First tank..

[Hysteria1983]

Comacchio said:

Certainly!

10 x Cardinal Tetra (Paracheirodon acelrodi)
10 x Cherry Shrimp (Neocardina heteropoda)
10 x Harlequin Rasbora (Trigonostigma heteromorpha)
10 x Panda Cory (Corydoras panda)
4 x Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
2 x Keyhole Cichlid (Cleithracara maronii)
2 x Dwarf Gourami (Colisa lalia)
1 x Apple Snail (Pomacea bridgesii)
1 x Albino Bristlenose Pleco (Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus)
6 x Siamese Algae Eater (Crossocheilus siamensis)

I know this leaves me slightly over stocked, but I also over filter and will be doing 30% water changes per week.
This is the intended final stocking, so obviously not all going in at once!

EDIT: The algae eaters are the one I haven't decided on yet. I've also given my girlfriend an opportunity to put a fish in (provided it's suitable). She's currently swaying between rummy nose tetras (I feel I would have too many shoaling fish though) and neon rainbows, so we will see!

Edited by Comacchio on Saturday 17th September 00:13

That all sounds good. However I would be careful keeping a plec, corys and an algae eater together. My experience with bottom feeders is that they become very terratorial, especially when kept in small numbers.

Corys like to be kept in a group of about 4-6 at least, they are quiet shy little things, and find comfort with safety in numbers. The plec should be fine, but again I wouldn't have one with corys as it can get big and will possibly attack and pick off the corys

With the algae eater again, I find them to be quite terratorial. I had one and learned this the hard way as it killed off 6 on my corys
He (the baron) now lives in my guppy grow out tank where he is not threatened by having his food supply compromised!

All else I can say is that if you decide to keep a snail or snails, don't keep barbs, as they love anything like that to eat, as well as shrimp.

Also, leave it at least 2-3 weeks between adding fish. The bigger the fish, the longer the gap between adding fish should be.

[Comacchio]

My first batch of fish will most likely be the Cardinals, the Harlequins and the Corys as they are the ones I know I can source readily local.

[Comacchio]

Done a 20% water change to bring the ammonia levels down. Readings for today are:

pH - 7.6
Ammonia - 2-3ppm
NitrIte - 1ppm
NitrAte - 10 ppm

Hopefully will be easier to spot changes now.

In other news, my bogwood doesnt seem to be leaching as much tannins now, so may go in the tank next week!

[Comacchio]

Day 25:

pH - 7.5
Ammonia - 3-4ppm
NitrIte - 0.5ppm
NitrAte - 20 ppm

Getting tiresome that the ammonia doesnt seem to be dropping.

[Stevenj214]

Comacchio said:

Day 25:

pH - 7.5
Ammonia - 3-4ppm
NitrIte - 0.5ppm
NitrAte - 20 ppm

Getting tiresome that the ammonia doesnt seem to be dropping.

Apparently your ammonia is rising

[Comacchio]

Just faulty readings mainly. No source of ammonia in tank so cant rise.

[Stevenj214]

It seems odd that your ammonia levels have never dropped though. You only added ammonia on day 1, right?

[Comacchio]

Yep day 1 I added 11ml of ammonia, which on hindsight after some calculations was a little much. 11ml would have dosed 200L to 5 ppm, but I reckon I have 165-170L of actual water in the tank.

[832ark]

How about re running the tests? The NitrIte dropping and the NitrAte increasing looks promising though! Its a good point about the bottom dwellers getting territorial. I have a Galaxy Pleco and a Featherfin Synodontis who fall out occasionally. How about some Otocynclus for algae eating duties?

[Comacchio]

832ark said:

How about re running the tests? The NitrIte dropping and the NitrAte increasing looks promising though! Its a good point about the bottom dwellers getting territorial. I have a Galaxy Pleco and a Featherfin Synodontis who fall out occasionally. How about some Otocynclus for algae eating duties?

Ill re-test again tomorrow at 3 and see whats what. I'm going away on a fishing trip from friday to monday, so would have liked to re-dose with ammonia by then but will see!

