56 Gallon Cycle With Seeded Media...

[eaglesaquarium]

Yes, I'm thinking about some crypts and java fern, and maybe some moss balls. I'll see what I can find in the next few days. After that, we'll see how things grow in. I doubt that things will grow quickly, but once they do, I think it will look nice. (Or at least I hope so.)

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Frustration continues...


Well, since the A-bacs seem to be getting the job done, I upped the dose to 4ppm, so that at least that population would be robust enough to be able to handle anything! I am really hoping that the mature media I get on Wednesday can handle the nitrites. I will be dosing 5ppm on Monday, and again on Tuesday. Tuesday night I will be performing a 90+ water change, and then maybe an additional change after that. 9 rescued fish (see sig) and mature media is due Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully the mature media can also seed my media, which was seeded when this portion of the cycle began, but was no where near "mature". The media I am getting has been running for years. Also, the 2nd 200 should be arriving any day now. Marineland must be shipping it standard freight from the USPS... very slow. They said to allow 7-14 days for delivery, which tells me that they didn't ship it overnight! Hopefully the additional filter (and the proper usage of the 2nd biowheel (and increased oxygenation for both that wheel and the tank in general) will greatly help as well.

 

[waterdrop]

You're doing fine eagle.

Don't forget there is always the difficulty that we know these low concentrations of nitrite and nitrate will be a better growing environment for the N-Bacs (and so water changes are our only way of achieving that) but that on the other hand, the colonies of these bacteria, busy building their intricate biofilm micro-environments and reproducing, are sensitive to all sorts of disturbance, like water chemistry, temperature and physical movement, all of which we do when we perform water changes or do anything with our filters. So it is often observed that they will take some time, sometimes even a couple of days, to get back in to the swing of production (that we can detect, because it also takes time for our crude measuring system to tell us something) and quietly continue doing there thing. There is just no getting around this sort of thing where if you don't intervene then things are slower or not optimal but if you do intervene then things can be slowed in a different way.

It is also important to note that what I am describing is a characteristic of -immature- colonies (what we've all got for the entire time we're cycling and a little beyond) and is pretty much gone as the eventually cycled and running tank works its way towards 6 months. By then the colonies become so robust that you can do all sorts of disturbances to the biomedia (add fish, move the biomedia, disturb the biomedia, make water changes in not quite the right way etc.) and it will bounce right back! It is only the first-time beginners that have the difficult-to-deal-with immature colonies most of the time.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I now have enough equipment that I could do a simultaneous water change... add water as I remove water at the same time. Would that be a benefit, a hindrance or a futile act of spinning plates?

Thanks.

 

[waterdrop]

To my mind that would be a bit of wasted effort eagle. As you add fresh tap/source water, some of it will be going right back out and it's the old water and its contents you want to remove, not the new water or -its- contents, right?

The old water contains the potentially excess minerals and the thousands of unidentified organic components, not to mention the three things we monitor (ammonia, nitrite(NO2) and nitrate(NO3).) The fresh tap water is wonderful for its lack of most of these but actually also for its "refresh" of calcium, magnesium and a trail of other trace minerals that are quite important for both the bacteria and for the new environment we are building.

I still have some thoughts about your hose contraption...

~~waterdrop~~

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'd love to hear them... My current set-up is that the hose fits onto the faucet in the kitchen. The harder issue is the removal of the water. I suppose I could add a hose end to my 5 foot tube... Something like this...

Yes, I know what you are saying about the exchange of water... If I were to do it, I was thinking of pulling water from the substrate level and adding it to the top (on the other end of the tank). I'm not sure how effective it would be... But as with anything, a quick test of the procedure to test its viability, followed by a quick test to determine its effectiveness would answer that question. I mean, if I measure the nitrite levels before and after, I could get a decent gauge of what percent of old water was removed compared to the new water. (For example if nitrite is 1ppm before a change, and I change out 75% of the water, but the level only drops to 0.50ppm, then I know for every 2 gallons of old water removed, 1 gallon of new water was simply moved through the tank.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Ammonia still being processed nicely, nitrites still lagging behind. I am hoping for a nice boost from the mature media. My second filter arriving could only help things as well... increased surface area, increased oxygenation, increased flow, increased circulation, etc. Hopefully it arrives soon.

 

[KISSfn]

I'd love to hear them... My current set-up is that the hose fits onto the faucet in the kitchen. The harder issue is the removal of the water. I suppose I could add a hose end to my 5 foot tube... Something like this...

Thanks for posting this Eaglesaquarium! That part is exactly what I need to make my gravel vac setup leak proof.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

That was something I found posted on homedepot's website. Maybe with a little luck and a lot of patience, you'll be able to find it in the store.

 

[KISSfn]

I found it on Lowe's website and it's in stock at my local store!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Now you just have to actually find it on the wall of stuff that is usually mislabeled and misplaced.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Weird stuff showed up today (or more exactly I just noticed it today!)

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Water change completed- 95% (as much as I could). The new system worked really well. The change went fairly quickly. Accidentally allowed a rock to fall over as I was moving them around a bit - scratched or may have cracked the glass in the front - 3/8 of an inch long. It didn't grow overnight. The scratch/crack is something I can feel on the inside with my nail, but not on the outside.


It seems good for now, and I plan to keep a very close eye on it for a while.


The levels in my tank are pretty good right now - 0.0ppm NH3, less than 0.25ppm NO2... The nitrite of the tank is actually lower than the tap! (Tap was 0 NO2 previously, but now it is reading 0.25ppm.)

I will be picking up the "rescue" fish this afternoon and I'll be checking the water levels before I put them in the tank, and give them a nice slow acclimatization period. I am prepared to do a water change any time now. The method has been perfected (thanks for the push WD!) and it can happen quickly and smoothly when needed. The full 95% water change to me less than 45 minutes last night, and that includes the tinkering time in the tank. I will be getting some mature media today to go with the fish, so there should be no trouble with ammonia or nitrite, but we shall see.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Just checked my tank at lunch time...


NH3: 0ppm, NO2: 0ppm, temp 76F. (I probably should have checked the nitrates! ) They can't be that high though. I just did a 95% water change yesterday, and didn't redose NH3. I need to be patient now with the fish-in cycle finish for this tank. Lots of water changes in the offing, but they are now so easy to do that they aren't a big deal now. Specifically, the water leaves effortlessly and the water enters effortlessly. All it takes is a little time.

I might do a little water changes than necessary for the first few weeks. We shall see how it all goes... Fish are being picked up this afternoon, and to be added this evening.


Pics to follow!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I have the fish and they are currently being acclimated to the tank - drip method 3-5 drips per second.

Their original water:

pH: ~6.0
NH3: 0ppm
NO2: 0ppm
NO3: 20-40ppm


My water:
pH: 6.8
NH3: 0ppm
NO2: 0ppm
NO3: 10-20ppm



I am giving them a nice long acclimation - 90-120 minutes. It's been about 25 minutes so far.


Rescued fish:
2 panda corydoras
3 harlequin rasboras
2 zebra danios
(I also scored a seriously sweet deal - mature media. It is quite filthy! This should certainly help with everything in the fish-in cycle that I find myself in now!)


I didn't get a good look at the fish, but I did notice that one of the zebras look very bloated. It is either heavily laden with eggs or it is massively constipated. I will keep an eye on it and let everyone knows how things are going. I'll also try to get a picture uploaded of the zebra in question eventually.


I'll also upload pics of the others as well.