JLui83 Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 I just started a 10gal tank for some painted fire red/bloody mary cherry shrimp. Substrate: Fluval Stratum Ati Sponge filter 40 gal Tetra whisper air pump for 40 gal Plants: 4 Marimo balls Subwassertang Current ph is around 6.8-7.0 (my tap is around 7.8) The picture of the test is from today March 22 Still waiting for this tank to cycle. Im using fish flakes as the ammonia source. This is my first tank so I cant seed the tank from an existing tank. I added bio spira(beneficial bacteria) 2 days ago. I would have thought the nitrites would be up by now. I went ahead and added some more fish food to up the ammonia. Ill check ammonia and nitrites tomorrow. Ive been out of aquatic keeping game for over 10 years!. Shrimp Life 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted March 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2017 I was able to pick up some pure ammonia. From my readings it is only about 4% concentration. Using an online calculator I dosed the tank with 3ml of the pure ammonia to try to get it up to 4ppm or close to it. March 24 test readings before the dose of ammonia Doesn't look like there is any change from 2 days ago. Hopefully with the dose of ammonia the Ammonia will go up to about 4.0ppm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zodiac Posted March 25, 2017 Report Share Posted March 25, 2017 you don't want it close to 4 ppm. not many bacteria grow when that high. 2-3 ppm for a fish tank and/or using a regular filter. up to 1 ppm is fine for a shrimp tank. looks like 1 ppm,that's what you want. is that blue or a hint of purple? within a week ammonia should drop down and nitrites up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted March 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2017 as of yesterday before I dosed ammonia. The ammonia was around .50-1.0ppm I added 3ml of the ammonia. The concentration on this ammonia seems to be lower than I thought. I tested a few hours after i dosed the ammonia and it read around 2ppm. Nitrites are still at zero. Ill check again today to see if the ammonia has dropped and any detection of Nitrites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted March 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2017 March 25, 2017 Ammonia: Around 2ppm Nitrite: 0ppm Nitrate: Around 20-30ppm I guess the Bio Spira did not work..... oh well. the wait begins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zodiac Posted March 26, 2017 Report Share Posted March 26, 2017 your nitrates went up. that bacteria may have consumed some ammonia and consumed nitrite as it was produced. that's not what you want. bacteria in a bottle is not for doing a fishless cycle. Bio Spira is for saltwater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted March 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2017 4 minutes ago, zodiac said: your nitrates went up. that bacteria may have consumed some ammonia and consumed nitrite as it was produced. that's not what you want. bacteria in a bottle is not for doing a fishless cycle. Bio Spira is for saltwater. Nope. The bio spira I used is for freshwater. Thanks though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted March 26, 2017 Report Share Posted March 26, 2017 Increase temperature to 78F to speed things up as well as increasing KH to get pH around 7.6 Higher temp + little above neutral pH = faster bacteria growth JLui83 and oem 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted March 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2017 temps are at 78*. Just tested again March 27, 2017 Ammonia = between 2ppm-3ppm Nitrite = 0ppm PH: around 6.4-6.5 Added Tetra Safestart since i dont have any other tanks that I can seed this one with. Id figured id give the Tetra Safestart a whirl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted March 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 March 28, 2017 Ammonia = 2ppm-3ppm Didn't bother testing the other stuff if im not seeing any decrease in ammonia Just need to be patient. Wish I had someone near me to get some good beneficial bacteria from a filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted March 28, 2017 Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 4 hours ago, JLui83 said: March 28, 2017 Ammonia = 2ppm-3ppm Didn't bother testing the other stuff if im not seeing any decrease in ammonia Just need to be patient. Wish I had someone near me to get some good beneficial bacteria from a filter. There's no need to test everyday. Bacteria supplements are not magic and does not provide instant results. Being patient is indeed difficult but that's all you can do now. Test again in a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted March 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 Haha thanks, it's my first tank after a long time. I'm a bit impatient! But definitely want to start things right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted March 29, 2017 Report Share Posted March 29, 2017 Great thread, just curious how did you go from 20-30ppm Nitrates to 0? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted March 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2017 Nitrates never changed. They are around 20-30ppm. Nitrites stayed at 0. DETAquarium 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted March 29, 2017 Report Share Posted March 29, 2017 Just now, JLui83 said: Nitrates never changed. They are around 20-30ppm. Nitrites stayed at 0. Thank you for the clarification, maybe I need to pay closer attention! Keep up the great work. JLui83 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted March 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2017 No worries. Im still learning and waiting for this thing to cycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted March 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2017 A little change to the tank. Took the Marimo Balls and spread them out to create this carpet. Might pick up some more and carpet the entire tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 looks nice and plush! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted March 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 36 minutes ago, chappy6107 said: looks nice and plush! Its definitely nice and fluffy!. I need to glue or tie it down to something. Right now its kinda hovering over the substrate. jessaweeshrimp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted March 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 I was bored today and was in the office. Decided to test the tank. I added a little bit of baking soda just to raise the PH a little bit since im not going to house Crystal Reds as planned. I'll be going for neocaridina, probably blue dream velvets. PH: Around 7.2 Ammonia: Around 1-2ppm Nitrites: 0ppm Nitrates: 30-40ppm its a deeper orange color now.Almost red I'll test it again sometime next week to see if the ammonia has dropped at all. I also raised the temperature to 82-84*F to help speed up the bacteria growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted April 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 April 3, 2017 Tested water parameters Ammonia=0 Nitrites=.25ppm Nitrates= A LOT! Added 1.5ml of ammonia April 4, 2017 Tested water parameters Ammonia = 0 Nitrites = 0 Tank is cycled!!! finally! Total amount of time 2 weeks for the tank to fully cycle. Used Bio Spira and Tetra Safestart. Time for the shrimp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 Do a 90% water change or around 0.5" - 1" above substrate level the day before shrimp arrive. Until then, keep adding 1ppm ammonia daily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted April 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2017 Tank has been fully cycled I've just been adding 1ppm of ammonia every other day waiting for my shrimp to arrive. Ordered 10 Crystal Reds from a member on here. The day before they arrive I plan on doing almost a 100% water change and filling it back up with DI water remineralized with salty shrimp gh+. For Crystal reds, I'll go for a TDS of around 140. GH (whatever it is after I add the salty shrimp to the DI water) most likely it will be between 4-6. Also ordered a RO/DI system which should be here AFTER the shrimp get here. I'll just do the big water change with DI water from walmart. Only 10 gal tank so I'll bite that cost. -Found a couple Alder Trees where I work and picked some Alder Cones. Pretty stoked about that! -Added Cholla wood and more Marimo Moss Ball carpets into the tank. Not sure if I want to leave the Marimo Carpet or ball them up again. What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted April 8, 2017 Report Share Posted April 8, 2017 Do you know if the alder trees are pesticide free? It's best not to buy these stuff from reputable sellers than to get them from unknown areas near you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLui83 Posted April 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2017 No pesticides. It's in like the woods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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