Cycling

[TammyLiz]

How did your water test go?

Six harlequins sounds nice.

I think 60-80% water change would be good once the numbers go down to 0.

 

[juhill]

How did your water test go?

Six harlequins sounds nice.

I think 60-80% water change would be good once the numbers go down to 0.

My test was 0.5 ammonia
nitrite 0.25
nitrate 40+

I will do a big water change in the morning as I reckon my ammonia and nitrite will be 0 then. Then off to the lfs!

I did want tetras (xray were nice) but saw the harlequins and thought they looked lovely. I'm thinking 3 otos and a couple of adf when the tank's more mature and I'll be fully stocked.

Then I start planning the next one but at least I won't have to start cycling that one from scratch!

Thanks for your help

 

[TammyLiz]

Thats interesting that .5ppm of ammonia would end up converting to 20ppm of nitrates. Thats pretty crazy. I would say that further confirms that the fish don't really process as much ammonia as the instructions you were using assume they do. Not that those tests are really perfectly accurate but its still a good indicater. I'm interested in seeing how things go for you.

Hope those numbers allow you to carry out your plans today. It would be a bummer if it was early in the week instead of on the weekend. Unless you have a lot of time during the week.

Good luck!

BTW with nitrate levels that high you may want to make your water change a little larger

 

[juhill]

Thats interesting that .5ppm of ammonia would end up converting to 20ppm of nitrates. Thats pretty crazy. I would say that further confirms that the fish don't really process as much ammonia as the instructions you were using assume they do. Not that those tests are really perfectly accurate but its still a good indicater. I'm interested in seeing how things go for you.

Hope those numbers allow you to carry out your plans today. It would be a bummer if it was early in the week instead of on the weekend. Unless you have a lot of time during the week.

Good luck!

BTW with nitrate levels that high you may want to make your water change a little larger

Thanks Tammy

My ammonia and nitrite were 0 this morning. Nitrate was 40+ (I find it so hard to read once it gets to that point) so I did a big water change and tested again and the nitrate was then around 7.5. I drove off to my lfs and picked up 6 harlequins. Spent about an hour or more acclimatising them, then I netted them and put them in and they're swimming around quite happily. Am dying to put the light on but thought I should let them settle in first.

I'm so pleased you responded to my post yesterday and numbers went down to 0 today as I would have struggled to get to the lfs before I finished work during the week due to the traffic.

Drove back today with a huge grin on my face, the radio volume very low (just in case the fish didn't like it, lol) and more carefully than when I've got the kids in the car.

Bloke in the lfs asked me to take him the article on fishless cycling from the pfk website when I go in next time. Quite pleased about that as when I explained how I was cycling my tank, they looked at me like I had a screw loose...

 

[TammyLiz]

Yay! I hope they do well.

Do you think they looked at you like that because they aren't familiar with fishless cycling or was it because of the amount of ammonia you were adding? I have not met any fish store employees who have actually heard of fishless cycling. I know they exist, though. You'd be lucky if you had some good people there to talk to.

EDIT: I see you're in the UK, and I get the impression that it tends to be a little better there than the US in general as far as LFS employees.

 

[juhill]

Yay! I hope they do well.

Do you think they looked at you like that because they aren't familiar with fishless cycling or was it because of the amount of ammonia you were adding? I have not met any fish store employees who have actually heard of fishless cycling. I know they exist, though. You'd be lucky if you had some good people there to talk to.

EDIT: I see you're in the UK, and I get the impression that it tends to be a little better there than the US in general as far as LFS employees.

Thanks

It was because they'd never heard of fishless cycling. They didn't understand why I was so pleased to get a nitrite reading early on and told me to do a water change asap. I said no, I've been waiting to see nitrite and it's a good thing but they just kept telling me to do a big water change. They said that if I left the tank for a few weeks, the bacteria would slowly build up and create its own ammonia therefore cycling it that way.

I tried to explain fishless cycling but they were a bit dismissive of it (was talking to 2 of them at the same time). When I spoke to one of them on his own when he gave me my fish today, he actually asked me to bring in the article when I go in again. Both guys I spoke to have tropical and marine tanks and obviously care about fish and I think it's good that they're open to new ideas they haven't come across before. It's quite a new shop, been open about 6 months and is a branch of Maidenhead Aquatics which seems to have good reports on here as a rule. Any fish I buy will be from there as they have a good range and it's very well kept unlike the rest of the shops near me.

Their dry goods, etc are expensive but I get most of that on the internet anyway.

