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OKnights112's 1st Aquarium - Day 66 Update

8K views 61 replies 13 participants last post by  Drumstin 
#1 · (Edited)
So after some talk and planning I have started an aquarium for the first time. I really enjoyed going through this forum and reading, learning and looking at all the amazing tanks. I have decided to go with just rocks for my first attempt.

So here is what I started with.

Tank:
38 gallons - 30L x 18W x 16H – Custom Made at Aqua Zoo in Houston

Stand:
Custom made by Justin Henry

Substrate: (ADG is the best – the staff was really nice)
2 bags of PowerSand Special-S (2L)
1 bag of Aqua Soil New Amazonia Normal (9L)
ADA Nile Sand

Aquascaping Materials:
Seiryu Stones

Filter:
Ehiem 2213
Hydor Koralia Nano 240

Heater:
Ehiem Jager 150W

CO2:
Paintball Setup
AQUATEK CO2 Regulator Mini with Integrated Solenoid for Paintball Tank (R-78)
Diffuser

Lights:
Finnex LED RAY 2 30”

Plants:
Anubias Nana
Rotala rotundifolia "green"
Rotala Indica
Eleocharis Parvula
Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis

Fish:
4 – Corydoras Trilineatus
6 – Ember Tetras
8 – Green Neon Tetras
5 – Otocinclus
20 – Amano Shrimp

Fertilizer:
5 Drops of Green Bacter
7 Pumps of Green Brighty Step 1
7 Pumps of Brighty K



Day 1:
I placed the substrate down and managed to do an ok job of aquascaping. I places the Seiryu stones in a matter that I thought looked pretty good. I stood back for a while and looked at it and decided it was time to fill this bad boy up with water. I used a plastic bag over my substrate and began pouring the water in. It really helped. Still my sand and Aqua Soil got a little mixed in. My friend and I had one issue and that was getting the filter to start working. It had a lot of air in it and took a while to get out. I took the normal water measurements for the first time which was pretty fun. Here was the water condition results.
Ammonia - .25ppm
Nitrates – 0ppm
Nitrites – 0ppm
PH – 7.4

So here are some pictures of Day 1.
 

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#2 · (Edited)
Day 2:
Well I decided to go buy some fish and plants from my local fish store. I picked up two Anubias Nanas. I talked to the owner and decided to get four Corydorus julii. I got home and put all them in the tank. I just did the water condition results and here they are:
Ammonia - .5ppm
Nitrates –20ppm
Nitrites – 0ppm
PH – 7.4

So here are some new pics from Day 2.
 

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#7 · (Edited)
Day 3:
So when I got home I did my first water change today, I would probably say it was about a 40% change. My Julii Corys are still swimming around.

Water parameters:
Ammonia before water change – 2.0ppm
Ammonia after water change – 1.0ppm
Nitrates –20ppm
Nitrites – 0ppm
PH – 7.4

Will update again after the weekend.

So here are some new pics from Day 3.
 

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#8 ·
I will be shocked if your cories surivive your cycle. Did they know when they sold them to you that you were putting them into a brand new tank, especially one with amazonia in it? I'd consider returning them to your LFS and finishing your cycle without putting their lives at risk.

1.0ppm ammonia is way too high when you have fish in the tank. Higher than .25 starts to stress them out.. they might be "alive" now but they won't be for long especially as your ammonia levels continue to climb (you're at 2ppm on day 3, I expect they'll get much higher within the next week).

If you want to keep them you may end up doing water changes daily - and I'd suggest doing more than 40%.. you need to get that ammonia down to under .25ppm, and that would be difficult with a normal fish-in cycle, nevermind adding a substrate into the mix that is also adding ammonia to the cycle.
 
#9 ·
Not necesarily true. Low ph and temperature renders ammonia relatively harmless....
http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/AmmoniaTox.html

Also you should be doing daily doses for prime. It detoxifies a large amount of ammonia.

I would take the cories out and put them in a spare tank with a sponge filter or something. They will be dandy there. Don't worry about it too much we all make mistakes. I did this recently as well. I thought I cycled it since ammonia was reading 0. Then when I did a water change at my new residence the next day it was 4ppm.
 
#16 ·
Day 5:
I did a 50% water change today. Here are the parameters.
Ammonia – 0.5ppm
Nitrates –20ppm
Nitrites – 0.5ppm
PH – 7.4
I will do another 50% water change tomorrow to get the ammonia down to .25ppm since it appears to be holding after each water change. It seems like my tank is starting to cycle since I am getting some Nitrates. I added some Ammo Lock from API so at least I will hold the ammonia level where it is.
 
#18 ·
Looks like it'll be a great tank. Good luck with the fish. Ph above 7 and ammonia will be toxic. Also, I'm not sure, but it looks like you planted the anubias. Make sure the rhizome is above the substrate, otherwise they will rot. I'd heed the advice from the members here and remove the fish. But obviously it's your call.
 
#19 ·
OKnights112 - 1st Tank – 36 Gallon

Poor fish :( unless you have another tank to house them in then I suppose there is nothing you can do but don't expect them to be long lived once the tank is cycled the damage will already be done.

