New to the forum and to aquariums

[PlanB]

Re: New to the forum and to aquariums

Okay, come to think of it, dojos with goldfish will help add to the Oriental look since they kind of resemble Asian dragons.

I would do a big water change since you don't have any fish in yet. I would also add an inch or so of regular gravel over the flourite because goldfish like to pick at the substrate which will just make the flourite cloudy again. Lay a board or styrofoam on top of that and trickle water onto the board. That's what I usually do when I'm working with aquasoil. Plus the extra gravel will keep things from getting too dusty when you re-plant. That's just how I do it, I'm sure people have other ways.

[JStrider]

Re: New to the forum and to aquariums

got some neat pieces of "african root" from fishrus today  they're pretty cool looking, and will look even better with the plants on them.

I'm thinking I'll go with some guppies or something else to get it started cycling and eventually either add other species or convert over to my original plan.

The tank has gotten a lot clearer, but is still a bit on the foggy side.

[JStrider]

Re: New to the forum and to aquariums

got a trio of rosey barbs and some filter media from mike to get this thing cycling, and get used to taking care of fish.

[armthehomeless]

Re: New to the forum and to aquariums

Sounds like you are off to a good start. Keep us updated.

[JStrider]

Re: New to the forum and to aquariums

When I tested the water today I showed a small nitrite reading... wasnt all the way to the first color, but was definitely different then the 0 color.  I also had a similarly small reading on the nitrate. I also noticed a light brown tint to the water, which I figure is tannins leaching from the roots I put in the tank.

I went ahead and did a 5 gallon water change and added some activated carbon to the filter to help take care of the tannins.

[Brownsnoutuk]

Re: New to the forum and to aquariums

Hows the ammonia looking?

[JStrider]

Re: New to the forum and to aquariums

it read 0.

I did stick some filters from mikes into my filter, so thats probably why I havnt seen any ammonia so far.

[Mzungu]

Re: New to the forum and to aquariums

Not sure if the filters would do anything about the ammonia...what kind of filters do you mean? If you're seeing both nitrites and nitrates, you're on the right track! The nitrites should spike and then drop off, at which time the nitrates will spike. You're pretty much done with the cycle when you have no detectable ammonia or nitrites.  :)

[JStrider]

Re: New to the forum and to aquariums

I mean some used filter media... that had established bacteria on it already.

as for the tannins leaching outta my pieces of wood, is there anything I can do to speed it up?  even though I added some activated carbon its got a brown tint this morning again.

[rrocket2002]

Re: New to the forum and to aquariums

For the Tannins, you could run a Diatom Filter once a week to Polish your water.

Raul

[Mzungu]

Re: New to the forum and to aquariums

Oh, okay, gotcha. That makes sense.

Depending on how large the driftwood is, I've found that boiling it can bring a lot of the tannins out more quickly than usual. I boiled a few pieces once to make sure they were okay to use (having collected them outside) and the water afterwards was really brown/yellow.

Otherwise, not really anything I know to speed up the process. Water changes? Tannins aren't harmful, do you just not like the look of the water? I've never really had a problem with discoloration (don't know why, actually! I have driftwood in just about every tank!), and I didn't know it could happen that fast.

EDIT: Or what Raul said.  8)

[JStrider]

Re: New to the forum and to aquariums

I know they arent harmful... I dont really care for the tint they give the tank.

I might try boiling them in my giant stew pot if I get motivated this weekend... its not really a big deal

[JStrider]

Re: New to the forum and to aquariums

it seems that my PH is gradually climbing... the past couple times I've tested the water it seemed to be between 8.2 and 8.4, and tonite it seemed a bit more on the 8.4 side then 8.2

my ammonia and my nitrite are both reading 0 and my nitrate is just barely registering.

any suggestions? or should I just wait and keep an eye on things?