Benthos boy
New Member
Hello all.
My tank cycling seems to be going to plan, (I'm following rdd's "add and wait" method), but I've a few questions.
This is my first tank, it's approx 50 litres and I set it up way back in April with straight tap water which I didn't de-chlorinate, gravel substrate, plastic plants, (not brave enough for real ones
), a Fluval 2 Plus filter, airpump/stone and some bogwood. The bogwood stained the water very badly so I removed it and soaked it in a bucket of (regularly changed) water for a few weeks before putting it back in the tank. For numerous reasons, I haven't touched the tank until the start of this month so for almost 6 months, it's been sat in the living room bubbling happily away to itself.
I started to cycle it 3 weeks ago and the initial ammonia reading of 6ppm took 6 days to drop to 0ppm. To date, the ammonia is taking about 18 hours to drop from 4ppm to 0ppm and is dropping by a couple of hours or so a day. The nitrIte crept up after a week and has been off the chart since the 10th day in. The nitrAte has been off the chart for about the same time. There's also some algae present on the bogwood.
While it's been going on, I've checked the tap water:
PH - 7.2
GH - 280 ppm
KH - 210 ppm
Ammonia - 0.25 ppm
NitrIte - 0 ppm
NitrAte - 40 ppm
Do these readings sound right for Dorset? (we have serious lime-scale problems here and I have to beat the living wotsit out of the soap to get a lather!!)
Questions:
1. Will the fact that I didn't de-chlorinate initially make any difference?
2. When I've cycled and i do a large water change, will the nitrAte and ammonia content of my tap water matter?
3. Will de-chlorinater/conditioner get rid of the nasties in my water or is it just for chlorine/chloramine?
4. Will my choice of fish be affected by the water? (I'm not desperately fussy about what I have but I'd prefer more smaller fish than fewer large fish)
5. What are good "beginner" fish for a small tank like mine and can I have different types such as mid-water dwellers and bottom-dwellers? (I like the look of the smaller danios and WCM minnows)
Thanks all in advance and thanks for a very informative forum.
BB.
My tank cycling seems to be going to plan, (I'm following rdd's "add and wait" method), but I've a few questions.
This is my first tank, it's approx 50 litres and I set it up way back in April with straight tap water which I didn't de-chlorinate, gravel substrate, plastic plants, (not brave enough for real ones
), a Fluval 2 Plus filter, airpump/stone and some bogwood. The bogwood stained the water very badly so I removed it and soaked it in a bucket of (regularly changed) water for a few weeks before putting it back in the tank. For numerous reasons, I haven't touched the tank until the start of this month so for almost 6 months, it's been sat in the living room bubbling happily away to itself.I started to cycle it 3 weeks ago and the initial ammonia reading of 6ppm took 6 days to drop to 0ppm. To date, the ammonia is taking about 18 hours to drop from 4ppm to 0ppm and is dropping by a couple of hours or so a day. The nitrIte crept up after a week and has been off the chart since the 10th day in. The nitrAte has been off the chart for about the same time. There's also some algae present on the bogwood.
While it's been going on, I've checked the tap water:
PH - 7.2
GH - 280 ppm
KH - 210 ppm
Ammonia - 0.25 ppm
NitrIte - 0 ppm
NitrAte - 40 ppm
Do these readings sound right for Dorset? (we have serious lime-scale problems here and I have to beat the living wotsit out of the soap to get a lather!!)
Questions:
1. Will the fact that I didn't de-chlorinate initially make any difference?
2. When I've cycled and i do a large water change, will the nitrAte and ammonia content of my tap water matter?
3. Will de-chlorinater/conditioner get rid of the nasties in my water or is it just for chlorine/chloramine?
4. Will my choice of fish be affected by the water? (I'm not desperately fussy about what I have but I'd prefer more smaller fish than fewer large fish)
5. What are good "beginner" fish for a small tank like mine and can I have different types such as mid-water dwellers and bottom-dwellers? (I like the look of the smaller danios and WCM minnows)
Thanks all in advance and thanks for a very informative forum.
BB.
