56 Gallon Cycle With Seeded Media...

[eaglesaquarium]

Well, I completed a 12 hour test tonight, and happy days, the NH3 was zero! This is the first time with the big tank at 3ppm dose. The NO2 is still behind at about 2ppm. But, I don't think that it is outside the realm of possible that I'll get double zeros at 12 hours testing tomorrow at a 3ppm dose.


In addition to the fact that the bacteria are coming along nicely, I went ahead and got more plants tonight! I couldn't help myself. 3 amazon swords (4 inches) and 4 bunches of anacharis later and the tank is taking on a whole new look. I modified the driftwood arrangement, planted the swords in the back, and mixed in the anacharis around the back. I left two of the bunches together and to be honest, I really like the look of them that way. I might have to change the others to more closely match.

It's very possible that the addition of the anacharis will use up some of the ammonia I dose tomorrow, giving the N-bacs a better chance of keeping up.

 

[KISSfn]

 

[eaglesaquarium]

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Apparently I was a bit optimistic in my reading of the API results for nitrite last night. They must have been higher than 2ppm, because that's where they appear to be now.

I just dosed back up to 3ppm NH3, and plan to do a major water change tonight, because if nothing else, I want to drop the nitrites back so that the N-bacs have a fighting chance at reaching zero this weekend! Again, my addition of the anacharis might help to precipitate that already, but just in case I want to be ready. (Plus my tank is starting to show a little more yellow now from the driftwood, and if it gets much yellower than it currently is would be more than I like. Besides, when the fish come (Thursday a week) I am going to have to be in the habit of water changing anyhow, a little more practice wouldn't hurt me! (And I'm sure it will benefit them!)



Side note: My wife (yes, the same one who told me previously that she didn't want a fish tank in her dining room) told me last night that every time she sees it now, it makes her happy and proud. I might have converted her already, and there aren't even fish in it yet! (Or maybe she wants to go more the aquascape path, and less with the fish... )

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I just received word that I will be receiving the second Penguin 200 in 7-14 business days. Marineland is also sending some extra cartridges as well. Nice touch by them.


Overall, I'm pleased with their level of customer service, thus far. Although, I initiated the contact with them regarding the follow-up for my return, but they addressed the lack of communication immediately.


I have one week left to get my tank cycled further. Hopefully the new filter will arrive before I add my fish, but if not, I'm not worried. I think the single 200 is plenty of filtration on that tank for such a low bioload as 15 T. espei. Thursday marks the end of another school year, and I will be celebrating with a nice family adventure. First, a drive out for a beautiful dinner of Pennsylvania Dutch cooking - some of the best food around, cooked up by the Mennonites! Next, a long shopping trip through That Pet Place in Lancaster, PA and see all that they have there. Finally my picking up my new additions to the family and watching my son's face as we finally release them back into the tank. A nice day, all in all.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I completed a 50% water change last night from 7-8pm (Using a bucket with a 50+ gallon tank is TIME CONSUMING! :lol) Anyway, I did it because my nitrites have been reading off the chart, and I can't get a handle on what is going on with them.

Around 11pm last night, I tested the new nitrite level and had a hard time figuring out if it was 2 or 5ppm. (I really wish there was a more obvious color difference between those two, or maybe its just me.) Anyway, I couldn't figure it out, so I diluted the test, and found that it was indeed around 5ppm. This morning (only 8 hours later) the nitrite had dropped to around 1ppm, so the good news is that nitrite (even after the water change) processed about 4ppm in 8 hours. That means about 1ppm every 2 hours.


Extrapolating, that could very well mean that I am looking at a double zero in 24 hours today! I dosed NH3 at 3ppm. That was at 0.25ppm at 12 hours yesterday, and could very well drop to zero in 12 hours. 3ppm NH3 should process out to about 8ppm nitrite. Add in the 1ppm that it is starting with and that's 9ppm available throughout the day. In theory, that should drop to zero in 18 hours. Giving a little leeway with so many variables unaccounted for in this process, it seems very possible that it could go to zero in 24. (This is when a bacteria expert comes in and tells me that you can't extrapolate things like that - which I know - but I don't have a clue how else to estimate tomorrow mornings results.)



I will mention that I will be getting 9 fish on Wednesday and 15 fish on Thursday. The first 9 are a rescue from a colleague's in-laws. 3 harlequin rasbora, 3 panda? cory, and 3 zerba danio. They match almost perfectly with my stocking plan, so that works well. The next 15 I ordered before I knew I was going to be rescuing these other 9! So, it appears that I will be completing this as a fish-in cycle. I believe that the bacteria colony should be approximately the right size for that bioload, but without extra headroom. I am going to be keeping a very close eye on things, and as always be prepared to do a water change should the need arise. I am finished with school next week, so I am available to watch levels and water change as necessary. I will be feeding very lightly and keeping a very close watch on things.


If I am incorrect about my bacteria colonies, someone please tell me.

