New To Fish Keeping (starting A Fishless Cycle)

[waterdrop]

I just read this thread. Good work FHM, this is like major entertainment, really cool you spotted the "no media" thing!

ebross, this is like you're out there in the driveway sitting in the driving position all set to take vacation but you're just missing something... the car!

(not coming "at" ya, just hopefully laughing "with" you, ok?) If I'm reading it right then your "Day 30" should now become "Day 1" of fishless cycling (the Day designation is pretty important to those of us looking in on the threads to get oriented to where somebody is/should be in the process!

We actually sometimes don't do a great job here in the beginners section of going over the filter and biomedia that will be used with the user before the fishless cycling gets off to a start... but we should. FHM, do you think he's got some decent biomedia going now, I couldn't quite tell.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[fatheadminnow]

I just read this thread. Good work FHM, this is like major entertainment, really cool you spotted the "no media" thing!

ebross, this is like you're out there in the driveway sitting in the driving position all set to take vacation but you're just missing something... the car!

(not coming "at" ya, just hopefully laughing "with" you, ok?) If I'm reading it right then your "Day 30" should now become "Day 1" of fishless cycling (the Day designation is pretty important to those of us looking in on the threads to get oriented to where somebody is/should be in the process!

We actually sometimes don't do a great job here in the beginners section of going over the filter and biomedia that will be used with the user before the fishless cycling gets off to a start... but we should. FHM, do you think he's got some decent biomedia going now, I couldn't quite tell.

~~waterdrop~~

Hey waterdrop!

This is his second day I believe of having the filter insert actually in the filter. So at this point I wold have to say no, to decent biomedia right now.

As for my filter, I have an AquaClear 70 in the video, and an AquaClear 20.

As you get more familiar with the whole nitrogen cycle and fish keeping in whole, you will figure out what is best to place in your filter.

In the filter in the video, I have a couple sponges which are my mechanical filtration. Note: Bacteria will colonize on the sponges.

I also have what is called "Bio-Max." This is specially designed for bacteria to grow on it. The surface of the bio-max is optimal for the bacteria to grow. (It provides a really good home for them.)

Then, the hair ball looking stuff in the video is called "filter floss" or "Filter fiber." I use this to catch smaller debris that may have gotten passed the sponges. This adds a nice fine "polish" to the water. Note: Bacteria will colonize on the floss as well.

Anything in your filter is usable for bacteria to grow on.

AquaClear filters are really nice because you can basically put anything you want in them!

Here is a picture of how I sort of have mine filter media setup in my filter:

-FHM

 

[waterdrop]

No, I meant biomedia regardless of whether it has any bacteria in it yet or not.

It looks like you're covering it in pictures no less, lol.

We just need to make sure he's got a sufficient volume of sponge, biomax etc.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[fatheadminnow]

No, I meant biomedia regardless of whether it has any bacteria in it yet or not.

It looks like you're covering it in pictures no less, lol.

We just need to make sure he's got a sufficient volume of sponge, biomax etc.

~~waterdrop~~

Oh,

Personally, I do not think that the insert is really the best design, especially for bacteria growth.

I mean, it will work, but it really is not the best.

-FHM

 

[OldMan47]

Inserts make a terrible biomedia but I have several tanks that run successfully with no other filter on them. The filter cartridge will eventually wear out from plain old physical breakdown. When one of mine starts to fall apart, I open the new cartridge that is still dry and stuff the old cartridge cover inside the new one. That way the new cartridge is starting out with a mature filter inside it and quickly becomes a decent biofilter in its own right. That means when I need to do it again a few years later I can just use the outer cover to start the next one.

 

[ebross67]

I don't plan on having a lot of fish in the tank. This is what I was thinking:

2 Guppies (male)
1 Plecos
1 Angel

Placing the fish in the tank in that order.

Hopefully my Top Fin Filter will support the fish with its filter-media insert.

Anybody know how much light two Amazon Sword plants and two Java Fern plants need?
Currently, I have the lights come on at 7:30am and shutoff at 4:30pm (9hrs).

 

[fatheadminnow]

I don't plan on having a lot of fish in the tank. This is what I was thinking:

2 Guppies (male)
1 Plecos
1 Angel

Placing the fish in the tank in that order.

Hopefully my Top Fin Filter will support the fish with its filter-media insert.

Anybody know how much light two Amazon Sword plants and two Java Fern plants need?
Currently, I have the lights come on at 7:30am and shutoff at 4:30pm (9hrs).

Have a click in my sig where it says "Plants and Cichlids" for some info on sword plants.

And a 20 gallon tank is too small for a pleco. They can get up tp 20+ inches in length.

-FHM

 

[ebross67]

A Starry Night Pleco 4in max. Actually, I have found many dwarf placos that would work. I'll check out your link. Thanks FHM.

 

[ebross67]

I checkout your link same info that the package the plants came in. Here is my question - Medium light equals what (8hrs-Amazon Sword)? Low light equals what (4hrs - Java Fern )? Can you give too much light to an underwater plant?

 

[fatheadminnow]

I checkout your link same info that the package the plants came in. Here is my question - Medium light equals what (8hrs-Amazon Sword)? Low light equals what (4hrs - Java Fern )? Can you give too much light to an underwater plant?

Actually, we measure light in WPG (watts per gallon). So, take your total watts and divide by how many gallons you have. I would say 2+ WPG is really high, and .75-1.0 WPG is low, and everything in between.

Have your lights on about 10hours a day for the plants.

-FHM

 

[ebross67]

AH, that makes sense. I thought it was a time issue not a wat issue. I assumed they recommended 2wats/g for every tank, and you should adjust how long the lights are on. This is why I read forums. Great info FHM.

 

[fatheadminnow]

AH, that makes sense. I thought it was a time issue not a wat issue. I assumed they recommended 2wats/g for every tank, and you should adjust how long the lights are on. This is why I read forums. Great info FHM.

Yeah, if you go over 2 WPG, then you need to start looking at pumping Co2 into the tank! Which brings on a whole new story.

Keep it at or under 2 WPG, I think 1.5 WPG is perfect, and you should be just fine!

-FHM

 

[waterdrop]

Well, both swords and javaferns are fine low-light plants. They will do well in tanks even below 1w/g but as FHM says, between 1 and 2 (between 0.8 and 2 I suppose) would be the good range, along with some liquid carbon dosing like Excel or Easycarbo. The issue with light really is more about algae. In a new tank the plants are more likely to starve from the tank being too "pristine" (ie. from lack of nutrition) than from any lack of light. A good technique can be to start the tank with only a 4 hour photoperiod and then gradually raise this to 6 hours and then to 8 as long as you don't begin to see an algae problem. The other issue with algae is ammonia, which is obviously a problem during fishless cycling but less obviously is a problem even during the routine running of a tank with a zero ppm ammonia reading. What happens if the circulation is less than ideal is that small dead pockets without water movement will have a tiny bit higher ammonia level and will trigger algae assuming there is enough light time.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

I grow java ferns in most of my tanks regardless of light levels. The only swords that I have are in a low light situation in my cory tank which only has the aquarium kit light in it. That is a 15W light over a 20 gallon tank. All of the java ferns do well regardless of light level and the sword is doing fine in light that most plant people would tell you is far too low.