I've now dropped the SAE from my stocking, I'll take a look at the Otos, am I right in thinking they need to be able to get out of water?

My girlfriend has decided she likes the look of glass catfish now...

[Comacchio]

Day 26: 21/9, 15:00

pH - 7.4
Ammonia - 2-3ppm
NitrIte - 0.25-0.5ppm
NitrAte - 30 ppm

NitrIte seems to be dropping faster than Ammonia. Peculiar.

[Comacchio]

I have no idea whats going on with my cycle.

Ph seems to have dropped to 6.5
Ammonia is at 2 ppm
Nitrite has hit 0 ppm
Nitrate is still 30ppm.

Im thinking about a 95% water change tomorrow and redosing to 5ppm ammonia.

[Stevenj214]

Comacchio said:

I have no idea whats going on with my cycle.

Ph seems to have dropped to 6.5
Ammonia is at 2 ppm
Nitrite has hit 0 ppm
Nitrate is still 30ppm.

Im thinking about a 95% water change tomorrow and redosing to 5ppm ammonia.

Why not just re-dose...?

[NotKenBlock]

Comacchio said:

I have no idea whats going on with my cycle.

Ph seems to have dropped to 6.5
Ammonia is at 2 ppm
Nitrite has hit 0 ppm
Nitrate is still 30ppm.

Im thinking about a 95% water change tomorrow and redosing to 5ppm ammonia.

I'd personally advise against it. You'll be pretty much starting from scratch by doing that.

I'd do a much smaller change (probably 30-40%) and monitor from there.

[Comacchio]

My problem is the A-bacs dont seem to really be there, but the N-Bacs have nuked the 2ish ppm of nitrITe way quicker than the ammonia has dropped.

After my shift tonight i'll buy some bicarb to raise the ph to around 8 which will hopefully help. Im away fishing from friday to monday so wont be able to watch the levels.

[Hysteria1983]

Comacchio said:

I have no idea whats going on with my cycle.

Ph seems to have dropped to 6.5
Ammonia is at 2 ppm
Nitrite has hit 0 ppm
Nitrate is still 30ppm.

Im thinking about a 95% water change tomorrow and redosing to 5ppm ammonia.

Don't do that or you will be back to square one!

Just give it time.

[Comacchio]

Put in 2 teaspoons of bicarb to raise the pH to 8ish. Since im away for the next 4 days I added 3ml of ammonia to bring the ammonia levels closer to 5ppm just so that the bacteria have something to do.

Again there was no nitrite. Ill check back in on monday evening.

[C3BER]

Bloody hell your having more chemistry lessons than fish keeping. Back in my day it was... Fill tank, wait one week and pop first few fish in. Wait some more and add some more. Must admit the first fish were called suicide fish.

[Comacchio]

Day 30: 26/9/11

pH: 7.5
Ammonia: 0.25-0.5 ppm
NitrIte: 0.5 ppm
NitrAte: 80 ppm

PROGRESS! I don't know how fast the ammonia dropped but it was dosed to around 5 ppm on Friday and by Monday it was down to nearly nothing. Do I wait until there is nothing or redose to 4-5ppm now?

[M@verick]

Comacchio said:

Day 30: 26/9/11

pH: 7.5
Ammonia: 0.25-0.5 ppm
NitrIte: 0.5 ppm
NitrAte: 80 ppm

PROGRESS! I don't know how fast the ammonia dropped but it was dosed to around 5 ppm on Friday and by Monday it was down to nearly nothing. Do I wait until there is nothing or redose to 4-5ppm now?

Does seem to be taking a while to cycle doesnt it. Sorry, I have not read the whole thread, but have you tested your tap water as a control ?. I would advise doing a couple of 20% water changes once the ammonia and nitrite have finally gone, to knock the nitrate down a tad, but you might find that you tap water is high in nitrates as it is (this is why most of us marine fish keepers run RO units with TDS meters on).

Good luck with it anyway, and well done for being patient !.

R.