 

[Kevstir]

Hi m8

If your going to get 3 Otto's try and get 3 with the biggest belly's , that way you know there well fed and are more than likely to survive, i bought 5 and have 3 left, while researching them i came across a few websites that stated that one of the reasons that Otto's can drop off unexpectedly is that there usually starved of algae in transit plus most shops tend to keep there tanks free from algae , also they said that if they are starved for long enough that there digestive system has trouble recovering thus making them less likely to survive..

the 3 i have left all have big bellies and have lots of energy , they love croquette by the way

glad to here everythings going to plan m8

 

[juhill]

Hi m8

If your going to get 3 Otto's try and get 3 with the biggest belly's , that way you know there well fed and are more than likely to survive, i bought 5 and have 3 left, while researching them i came across a few websites that stated that one of the reasons that Otto's can drop off unexpectedly is that there usually starved of algae in transit plus most shops tend to keep there tanks free from algae , also they said that if they are starved for long enough that there digestive system has trouble recovering thus making them less likely to survive..

the 3 i have left all have big bellies and have lots of energy , they love croquette by the way

glad to here everythings going to plan m8

Thanks Kev

Funnily enough, I was researching otos about an hour ago and found a website that said exactly what you're saying! I'm going to stick with the harlequins for a week or two then add the otos. The site I found said to keep them separate until you've fed them up but unless the free tank from pfk comes soon, I don't have that luxury so I'll look out for fat ones!

What's croquette? All I'm thinking is breadcrumbed potato and a lawn game with hoops and balls...

 

[purple_drazi]

I'm pretty sure Kevstir means courgette aka zucchini. boil a piece in some water for a minute or two to soften it up, let it cool and drop it in the tank. I weigh mine down with lead sticks (plant weights) so that they sink.

 

[Kevstir]

oops ment courgette sorry for the typo lol

i use a screwcumber (found on ebay) to weigh it down, i found that 10 seconds in the microwave is enough to soften it..

 

[juhill]

oops ment courgette sorry for the typo lol

i use a screwcumber (found on ebay) to weigh it down, i found that 10 seconds in the microwave is enough to soften it..

I saw those, I may order one this week.

One of the harlequins has decided to pick a spot and chase all the others away if they get near it. They were shoaling when I put them in this afternoon but they're all having a nose around now, except bossy boots who's hovering 2 inches above the bogwood!

I'm pretty sure Kevstir means courgette aka zucchini. boil a piece in some water for a minute or two to soften it up, let it cool and drop it in the tank. I weigh mine down with lead sticks (plant weights) so that they sink.

Thanks Purple

I'm presuming their favourite is courgette (after algae of course) but what else will they eat? Cucumber? Is it better that you try and get them to eat algae wafers before the veggies?

I asked my lfs for plant weights today and they said they only have the ones already attached to the plants they're selling. They told me to tie cotton around them and tie them down but not sure what they expect me to tie them to. Think I'll have to find some plant weights online too.

 

[Kevstir]

i tried cucumber and courgette on the screwcumber at the same time and they didn't touch the cucumber mind you the Corry's liked it lol, they also love algae tablets when they can muscle the Corry's out the way lol

 

[juhill]

i tried cucumber and courgette on the screwcumber at the same time and they didn't touch the cucumber mind you the Corry's liked it lol, they also love algae tablets when they can muscle the Corry's out the way lol

I'd love some corys but I can't in this tank because of its size and the substrate. They're going in my next tank for definite though. Started planning tank number 2 less than a week after I'd started cycling this one!

 

[TammyLiz]

I asked my lfs for plant weights today and they said they only have the ones already attached to the plants they're selling. They told me to tie cotton around them and tie them down but not sure what they expect me to tie them to. Think I'll have to find some plant weights online too.

I wonder if they were thinking you needed them for plants. It wouldn't make any sense to wrap cotton around a piece of zucchini.

I've used plant weights but mine aren't heavy enough to weigh it down unless I use two. The screwcumber must be nice. I just hate having to reach my arm into the tank to get the weights out and I'm sure the same would happen with the screwcumber. I wonder if anyone has ever tried tying a string on it before dropping it into the tank so you could leave one end out of the water.

 

[juhill]

[/quote]
I wonder if they were thinking you needed them for plants. It wouldn't make any sense to wrap cotton around a piece of zucchini.

I've used plant weights but mine aren't heavy enough to weigh it down unless I use two. The screwcumber must be nice. I just hate having to reach my arm into the tank to get the weights out and I'm sure the same would happen with the screwcumber. I wonder if anyone has ever tried tying a string on it before dropping it into the tank so you could leave one end out of the water.
[/quote]

Oh sorry, that's my mind whizzing off in all directions as usual. I was asking for plant weights for plants, not veggies, in the lfs!

I probably will get a screwcumber though. Seems much easier to use. Or one of those clips that sucker onto the side of the tank. I'd get even more funny looks at home than I do already if I get the sewing box out and start tying bows around lumps of cucumber!