Seachem Stability New Tank Log

[Sly13Cat]

Hello,
I bought a new tank and wanted to start it fast. I learned it needed a fish-less cycle so but how long it would take is too long for me. So I've heard of Seachem Stability... But I've heard tons of conservancy from "I've used it and it's amazing" to "It's snake oil just do a fish-less cycle". Well I'm doing a 1-2 week long log to see how it really works and may hopefully help a little with the consevarcy...

Day 1:
Just set up 10 Gallon kit from Wal-Mart with:
- Aqua-Tech 10 Gallon Tank
- Aqua-Tech 5-15 Filter (With piece of water bottle to help with flow)
- Tronic 150 Watt Heater set to 77F/25C (I realize that the wattage is quite high and it's one of the 2 heaters used for a 75 gallon before it broke. The other has been in the other 10 Gal for quite a few years so I'm sure it'll be fine)
- Hood with 1 Fluorescent Light
- Top Fin Conditioner (Buying Prime tomorrow)

Tank is bare with no rocks, plants, background, fish... Anything. Buying all that tomorrow. I'm just letting everything run to make sure it all works well. Also buying test strips tomorrow. Any questions will try to be answered.

 

[Sly13Cat]

What do you think?

 

[phoenixgsd]

its always interesting to see journals of experiments carried out
would recomend a API liquid test kit though for more accurate results

 

[CezzaXV]

I'd also recommend the API liquid test kit.

A word of warning though - Fishkeeping is not a hobby for someone without any patience. I hope you're going to see this cycle through to the end and not get bored of it half way through if you don't get the results you're hoping for. A bit of impatience on your part can mean serious illness and/or death for your fish.

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Good to see these sort of expeeiments going on, but I dont understand, you're risking losing 2 weeks of a fishless cycle which would in theory be about halfway complete, your obviously not that impatient

 

[Sly13Cat]

Day 2:
Bought tons of stuff from the LFS's.
- 10LB of Brown Gravel
- Fish hiding cave (Mud Hut)
- 3 Pack of Neon Plants
- Seachem Prime and Stability
- Maradel 5-in-1 test strips 4 Pack (I'll have to do tests every second day starting tomorrow) (Would've got API but it cost 10 dollars more and I already spent $60)
- 4 Male Fancy Guppies
- Background

Water got really dirty once everything was added so I did a 40% water change and added prime then fish and now everything's looking nice. Also just added 1st dose of Stability. The guppies are adjusting to their new habitat and they're clinging together like glue

.
Here's a Picture:

Edit: Just added my docile male Betta "Bob". Lets hope for the best...

 

[FishFanatic04]

I really wish you luck, however I just did this experiment a few Weeks ago, theres a thread here, and it was a huge failure. Maybe it will work for you. Goodluck

 

[FishFanatic04]

Hope your beyta actually is docile. I dont think they do well with guppies.

 

[KkAaNnEe]

He will more than likely attack the guppies

 

[Sly13Cat]

Turns out he's not as docile as I hoped and he was so he has been removed

. Tried with my other Betta... Same thing. I guest he's not as docile as I thought. Along these lines I have a few questions. I'm looking for some more fish for this 10 gallon. So far I have 4 Fancy guppies and want to fully stock this tank this week. What fish would be good?I like fishes with long, flowing fins like sword-tails for example. Also I think it'd be nice if there's a fish that can fit in this 10 gallon that likes caves and places to hide because the cave was for the Betta but he's not in it anymore so what fish is good for caves/hiding spaces.

 

[Sly13Cat]

Day 3:
One of the guppies died from when the Betta bit him so I got him replaced and the new fish's bag is in the aquarium adjusting to the temperature now. During that, I've replaced my other kit I bought yesterday which expired 2 years ago and gave me weird results

with API 5-in-1 Aquarium Test Strips (What's bad is that it doesn't measure ammonia). So here are the results from the first test I just conducted:

General Hardness (GH) -> 120 PPM (Good)
Carbonate Hardness (KH) -> 120-180 PPM (It seemed dead in the middle so I say 150 PPM which is Good)
pH -> 6.5 (Good)
Nitrite -> 0 PPM (Amazing)
Nitrate -> 0-20 PPM (Also amazing)
So the results are looking good so far. I'm not adding another dose of Stability when I add the new fish because I'm adding a dose tomorrow morning anyways. So far so good...

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Do you not have a Ammonia test?

You should of really taken the advice and not mixed guppies and the betta

 

[FishFanatic04]

 

[CezzaXV]

I'm docile but I'll attack if something I perceive as a threat is in my house. Same for the betta.

 

[Sly13Cat]

Day 4 (Yesterday):
Added dose of stability (found out that for the last 2 days I've been 2x dosing. Oops.) Then added Prime I think. After a series of events there's 4 Dalmatian Mollies (Male) in there and NO guppies. I got my ammonia tested and the levels were high. So I did a 10% water change and added prime. Hopefully levels are lower. Doing parameter test for today in a few hours. No fish have died or are sick from water conditions.


- GH -> 120 PPM
- KH -> 120-180 PPM
- pH -> 6.5 (Probably higher)
- Ammonia -> (Tested at pet store) HIGH About 5 PPM

- Nitrite -> 0 PPM (Weird)
- Nitrate -> 0 - 20 PPM (Okay then...)

Whatever the parameters the Mollies are active and healthy so everything is okay for now. Hopefully it'll cycle by the last dose (Saturday 17th)

EDIT: I add Prime every 48 hours which is probably why the ammonia isn't hurting the fish. It's probably mostly Ammonium.