Introducing myself, starting a planted tank

[WestHaven]

I did a water test today, and the results were good. I'm surprised it's moving along this fast (if this is accurate).
Ammonia - 0.5 ppm
Nitrite - 1 ppm
Nitrate - 80-160 ppm

[WestHaven]

Oops double post.

[zoony]

Originally Posted by if_fishes_were_wishes

Activated carbon takes out tannins in a day, easily. Just put it in a mesh bag and add to your filter. Not sure about the impact that'll have on the cycle though, to be honest.

Not trying to start an argument, but I want to point out that this simply isn't true. Mopani driftwood is the debil. Mine left tannins for weeks and weeks and weeks... Not talking about a tint to the water, im talking about water that looked like coffee. Tried carbon, tried taking them out and soaking them in boiling water, even soaked them in a separate bucket for a week... Still got brown water. After enough time and water changes and soaking, finally turned the corner

Also, if you get a snot like substance coating your mopani, this is normal too. Take it out and scrub it off

That stuff is terrible, I wont be using it again

[WestHaven]

Originally Posted by zoony

Not trying to start an argument, but I want to point out that this simply isn't true. Mopani driftwood is the debil.

In your experience.

I haven't had any problems since I started my tank two weeks ago. I didn't soak my driftwood at all.

[if_fishes_were_wishes]

Originally Posted by zoony

Not trying to start an argument, but I want to point out that this simply isn't true. Mopani driftwood is the debil. Mine left tannins for weeks and weeks and weeks... Not talking about a tint to the water, im talking about water that looked like coffee. Tried carbon, tried taking them out and soaking them in boiling water, even soaked them in a separate bucket for a week... Still got brown water. After enough time and water changes and soaking, finally turned the corner

Also, if you get a snot like substance coating your mopani, this is normal too. Take it out and scrub it off

That stuff is terrible, I wont be using it again

I had tannins and charcoal took them out. I'm not lying. Perhaps I had a different type of driftwood. Water looked like tea then it was crystal clear after carbon. In a day.

[WestHaven]

Today I'm going to the store to get some more plants

Update: I went to the store and got 2 Anachris, 1 moss ball, and 1 crypt. There is also one bulb of an unknown plant growing, but I don't think it's gonna make it. Pictures will come later.

Update with a picture: Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic. I want a better camera. From left to right are an Amazon sword back-left corner, Wisteria and Anachris center-left, Moss ball center underneath the wood, Anachris and Wisteria and Crypt center-right, two Amazon swords and a Wisteria on the right.

[WestHaven]

I did a water test, here are the results.
pH - 7.6
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 2-5 ppm
Nitrate - 80-160 ppm (can't tell on the test kit).

Should I do a water change to get the nitrites/nitrates down? or just wait a few days and continue to add a pinch of fish food each day?

[WestHaven]

What can I do to bring the pH in my tank down? I would like to keep Red Cherry Shrimp and I read that they like a pH of less than 7.

Today I did another water test, and the Ammonia was 0, the Nitrite was 5, and the Nitrate was 80-160 ppm. So I did about an 8 gallon water change (two 5 gallon buckets filled 80% full). The water looks a lot clearer. The water that went down the tub had a dark yellow tint to it. I will do another water test tomorrow.

[Willamette]

The best way to lower pH is with CO2 (creates carbonic acid when dissolved into water). There are a lot of water chemistry products out there for futzing about with pH, and my advice is to avoid all of them. Trying to fight pH is a losing battle, and is much harder on your fish than just letting them acclimate to the pH you've got. You might read up a bit on KH and GH, and their relationship to everything.

Cherry shrimp will acclimate to your water fine, but invertebrates tend to be more sensitive to NO3, so watch that. RCS will be fine, just need a mature tank and easy acclimation. 7.6 isn't a big deal.

[WestHaven]

Thanks for the advice. I did a water test tonight after I did a water change earlier today.
pH - holding steady at 7.6
Ammonida - 0
Nitrate - 0 or just above 0
Nitrate - about 40 ppm

Should I continue with adding a pinch of fish food each day? Should I do a water change to get the nitrate level as close to zero as possible? I would like to add fish this week if possible, but I am in no hurry.

[Willamette]

Ya, you gotta keep feeding the bacteria something, or they'll die.

I'd say wait a week and if you are still at zero NH3 and NO2, go ahead and throw some fishies in there. A little nitrate is no biggie.

[WestHaven]

Originally Posted by Willamette

Ya, you gotta keep feeding the bacteria something, or they'll die.

I'd say wait a week and if you are still at zero NH3 and NO2, go ahead and throw some fishies in there. A little nitrate is no biggie.

That's what I was thinking.

[WestHaven]

I did another water test tonight. Things are looking good.
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - about 5ppm
Nitrate - about 40 ppm

Can I add fish this weekend even though my nitrite level is greater than zero?

[librarygirl]

Originally Posted by WestHaven

I did another water test tonight. Things are looking good.
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - about 5ppm
Nitrate - about 40 ppm

Can I add fish this weekend even though my nitrite level is greater than zero?

Nope. Nitrites are as toxic as ammonia and if they are still spiking like that you dont' want to add fish. I admit I didn't read the whole thread; are you using fish food to cycle or are you adding ammonia? If you're just adding fish food it's hard to get the level to where it should be (usually dosing until ammonia reaches 4 ppms each time it goes to 0; I also just read a few pages behind and saw it got up to 8 at one point; if it gets too high that can stall the cycle too so you don't want to it to rise above 4-5). Once ammonia and nitrite stay at 0 consistently without water changes you can try adding a couple of small fish. Or see if you can get a bottle of pure ammonia; it's cleaner and much easier to dose and get the ammonia levels to where they should be.

[WestHaven]

Originally Posted by librarygirl

Nope. Nitrites are as toxic as ammonia and if they are still spiking like that you dont' want to add fish. I admit I didn't read the whole thread; are you using fish food to cycle or are you adding ammonia? If you're just adding fish food it's hard to get the level to where it should be (usually dosing until ammonia reaches 4 ppms each time it goes to 0; I also just read a few pages behind and saw it got up to 8 at one point; if it gets too high that can stall the cycle too so you don't want to it to rise above 4-5). Once ammonia and nitrite stay at 0 consistently without water changes you can try adding a couple of small fish. Or see if you can get a bottle of pure ammonia; it's cleaner and much easier to dose and get the ammonia levels to where they should be.

Thanks for the response. I have been doing a fish-less cycle using fish food. What should I do?

Would adding extra plants help? I know that plants will carry some beneficial bacteria with them. I would like to add more plants anyway.