Photo Time :)

[Rorie]

So, at LONG last here is a couple pictures of my new tank. You can see my hollowed out bit of bogwood that WONT stay down. I have had to lash it down with rocks all over, so now it kinda looks hideous! But i hope i can discise it with some carpet plant that will grow over the wood and the rock together.

I am going to have 'up-lighting' for the two vertical rocks in the way of blue moon lights.....granted the moon will be coming from below, but lets ignore that part

I want tall wavey plants behind, and along side the bog wood. I then want to have 'grass' all over. That way the tall rocks will be the only thing sticking out, and hopefully quite striking, on the left side.

BUT, i am having issues cycling the fishless way.

I have super expensive ADA gravel (fantastic for plants). It gives off ammonia at the start to help with cycling. So for a week, i watched my my ammonia spike, and then drop. I then tested nitrite, and there was nothing! So now that the ammonia from the gravel had worn off, i added some more myself, to pump it back up to 5PPM. I HAD hopped that now the tank had got rid of the first set of ammonia in a week, that this second batch would go quickly as we were now underway. HOWEVER, it has not! On day 5 of the second batch of ammonia, or day 14 of the whole process, and it has not dropped at all!

So, is this normal? How long do you think i can expect to wait for the ammonia to drop?

The water in my tank is evaporating quicker than it is getting rid of ammonia! No joke! I just added another 30L to the tank since last week to top it back up! I gather this is because my heater is on full pelt and its an open top. But i really hope it does not evaporate this fast when i have it running normally hehe.

Oh, and for the observant of you....you may notice a pinata hanging from a rope in the reflection on my aquarium? This is a toy for my African Grey

 

[Rorie]

Can anybody help with my ammonia issue?

 

[Harlequins]

Looking good,although has the bogwood been soaking long? mine kept floating up,in the end i kept soaking it in hot water and it eventually sank when i tried it in the tank.
If you still have the string on it when you eventually add the fish they might get hooked up...

Has for the ammonia if the nitrites aren't processing then you probably haven't had a proper ammonia spike,whats your temperature of the tank? if its too high it won't process the right bacs for the filter.

Whats your ph reading?

 

[Rorie]

Looking good,although has the bogwood been soaking long? mine kept floating up,in the end i kept soaking it in hot water and it eventually sank when i tried it in the tank.
If you still have the string on it when you eventually add the fish they might get hooked up...

Has for the ammonia if the nitrites aren't processing then you probably haven't had a proper ammonia spike,whats your temperature of the tank? if its too high it won't process the right bacs for the filter.

Whats your ph reading?

Oh really?! I did not know that...i thought it was a case of the hotter the better! I think i'm sitting at about 30 degrees - as hot as my heater goes. What should it be at?

I have soaked the bogwood for AGES....WEEKS! And every time i leave it, it floats to the top. So i gave up and went crazy with the garden wire! I would love to be able to take it off eventually, but i am some what doubtful that it will sink. Is yours hollow like mine? How long did yours take?

Thanks

 

[Harlequins]

Mine wood isnt hollow,but i did drill a few holes in it to help the water to soak in

I think the temp for fishless is around 29 degrees, does your themometer read 30 degrees? Ph does play a part also,it it goes below 6 it can stall a cycle.

30l is a lot of water to top up,unless the rocks are soaking it up...

 

[Rorie]

Mine wood isnt hollow,but i did drill a few holes in it to help the water to soak in

I think the temp for fishless is around 29 degrees, does your themometer read 30 degrees? Ph does play a part also,it it goes below 6 it can stall a cycle.

30l is a lot of water to top up,unless the rocks are soaking it up...

*Excitement and hope* Maybe the bog wood is soaking it all up!!!

ohh, good call! My PH is super low! How on earth has that happened? I normally have quite high PH in my aquariums. What should it be do you think? I will put someting in to bump it up as its at about 6.0!

 

[Harlequins]

It could be a mixture of things,bogwood will lower the ph...

That ada gravel is also designed to lower ph not good if you want a stable ph,and like you say for up to 3 weeks will release ammonia...

You will need to bump up your ph to get the cycle to continue,add some bicarb of soda,readily available in supermarkets by the bakery,make sure its bicarb and not baking soda has these are 2 different products

 

[Rorie]

It could be a mixture of things,bogwood will lower the ph...

That ada gravel is also designed to lower ph not good if you want a stable ph,and like you say for up to 3 weeks will release ammonia...

You will need to bump up your ph to get the cycle to continue,add some bicarb of soda,readily available in supermarkets by the bakery,make sure its bicarb and not baking soda has these are 2 different products

Your a star, thanks! I actually have PH booster, so will use that to save me making a mix up

Glad someone else has heard of ADA, not met many people who have hehe.

I have also just added some air, as i just read at the high temps, there is little oxygen in the aquarium.

Thanks for your help Hopefully the ammonia will get a move on now!

 

[Rorie]

ACTUALLY!!! I just read that to raise my PH up to 7, i would need up to 140ml....these bottles come in 100ml bottles. So, how do i do your method? How much soda do i need to add?

Oh, and what PH should i aim to have?

 

[Harlequins]

You will need to get your ph up to 8.0-8.4 for good processing of bacs,depending if the ada gravel has long term affect on you ph,then using ph booster wouldn't be suitable once you have fish in the tank,it would fluctuate to much and stress the fiah out.

Good luck with your cycle,i hope it gets back on course

 

[Rorie]

Ok. If ADA keeps lowering my PH, what can i do to steady it to counteract the lowering?

 

[Harlequins]

I dont know much about ada,if has i think it is its peat based it will lower the ph anyway,but someone more knowledgeable would know about the long term affects...

Has for the bicarb its recommended to add 1 1/2-2 tsp per 50ltr leave for an hour or so,test it again if still low add another amount until the desired ph is reached.

 

[Harlequins]

Did you manage to get some bicarb?

 

[Rorie]

Yup. I added a load last night and have managed to raise the PH to about 7.6 i think. I added some more to get it even higher, but it did not budge!