New Freshwater Tank :) - Little Bit Of Help Please :)

[Danny133]

Hi Guys & Girls,

Im Danny and i am just starting up my new tropical tank.

Yesterday i broke down my 4ft Marine set up! Really didnt want to but the OH lost her job and marine fish keeping was proving to be so expensive so it had to go

I wont go into details - kinda dont want to lol but hey ..

Anyway i have/am turning the tank into a tropical aquarium instead .. cheaper and if done right just as good to look at - if not better as my stocking options are easier.

I would like some advice if i may please.

I have a Juwel Rio 240 with a Fluval 305 external filter housing bioballs, pre filter and carbon. This also runs through a Vectron UV 600. I have 2 T5s. One 9000k and one 6800k.

Is this set up and equipment suitable?

I added 240 of freshwater last night and treated with a blue tetra tap safe solution. Wacked the heater on and left it. Today i added 25kg of 2-3mm fine gravel and thats it. Im not leaving it all to settle for a day or so and then ill look at adding bogwood or decor.

How soon do i need to leave it to add stock? Im aware of the nitrate cycle. My marine tank waited approx 5 weeks before adding stock so im not impatient.

Tropical is new to me and i just dont want to get it wrong so all help is much appreciated

 

[BethK]

first of all, pop yourself down to a lfs or onto ebay and buy a full api test kit, ebay is cheaper

 

[Danny133]

So once the test kit is showing AOK add fish yeah?

What about kick starting the cycle by getting some ammonia in there?

I guess once ammonia is present the bioballs start to pick it up and convert it etc?

 

[BethK]

Hi Danny

have a look at the below thread, it will tell you the basics about fishless cycling;

fishless cycling

here's a step-by-step guide about setting up a new aquarium, which always comes in handy;

step-by-step

 

[waterdrop]

Welcome to the freshwater section Danny!

Marine inverts have of course evolved expecting to be be in shallow ocean reef areas where they receive enormously bright sunlight on good days. This sunlight promotes the thick microbiotic life that plays a role in the cycles that inverts and thus other marine life need, so in our marine tanks we more or less simulate the sun and many of color frequencies that stand out in very bright sun.

Many freshwater environments are shaded either my low or high green plant life external to the water. This create both a type of light that peaks at different color frequencies and often has different brightness characteristics (either because of direct shading or timed shadows from mountains etc.) I should also mention that both these descriptions are gross oversimplifications of course but they give you a rough idea of how there might be some differences overall in the light seen by these different environments and I'm sure you get the drift.

The only practical comment I'll make about those two paragraphs is that we generally start with fewer hours and less overall intensity in the freshwater environment so that we are not overwhelmed with all the different types of algae that call freshwater their home!

Wonderful that you've already been used to the patience it takes and the idea of the nitrogen cycle. In freshwater filters the bacterial species (at least one of the as I forget about the other on the marine side) are different but of a similar class. The time frame is about the same, from a month to 2 or 3 months if growing the two species from scratch (a fishless cycle) or as short as a week or two if qualifying an already grown set of colonies donated from another aquarist or other mature filter source.

We have writeups on the fishless cycle (we all use the add&wait method), the fish-in cycle (usually a situation that beginners get themselves into before they know about the nitrogen cycle, or sometimes helpful for smaller tanks perhaps) and the nitrogen cycle itself in our Beginners Resource Center. The fishless cycle benefits from a fishless cycling thread that you the user posts here from which you receive ongoing help from the members who more or less fill you in on the various refinements and details that can vary somewhat from your take-away from the initial article.

I'd recommend the API Freshwater Master Test Kit and its important to find the right type of simple household ammonia to feed the cycle. I assume you've replaced all your media so that it won't have salt in it and that the equipment has been cleaned of all that. Good luck and again, welcome!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Danny133]

Thanks guys I added some bacteria in a bottle stuff to kick start it and I have some plants and bog wood in the tank. Stable 26 degrees ATM. Just play the waiting game lol

 

[Danny133]

Heres a picture of the set up atm ..

