Wow, Look! It's... Another Fishless Cycle Diary?

[nork]

Day 17 AM updated.

Same story, 0 ppm readings on ammonia and nitrites. The nitrite tube turned blue within the first 3 minutes.

This morning's test was performed at 6:30 AM, last night's test was performed at 7 PM and ammonia added at 7:30 PM, bumping up towards 6:30 PM in 30 minute per day increments.

 

[nork]

Day 17 updated. Scoped out 2 PetSmarts and a PetCo today to see what mbunas they had available, I'd rather not buy from there, but surprisingly, all of their fish seem to be healthy and active, and only one "assorted cichlid" tank per store! Scoping out two LFSs tomorrow to see what they have (I know one has a bristlenose plec I think I might bring home), as they were both closed today (same owners).

So far everything appears to be going well. Another day and another test telling me that this weekend might be fishy time!

 

[karin]

Hi Nork.

I have the exact same tank as you! Wahoo. Hey, I'm wondering why you first started adding 11 ml of Ammonia and then went to 9 ml. I too calculated 11 ml to get to the 4-5 ppm. But am wondering why you dropped it by 20%? I posted my fishless cycle as well this AM for first time but have been cycling since 2/15/10.

Good luck.

karin

 

[nork]

Karin,

I dropped it to 9 ml after the cycle started to bring it up to 4 ppm instead of the initial 5 ppm that was desired to get it started. I had more reasoning than that, I thought I read somewhere that after the cycle starts, bringing up to the 4-5 range is sufficient, but please don't quote me on that.

You picked up the Marineland 60 Gal ensamble, too? Are you keeping the stock hood? If not, what hood are you using? I'd like to upgrade but I'm not really up on my aquarium accessories.

 

[karin]

Hey Nork.

For now I'm keeping the hood. Didn't know it was kind of limiting until I read this thread. I suppose it is always possible to build a canopy type hood. Did you check into it, will a standard 48inch hood fit? Right now I am a bit more concerned about the amount of natural light that I have in the room. Lots. I'm hoping and praying that if I can protect the tank from direct sunlight and limit lighting and plant it up that I won't have a horrendous algae problem.

But first things first... the cycle and the fish. I'll check into the ammonia thing tomorrow. I sort of just figured the 11 ml and never check after I add it. I'll do 9 ml tomorrow and test.

Best to you.

 

[nork]

Well with my ammonia being 10% strength, it takes appx 11 ml to get up to 5 ppm, and it's appx 9 ml to get up to 4 ppm.

 

[nork]

Day 18 AM added.

Last night's test and ammonia add was done at 7:00 PM. This morning's test was at 6:30 AM, so I'm just about right at testing at exact 12 hour intervals.

Scoping out two LFSs today to see what they have in stock.

So far, I've been able to locate:

Labinochromis caeruleus (Electric yellows (we like these))
Maylandia lombardoi (Kenyi)
Pseudotropheus crabro (Bumblebees (I love these))
Melanchromis auratus (Auratus)
Pseudotropheus acei (Acei)
Pseudotropheus greshakei (for both Ice Blue zebras and Albino Red Finned Zebra (love these albinos))
Maylandia zebra (Red Zebra)
Melanchromic johanni (Electric Blue Johanni)

I believe the albino bristlenose pleco I saw was at the LFS I'm checking out this evening. I hope he's still there.

 

[waterdrop]

 

[nork]

Well, I'm highly disappointed in my LFS runs.

One didn't have any cichlids and won't for another month, the other has four tanks dedicated to cichlids.

2 tanks read: "Small African Cichlids" one of which had about 10 or so random cichlids, none of which I recognized by appearance, the other tank had only 2 baby blue colored cichlids that I also didn't recognize.
1 [empty] tank reads: "Malawi Cichlids"
1 tank reads: "Convict Cichlids"

No telling what the scientific names were. This means it looks like I'm going to be forced to buy from PetSmart.

 

[nork]

Day 18 PM updated.

No more albino bristlenose, but they had a full tank of small regular bristlenoses.

 

[waterdrop]

The LFS is only one source of stock. The other two common ones are mail-order phone/web or local club-swap-meets/friends. Shipped fish can be somewhat seasonal since temperature is a factor. If you feel LFS is likely to be the way you will go, beginners sometimes don't realize that the smaller independent shops often relish working with you on individual fish needs. Having someone indicate exactly what they'd like is sometimes a nice change of pace compared to guessing what customers are going to buy and even though most of them may get everyting from large suppliers, you never know, sometimes stores have a number of smaller contacts (individual breeders) and can help you find what you want (the trade-off of course is that once you jump in, you can find yourself feeling somewhat committed -- perhaps talking about this up-front is a good idea, mentioning that you'd still like the right of refusal if the fish don't meet your liking and that its nothing personal.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[nork]

Well when we ask our little girl what fish she wants, she answers "blue fish and orange fish".

Well, I can easily pick up the Pseudotropheus acei (yellow tail) or Melanchromic johanni for the blue fish and the Labinochromis caeruleus, Pseudotropheus crabro, or the albino Pseudotropheus greshakei for the "orange" fish.

Here are a couple of stocking lists we've been considering.

4-5 Electric yellows
4-5 Bumblebees
4-5 Electric blue johannis
1-2 Britlenose plecs

or

3 Electric yellows
3 Bumblebees
3 Electric blue johannis
3 Albino red finned zebras
1-2 Bristlenose plecs

Do you see any issues with either stocking list? We're thinking about the second list more than the first. Our research shows that this should be a compatible group, but if we've overlooked something or misunderstood something, please let me know as we'll be stocking tomorrow.

Also, should we only do 1 pleco or is it ok/suggested to do 2? Reminder: Our tank is 60 US gallons, the measurements are 48"L x 12"D x 24"H.

I rearranged the rocks a couple of weeks ago and there are exactly 15 dedicated caves, but there are 2 areas that could also be used as caves.

Day 19 AM updated.

 

[nork]

Also, since I'm stocking tomorrow, would it be best to do the big water change tonight or wait until a couple of hours before stocking tomorrow to do it? As far as adding chemicals, I'll be adding the recommended dose of API Stress Coat, but besides that, is there anything else I need to do to my water right before/during/after the big WC?

 

[waterdrop]

You can do the big (down to the gravel) water change whenever its most convenient for you. If you feel its going to be 12 hours or more before you actually add fish after you've done the big water changes you can acually add another dose of ammonia, or more than one if still more big chunks of hours go by. If you think about it, you now know roughly when the filter will have made the water safe and 2 or 3 doses of ammonia that get processed won't create enough nitrate to matter before your first official weekly maintenance water change after you've had the fish a week. Make sense?

We'll be thinkin about ya! Fingers crossed for good fish!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[nork]

Makes sense, thanks WD.

Do you know anything about cichlid stocking? Do you think those lists look fine?

What about plecs? If you have knowledge/experience with those, should I do 1 or 2 bristlenoses?

I've also posted a question in the planted tank section, but maybe you know this, too. On only one of my original (planted day 1) anubias plants, there seems to be a gooey looking substance growing at the base of the stems. It's a clearish-white cobweb looking blob of something, which I'm assuming is algae, but reading up on algae descriptions I don't really see one that fits the description here.