Chris's Fishless Cycle

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Hope you like the pics

i havnt yet got real plants, but in future il be looking to add some. not many tho, as i dont wont it looking over crowded. il buy them the same time as my fish and add the plants first

Thanks for the tip, Will do. Can't quite get the link up cause I'm on my phone, il check it out after on my laptop.

STRANGE???

its day 5 and ive added gravel from a matured tank into the first slot of my 2 filters at 1:30pm.
I tested for ammonia at 5pm and it give a reading of 0.50+ compared to 4+ on day 1

must be wrong

i dont think the gravel would have done that in that amount of time and i also dont think my ammonia eating bacteria would have developed that quick...

so, im putting it down to me adding the ammonia on day 1(30 drops) and not giving it enough time to mix with the water(150L) before testing. im sure i tested between 5-10mins after i'd added it

do u agree?

and also colinb, 

30 drops of ammonia + 150litres of water = 0.50+ppm???

does that sound about right with your average?

I agree with what you said about testing 5-10mins aftre adding. I usually waited a couple of hours.
And your 30 drops in 150litres is in the same ball-park as me.

day 6

i added another 30 drops of ammonia to my tank yesterday and tested today to make sure it was thoroughly mixed, it give a reading of 2- ppm
im not going to add any more ammonia now untill it starts to go down.

i got a bottle of 'aqua safe start' coming tomoz, hopefully this gets the bacteria spreading and multiplying

day 7

ammonia 2- pmm

ph 7.6 - 7.8

added 125ml of 'tetra safe start' to my tank

still got half a bottle left. Anybody know if it be ok just to throw it all in another 125ml

thanks for the reply resa

thats what im thinking, the more bacteria the better, i dont wont half a bottle going to waste.

I checked the date on the bottle and that was all fine, but 1 thing i did notice was when i unscrewed the lid, the bottle was open. i thought it would have been sealed with a bit of foil u got to peel off or something. but when i googled it, it says it comes unsealed? was this the same as yours? anybody could have opened the bottle and replaced the liquid with something else or even added something else. just thought that was a bit strange thats all.

yes i will wait to see what they say, just encase 

Chris - your water company's stats tell you that you have soft water. Very soft water. Most home test kits use german degrees, and that's the unit you'll find in fish profiles. 3 degrees (OK, 2.91) is very soft. You won't be able to keep Rift Lake cichlids without adding something to the water. You'll find livebearers won't be happy either (sorry!) so I wouldn't get platies or guppies. But on the plus side Amazonian fish will love your water. Lots of tetras, cichlids and cories would suit your water fine.
Your pH may be higher than the figure quoted in fish profiles but hardness is more important than pH to fish. They can adapt to the 'wrong' pH easier than they adapt to the 'wrong' hardness.


If you really want livebearers, you could add remineralisation salt to increase the hardness. Things like this or this or any other product that is meant for adding to RO water.