Dan-Cr4 Fishless Cycle

[waterdrop]

Yes, your fishless cycle is still looking very finished Dan. Nitrate is always going to look a little worse during fishless cycles than it will post-cycling because you're just pushing so much nitrogen through there, more than even a full bioload. After the big water change and getting fish, it truly is a fresh start on becoming familiar with your "running" tank's parameters, as they may well be different than things you saw during cycling.

You guys have got it right - bicarb is the method of choice if there are only bacteria in there and crushed coral is the method of choice if you've got fish in there. And -water changes- are the method of choice after you get fish unless you truly have reason to need to go to the sort of altered baseline that crushed coral will get you. Acidification is usually much worse in cycling tanks than in post-cycling tanks.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Dan-CR4]

thanks guys, tonight results are manly the same as this, so all looks good still. been looking at fish online today, cant wait to see the tank with some living things in there, except the snails that is.

well heres tonights 8pm results...

ammonia : 0

nitrite : 0

nitrate : 0

ph : 8.0

temp : 84

going out to some LFS tomorrow to do some pricing up and general browsing. hoping tomorrows results are ok so i can look at stocking sunday.........maybe

 

[Dan-CR4]

Day 36 : 8am results are ammonia is 0 and nitrite is 0. thats double 0's for 6 days now

im going out and about to some fish shops today just to look at prices and quality of fish and decide on my final stocking list. i got to decide now what day to add fish, its either got to be tomorrow or the next day im free to get out to get fish will be friday.

 

[OldMan47]

Congratulations Dan. It is always fun to go on a fish buying trip. Do be careful not to overdo things at first.

 

[Ryefish]

oooo let us know if you come home with fish today

 

[Dan-CR4]

no did not get any fish today, going to buy some tomorrow. going to try get about 65% to 70% of my fish. Had a good day out today up at crows hill in enfield, there about 5 aquatics shops all in walking distance of each other. how i managed not to buy any was beyond me.

Yes OM47 it was exciting to visit that many stores in one day. One of the stores i was not very impressed by, was wildwoods, indeed it has everything you need and has got loads of tanks, bogwood, accessories and the fish seemed happy, the main thing that let it down is inbetween the tanks theres a gap and nearly every gap between the tanks had dead fish rotting, why not dispose of dead fish properly and clean up inbetween the tanks. im not lieing when i say there must of been about 16 staff standing around doing nothing. with so many staff theres no reason not to clean the place up of rotting fish. just my 2 cents worth, apart from that the shop was fine, although they seemed more expensive. I myself did not rate wildwoods that greatly for what i wanted but others like the place, its just a difference of opinion.

good day out though and the sun was shining not a cloud in the sky, and no planes in the sky either

 

[Dan-CR4]

tonights 8pm results are.....

ammonia : 0

nitrite : 0

nitrate : did not test, i know its high

ph : 8.0

temperature : 84

well i got 12 hours and i have had 7 days of 0 ammonia and nitrite. so if tomorrows results go well im going to try and get some fish. really nervous now that im gonna have more to look after than just plants and water, been feeling like this for a couple of days now.

if all goes well tomorrow, i will continue to keep a track of my tests after adding the fish and do daily tests just to keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite just to make sure that all is well each day.

I got to thank Waterdrop and Oldman47 for some great advice and Ryefish for the support shown while going through this cycle. keeping me fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Danny

 

[OldMan47]

It is a sign you can go by Dan. A LFS that does not properly dispose of dead fish probably has other bad habits that you will want to avoid. Some of the quick cure approaches by some shops when they have disease problems are not to be tolerated. All fish shops lose fish from time to time since all new fish that arrive are not healthy. You cannot know what your shop does for disease directly but may well expect poor cleanliness habits to reflect an attitude that means other poor habits. I would avoid the place if you can until you get a chance to go back in a month or two and see if things have improved. Almost any business can have a bad day but what comes into my home is carefully selected. A poorly run shop is never on my list of places to buy livestock, they might get my business for hardware based solely on price though.

 

[Dan-CR4]

Hi OM47, i agree with you that every business can have an off day. The rest of the store looked great, had everything you needed and plenty of it. it was the biggest store i went to and had loads of staff, as i said the only problem i saw was the dead fish disposed of like that. All the shops i went to yesterday are over an hour away from me so i wont be a regular there, i only went for a browse round but overall i really enjoyed it. The LFS near me (5 minutes walk) seems very good, so thats where i will get most of my fish.

I forgot to mention i bought a piece of bogwood yesterday, thats in the bath at the moment soaking.

Danny

 

[Dan-CR4]

Day 37 : I did my 8am tests this morning and results were....

ammonia : 0

nitrite : 0

nitrate : 80 will take care of this in the water change.

ph : 8.0

well its been seven days of nitrite and ammonia being on 0 every 12 hours so im gonna take a chance and try get some fish today. hopefully my LFS has the ones im after as i really dont want to get any type of fish. my new main tenants im looking for is 4 bolivian rams and 2 keyhole cichlids. the wife wants some mollies so im gonna have to give in to her. See I keep the wife happy I can upgrade to larger tanks in the future, See the method to my madness I can't put the bogwood in the tank yet, as the bath looks like a big cup of tea this morning, so I emptied it and changed the water for fresh hot water.

so it looks like a big 90% water change, take all plants and rocks out, sift the sand and replant. and turn the heater down a bit, busy day today.

on another note..... I cant believe how hot and sunny it is here today, that must be an all time record for the UK 2 get 2 days of sunshine in a row. It also looks like another day without planes in the sky over london. Right, back to the fish.... I will report back later with what i got and maybe put a few pictures up of any new tenants that move in.

Danny

 

[Dan-CR4]

just got back from the LFS and im not too happy, maidenhead aquatics had hardly any fish that i wanted, so went to chessington and again not too much that i wanted . me and the mrs agreed a few weeks back that she could have some platies so thats what i was going to get, but they had no platies ready to go. so my mrs chose some mollies, so we ended up with 3 black mollies, 3 silver mollies and 2 balloon mollies.

im just emptying the tank at the moment. im a bit gutted as all the aquarium shops i went to yesterday had stock and were better prices than what i have seen today. oh well, thats the way the cookie crumbles. im still trying to find....

keyhole cichlids.
corydora julii
bolivian rams
dwarf rainbow fish

anyone in London/Surrey selling any of the above, please get in touch.

Danny

 

[Ryefish]

Wahoo your first fish!

Are you planning another trip to the shops you visited yesterday?

You should also bump your post in the classified's wanted section if you havent already

 

[Dan-CR4]

im off to a different branch of maidenhead aquatics on tuesday, i might try and get to it tomorrow if not then tuesday it will be.

 

[Dan-CR4]

well i know its only been just over 24 hours, but the fish in the tank so far seem really at home, they come upto the front of the tank when I go near it, a couple of them are already got an identity all of their own.

the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are doign well, but will see how it goes once i add some of the bigger boys tomorrow as im hoping to pickup 2 keyhole cichlids tomorrow and maybe the bolivian rams.

Danny

 

[PDSimon]

Thats awesome

I think i'll be looking for some dwarf cichlids but no one seems to sell them!!