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Danny,

Bacteria in a bottle won't help but it usually doesn't hurt anything either. I recommend you raise your temperature from 26C to 29C.

Often people keep a diary in their main fishless cycling thread so that others can comment and help. Member martinking a while back typed out a template for the baseline info when you start your diary. His template is here:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=302022&view=findpost&p=2502013

and his own diary also serves to show how he made his line entries, eventually having both AM and PM entries once it becomes useful to check twice a day:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=281863&view=findpost&p=2341813

There are quite a few fishless cycling diaries out there from the last few years if you search around. They have different formats. The reason the line by line format is useful is that when the members are checking a thread for progress, usually then want their eye to be able to run downward across a number of days or weeks to scan the ammonia readings, then the nitrite readings etc. Only readings over a number of days at a time have much significance.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Danny133]

Okay guys update!

Since we last spoke. Sunday morning Danny fast a kip.

Car drives up - its the GF shes been shopping, i got up out of bed to help her get the Tesco bags and in she comes with 10 guppies. Suprise babe! I bought you a present. She meant it all in good heart so i didnt get angry or moan. I was a good lover and said thank you lol (i know whats best for me)

**** fish in cycle it is.

8 guppies alive - 2 guppies dead this week

Tried my best. Done 2 20% water changes. Didnt wanna mess the cycle up too much.

So anyway 1 week on. Still no test kit as ive been on duty and havnt had a chance to see a PC let alone the LFS and im 2 guppies down and 8 still alive and kicking. Pretty good considering there not meant as cycling fish!

So thats where were at ..

 

[BethK]

20% water changes won't help get rid of ammonia etc, I would suggest a 50% water change each day but wd may suggest differently.

 

[OldMan47]

You are no longer allowed to worry about the progress of your cycle. Your new focus must be the health of your new fish. You need to do large enough water changes to hold the nitrites and ammonia at less than 0.25 ppm each. The cycle will happen regardless of what water changes you do but the fish will only do well with good water to live in.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Danny,

We've had this same type of drama a number of times before here in the beginner section. Yours is a particularly tough one because the 240L/63G tank is so big and the 8 guppies are so small. The water changes may be quite difficult to manage if the guppies end up putting out a significant amount of ammonia. Plus there's the question of whether you really wanted guppies or wanted the problems of livebearers (ever increasing bioload from offspring and pressure to constantly find new homes for the fish etc.) at all.

Now of course, I'm not you and a big part of this will be your own feelings about it, so there's that. But if you do feel strongly that your plans have been sidetracked, it might pay off for you and us to think creatively about how you could communicate with your significant other about the issue. Perhaps the fact that 2 have already died might give you an opening. You might suggest that "You like these fish she's given you so much that you really can't bear to watch them slowly die off one by one in this tank that's not really operational yet" (which is isn't of course) and that perhaps we should seek out a sympathetic store keeper or other person who might take them on (either temporarily (or permanently, which you could leave unsaid.))

I only mention all this because as a beginner to freshwater it may be hard for you to be able to judge at this point just how lengthy, difficult and frustrating it will be to try and cycle a large tank with a few guppies. Even though it may seem daunting to get a store to take back fish and to explain this successfully to the gift giver, it might be the lesser of two evils if you know what I mean.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Danny133]

Guppies must stay chaps.

Were on the stocking list which is why she picked them bless her.

Just keeping up with WC and hopefully ill fight it through!

 

[waterdrop]

The sooner you can pick up your master test kit the sooner you can find out if your are doing more water changes than you need to, it can be a lifesaver during fish-in cycling.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

You desperately need that test kit now Danny. Chances are good that a large tank with only 10 guppies will not demand huge water changes to stay healthy but knowing the concentration of chemical poisons is important for any fish-in cycle. As I said earlier, maintaining the water safe for the fish is now your first priority.