Fishless Cycle In 35L Tank

[cybergibbons]

So you were able to finish up your fishless cycle? Your last spreadsheet entry was in March it looks like. WD

Yes - I had to get someone to add a small amount of ammonia every day/couple of days, and then test weekly for a while to make sure nothing horrific had happened. I've also had to do a couple of total water changes, but once I came back to it and started giving it daily attention, it perked back up again.

It clears ammonia and nitrite in about 7-8 hours now (just been trying slightly shorter time periods).

 

[cybergibbons]

And we now have a blue/red male half-moon betta called Fiche in the tank!

 

[west-megaman]

Pics please!

 

[cybergibbons]

This is Fiche:

And this is the tank:

There's a bit of an algae issue at the moment - I've just started using Easycarbo/Profito, which I hope should clear it up quite quickly. We have a piece of bogwood with plant attached coming soon, and I am also getting him a coconut cave to hide in - though he does seem happy enough hiding in the plants.

Ammonia is 0, nitrites 0, pH 8.2, so all good on that front as well.

We're contemplating getting 6 cory catfish as well - what types to people recommend in a tank like this?

 

[waterdrop]

Cories should be fine I think. Just do the usual estimating with the inch guideline and so forth. This tank seems to have done tis fishless cycle pretty well. What was your overall number of days? Always work on algae from all fronts: clean it all of prior to water changes, change water a bit more often if you can to get rid of more algae spores, tweek your light hours slightly downward if that doesn't encroach on the 4-hour minimum photoperiods, add even more healthy plants if you can.. things like that.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[cybergibbons]

All told, it took about 150 days for me to be sure it was finished - but I think it was done around the 90 day mark.

I think we've now got about as many green things as the tank will support with just liquid carbon, so we will see how it goes with water changes and lowering the light time.

 

[cybergibbons]

So currently our plants are:

1. Cyperus helferi (which is similar to vallis, but works with liquid carbon) - these seem to be doing pretty well, a lot of small shoots were on the main plant and these have been divided up and placed all around.
2. Echinodorus palaefolius x 2 - our original plants which took a bit of a beating during the neglect phase of my cycle. Since the addition of ferts seem to be producing new, green, thick leaves rather than the paper thin ones from before.
3. Chaldoflora moss balls x 2 - seem to be doing pretty well
4. Anubias - doing well, showing signs of growth after just a week.
5. Bolbitis Heudelotii - only just added to the tank - maybe looking a little worse for wear after being in the post but will hopefully pick up. Just found out this prefers slightly acidic water but this can be compensated for by more carbon dioxide - not sure if this is because dissolved CO2 will make the water more acidic or just that CO2 is good. Not even sure if liquid carbon will work.

And we have some Taxiphyllum Barbieri arriving later on.

 

[cybergibbons]

So, we picked up some cory today.

Now, please bear in mind I'm not the only person who makes decisions about what goes in there, so sometimes it's taken out of my hands...

We have 4 panda cory and 2 julii cory. The man in the LFS persuaded my girlfriend that they would school together, and I wasn't so convinced.

Oddly, it seems to have worked out OK. Now, I'm not a fish psychologist, but bear with me... at the LFS 2 panda cory were in one tank and the other 2 in their own tanks. Now that the panda cory are in our tank together, it seems like they have divided into two groups. I wonder if the two loners have stuck together?

Either way, the other two panda cory and the julii cory are sticking together.

There was an initial bit of interest from the betta but he seems to have given up now.

I have to say, cory are really interesting little fish, furtively burrowing in the sand and then periodically darting to the surface. They've already move a lot of the small pieces of algae into piles as they hoover it up checking if it is edible.

 

[cybergibbons]

So here is the tank as it stands - I'm really happy with it on the whole. I think we're going to move it all round a bit so that the plants mask the filter a bit better and give a bit more foreground for the cory to play in.

 

[cybergibbons]

The fish have all survived their first day and appear happy. It's difficult feeding the cory without the betta trying to eat it (he just picks it up, spits it out).

Did a water test and got ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0 (compared to a tapwater of about 80!) and pH 7.8.

How frequently to people recommend testing on a new tank? Daily for ammonia still until I'm sure no mini cycle will occur?

I think I may need to dose with nitrates/phosphates to keep the plants happy.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, you could test daily the first week or two, then down to every other day for a week and finally ease off to testing once a week around the time of the weekly water change. You want to keep doing weekly nitrate(NO3) tests for a long time to continue to get a feel for whether the gravel cleaning and filter cleaning are being effective enough at holding nitrate steady.

Really nice seeing your pictures and hearing how things have gone. Its always very gratifying to continue to get some followup from all who have been through here!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[22Midnight]

Wow! Im new here and have just read your journal. Thankyou for the ride! Your tank and fish look fantastic and following your fishless cycle has been great. Im hoping to be starting mine soon!

 

[cybergibbons]

Thanks for all the help - it's very satisfying to have it all work out nicely have have a load of happy fish!

I put tights around the filter again to catch the algae, combined with water changes and the liquid carbon, it seems to be doing the trick.

 

[cybergibbons]

I replaced the Chinese no-name tubes in the lighting today. In total, there are three 8W T5 tubes. Now I have two daylight tubes (CRI 90, 6500k) and one Grolux tube.

If anything the tank looks darker, but the depth of colour is much improved, and Fiche seems to be much brighter in colour.

Also two strips of Blue LEDs have arrived, which I will fit into the light fitting to provide "moonlight". They seem to really bring out some interesting colours on the fish. Ideally it will mean we can have the main lights on from say 1200-2000, then from 2000-0000 we can have moonlight so we can still appreciate the tank without giving it too much light.

 

[cybergibbons]

The blue light - it looks darker in reality.