for-sale, and I overheard an employee telling a
customer about one tank that they weren't being sold because they were
sick. That impressed me. The other place seemed like a gamble to buy
healthy fish.
|
|
Posted by Ozdude on March 13, 2005, 2:33 am
Please log in for more thread options
>> I agree that the NO3 test is a PITA (FYI: and if you leave the solution
>> to sit, it gets darker).
>
> I didn't know that. Useful information.
I didn't know that either. This is why my home kit reveals above 0
apparently and the shop reads 0 on the same water. So it should be read
exactly after 5 minutes (as per instructions) ?
> Call me eager. It's frustrating watching an aquarium with no fish in
> it. :-)
Patience grasshopper. I know this frustration. It happened on my first tank,
many months ago, and I bit the bullet and bought two Paradise Fish and a CAE
(without water tests and full of ignorance). The female died within a
fortnight and the male a few days later after the CAE lunged onto his side
and made a nice big hole in him - he was already weak from chemical
poisoning I suspect.
The CAE just stopped one day, rolled onto his side and died. I tested the
water and the ammonia was through the roof.
The only advice and consolation I can give you is to be patient - it will
pay off in the future in a very stable and readable tank, which should be a
great environment for any fish you introduce into it.
Once this tank is going, you can use it to seed all further tanks and thus
not go through this waiting game. Also consider this - this is probably the
only time you have to display this patience in your life, so it's not really
*that* hard - just frustrating at the time ;)
Oz
--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith
|
|
Posted by Bill on March 13, 2005, 2:06 pm
Please log in for more thread options
> Patience grasshopper. I know this frustration. It happened on my first tank,
> many months ago, and I bit the bullet and bought two Paradise Fish and a CAE
> (without water tests and full of ignorance). The female died within a
> fortnight and the male a few days later after the CAE lunged onto his side
> and made a nice big hole in him - he was already weak from chemical
> poisoning I suspect.
Sorry to hear about that. :( I didn't see that, as I read only what my
ISP had retained for the group, going back just a couple of months
(which was still quite a few messages). I'm glad to hear that it's
going better after the recent setback.
> Once this tank is going, you can use it to seed all further tanks and thus
> not go through this waiting game. Also consider this - this is probably the
> only time you have to display this patience in your life, so it's not really
> *that* hard - just frustrating at the time ;)
Indeed -- but we found Bio-Spira, so I think that we'll be stocking
soon, once we figure out what we want in it for sure. :)
|
|
Posted by Lisa on March 13, 2005, 8:42 pm
Please log in for more thread options
Bio-Spira IS wonderful. I used it on my 3 (NEW!) tanks - 1 50-gallon,
one 10-gallon, and one 6-gallon, all set up in the last 2 months, and
it worked like a charm. Expensive, but worth it, in my experience.
And a little goes a long way. One $16 packet had enough to cycle all
three of my tanks (although none are heavily populated: 2 dwarf
gouramis, 6 corys, one juv. angel in the 50-gallon/ 2 male bettas in
the divided 10-gallon/ and one male betta in the 6 gallon!) Of couse,
YMMV.
- Lisa
|
| Similar Threads | Posted | | Re: Nitrate but no nitrite? (fishless cycling) | March 11, 2005, 11:59 am |
| Fishless tank cycling | November 16, 2008, 2:11 pm |
| Re: Cycling woes | April 25, 2006, 6:23 pm |
| Cycling woes | April 25, 2006, 11:34 am |
| Re: Cleaning filter during cycling | April 21, 2006, 4:56 pm |
| Re: Cleaning filter during cycling | April 21, 2006, 6:42 pm |
| Re: Cleaning filter during cycling | April 22, 2006, 7:57 am |
| Re: strange cycling data... | March 29, 2005, 7:47 pm |
| Cycling facts, tips and links | January 9, 2008, 1:05 pm |
| Sponge Filters for Cycling New Tank | April 21, 2006, 12:04 pm |
|
|
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap
> to sit, it gets darker).