Great looking scape though, just have a bit of patience it works wonders ;)
 
#21 ·
Poor fish :( unless you have another tank to house them in then I suppose there is nothing you can do but don't expect them to be long lived once the tank is cycled the damage will already be done.

Great looking scape though, just have a bit of patience it works wonders ;)
I know about the fish and I made a mistake. I have been running Ammo-Lock and using Seachem's Stability since Saturday morning to help speed up the cycling process. I got the ammonia back to .25 last night with a water change.

I yalls opnion what is a better Seachem Prime or API Stress Coat?

I have been using API Stress Coat.
 
#24 ·
Got my AquaTek CO2 Mini Regulator for my paintball tank and got it all hooked up and working. I am going to start out with one bubble a second and see if that will help my PH. I also got a DoAqua Lily Pipe and got that all installed in my tank as well. My ammonia has been at .25 since my last update, it looks like my tank is cycling. Here are some pics of my CO2 setup and my new lily pipe.
 

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#25 ·
Day 12 – 2/17/13
Put in API’s Quick Start to help cycle the tank. I was getting to worried about the ammonia levels and nitrite levers. Seachem’s Stability did not seem like it was the right thing to do. Lesson learned.
Ammonia – 0.5ppm
Nitrates – 0ppm
Nitrites – .25ppm
PH – 7.4

Day 13 – 2/18/13
Ammonia – 0.5ppm
Nitrates – 5ppm
Nitrites – 0ppm
PH – 7.4

Day 15 – 2/20/13
I stopped by and picked up a new plant today, Echinodorus - ‘Red Flame’. When I got home it found its new home. I rearranged some of the rocks. I took two out and placed moved one. I really like how it is coming along. Hopefully in two weeks my Dwarf Hairgrass will be in and so I can plant it too. Here are my water parameters for today.
Ammonia – 0.5ppm
Nitrates – 0ppm
Nitrites – 0ppm
PH – 7.4
Probably need to do a water change tomorrow.
 

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#26 ·
Day 18 – 2/23/13
I noticed that there is some growth on my both of my Anubias Nana. I guess I am doing something right. I also installed a Hydor Koralia Nano 425 to help with some water flow.
Ammonia – 0.5ppm
Nitrates – 5ppm
Nitrites – 0ppm
PH – 7.4

I am running my CO2 when the lights are off and when they come back on for my 8 hour daylight period I stop the CO2. Is that the best method?
 

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#29 ·
I am running my CO2 when the lights are off and when they come back on for my 8 hour daylight period I stop the CO2. Is that the best method?
You have it backwards OKnights. Plants require CO2 for photosynthesis during the photoperiod (when you have lights on). You will want to switch this immediately.

Are you using a CO2 diffuser or reactor? Having a pH of 7.4 seems rather high considering you are now injecting CO2....what is the pH of your water prior to CO2 injection?
 
#33 ·
Okay. Do you have a drop checker? (If not I would suggest getting one. They are cheap, and can give you a relative idea if you have good CO2 in your water). Check for leaks. You mentioned you are at 1 bubble per second. When you find the time increase this temporarily to ~3bubbles and take a pH reading 1 hour afterwards. You should without question see a drop in pH.

IF you do not, then there is a CO2 leak somewhere in your system, or the CO2 isn't dissolving properly in the water (could be an issue with the inline reactor, or as mentioned earlier your lily pipe needs to be fully submerged in water to not lose CO2).

The reason I mention to temporarily do this is you do not want to gas your fish. You'll know this is the case if you see them floating at the top gasping for air. In the mornings after you had the CO2 running at night were the fish at the top of the tank?
 
#34 ·
What is the KH of your tap water? If it's high enough that could be why your pH isn't dropping with CO2.. you may also just need to add more CO2 than you currently are.

My personal observation with the Aquatek bubble counter is that some of them (I have 3) tend to put out MUCH smaller bubbles than a JBJ style counter does, so the bubble count may seem artificially high (this is the case with the "combined" bubble counter and diffuser they make as well - the bubbles are very tiny coming out of the silicone check valve). I actually have both bubble counters running on one of my tanks using the same aquatek mini regulator right now and the aquatek bubble counter on that one is running at almost twice the bubble count of the JBJ, and it's the same amount of CO2 running through both... so you might just need to up the C02 a bit.

I definitely second the recommendation for a drop checker. It actually takes more like 2 hours to "read" a change in CO2 levels with a drop checker, and while it's not 100% accurate it's still a better method than watching the fish and guessing... in a drop checker blue means you need more CO2 and yellow means you are putting in too much, green means you're right where you want to be.
 
#35 ·
Thanks Wolf19 and sarahspins for the information.

Nope my fish where not gasping for air in morning.

I will try to up the CO2 tonight and see if that changes my PH. I do not have a KH test yet but will pick up one on the way home. I have a different bubble counter that I am going to replace the Aquatek one, one of my friends made one for me. I guess I need to order a drop checker.
 
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