 

[waterdrop]

Well, from my point of view you don't really need (except because you are naturally interested and excited about it) all this extra detail in looking at and projecting exact numbers. It's really just an all or nothing kind of crude reading - you've got some ammonia and/or nitrite in there at the end of 12 hours or you don't and you're getting double-zeros and that's all based on 5ppm anyway, not 3ppm. 3ppm just means less "drop-down" room when the first stocking is introduced. But all of that sort of stuff is just kind of theoretical and often doesn't end up matching your actual observations in the end, so you just have to go with it.

If you are planning to switch over to fish next week then you'll just do it and who knows, maybe the bacteria will surprise you and handle the bioload better than you expect. Regardless, you'll still be watching and swinging in to a fish-in cycling process if necessary.

Have you thought about purchasing a Python sytem or building one up homemade? Even on tanks half your size it really makes for less work, or a different kind of work that is less strain on your back and potentially less messy. You spend more time uncoiling and coiling the hose but less time hauling water. Many members here have observed that it really comes in to its own in fish-in cycling situations in larger tanks.

I'll be interesting to hear about your ThatPetPlace trip. I've had good service from them from time to time. I've also been out to Lancaster - they have a great clockmakers school there and I used to take clocks there for the students to repair - beautiful country out there! I don't know whether ThatPetPlace existed years ago when I went out there.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yeah, I know that there is no need for the projections, but it's kind of fun. My interest in physics has always been the predictive abilities, whereas biology lost its allure to me when I came to realize how many variables there are, and how many other variables there are that aren't even known, and that biology is more of a reportive science than a predictive one. I know that living creatures can't be as consistent as non-living physical systems. If it was a chemical reaction (as I am modeling it for my own pointless endeavor) then my projections would be accurate, because the reaction rates are fairly consistent at low levels of concentration of reagents. The issue is that while there is a chemical reaction going on, it is being carried out by biological processes.



I have thought very much about the Python. The price is what is throwing me off it right now. $50-$75 is a bit much for me to spend right now, although it would be a one-time investment. I am considering the DIY version, but have to do some more reading on that first. My tank is one room away from the tank, so I shouldn't need too much extra line. I probably should get the Python (or something equivalent) just so that any water change that is needed would be a minor inconvenience, rather than an hour or two ordeal. I considered doing a larger water change last night, but to be honest, I realized that the amount I removed was the amount I had to replace. For that reason alone I should look at a DIY version this weekend. Do you have a link to DIY directions?



BTW, it's good to have you back.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Thanks to waterdrop I picked up the parts from the local Home Depot to be able to run a hose straight from the kitchen sink to the tank (and even got a light duty hose to go with it - and spent a total of $15.07!). I will still be lugging buckets for the removal portion of the water change but that's not a big deal. The time consuming part was filling it back up. Thank you waterdrop for the urging.

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

You could try filling the hose up with water, when the other end is on the tank, then taking the hose straight off the faucet.

As this causes a vacuum, basically like siphoning. However I'm not sure if it will work on a tank at the same level as the sink. I only found out this could work when I was filling my tank back up and water was coming back out of the hose lol.

My tank is one level higher than my sink

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Just got finished doing a 75% water change, and it still took about an hour, but last night it was only a 50% for an hour. The other thing is that while it was filling back up, I wasn't stuck doing nothing else.


The nitrite spike continues... I will not be doing another water change for quite some time now, in an effort to encourage the N-bacs to come along and catch up. I just wanted to test the ease of the new hose set-up. It's not too bad. It still has a ways to go, but it definitely is easier. The concentration is way down from where it was. Its currently around 2.0ppm. I will wait to see what happens in the morning, but I hope it drops at least below the 0.50ppm level tonight. We shall see.


It seems that I am definitely heading for a fish-in cycle. With any luck the foundation I have laid with all of this will definitely help to significantly shorten the entire thing, but I can't be certain. I will be lightly feeding and monitoring things closely. The addition of the second filter should help too! (I will add that I am getting the old filter media from the tank I am rescuing the harlequins, danios and corys from. That should help things as well.)

 

[KISSfn]

An easy way to drain water is to put the output hose from your gravel vac inside your garden hose and run the hose out to the back yard.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yeah, that's what I did... Except my gravel vac hose is a bit too big to fit inside the hose very far... I can only get in to the connector housing not the hose itself, and if I drop the connection too low water spurts out of the connection. So, I have to hold it a few inches below the level of the water, but not too far down.




Nitrite this morning has dropped to 0.25ppm. Now I have an almost level playing field for the day. Let's see how well the ammonia and nitrite work at keeping the pace together.

Dosing at 3.0 ppm. If nitrite drops to zero by the morning tomorrow, I will up that to 3.5 ppm.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Background added to the tank tonight. It really makes the tank look better. The picture doesn't do it justice. The background has a bit of a faded look in the picture, but it doesn't normally.

I am getting a little frustrated now. The ammonia is still dropping fairly nicely, but the nitrite is lagging sadly behind. Maybe the N-bacs are still reeling from the water change, but it is a little frustrating. Oh well... we shall see what the mature media can do for things once it arrives. A little extra help will certainly be appreciated.

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Your tank is coming on nicely .

I wish I could say the same about mine lol. Although my smaller tank that I have transferred to looks good IMO.

Are you thinking of adding any more plants?