New here - cycling a 55 - duh

Timjwilson

http://www.atlasbooks.com/marktplc/00388Shrimp.pdf


Here is where I got it. I guess that Diana is unaware that Miracle Grow Organic potting soil is primarily sphagnum peatmoss, sourced from either Premier (whom I do testing for) or Sungro.

Timjwilson

Well, I've had life and death taking place in the aquarium. I suspect that I was the cause when I decided to try feeding some frozen brine shrimp to the Discus. Once thawed and floating in the water they were quite large looking. A day or so following this, all but 3 Discus developed what appeared bloat (although it could have been parasitic) They had puffy white discharge. Unfortunately they succumbed.

I've still been unable to control the nitrates at a level at or around 5 ppm (according to the tests) so continue the water changes. The pH suddenly stopped swinging so I'm able to do 28% changes every second day. The pH has stabilized around 6.2 which I think is great. I don't know what's up with the nitrates. Perhaps just needs more time.

Does anyone know whether adding plant micronutrients contributes to nitrates or does it assist plants to uptake it?

The three survivor Discus are now doing great. They are growing and playing. My jullii are doing great and laying up eggs continuously. I have at least 2 baby survivors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qpZPfbA_II

This is very exciting. I did not expect this.

Timjwilson

I forgot to mention that the city (Chilliwack) where I live was forced by the health department to chlorinate the water. Fortunately it is only chlorine and we are the second house from the end of the line so it is very weak at this point. We installed a household filter anyway.

Byron

First question is, are the nitrates occurring in the source water, or in the tank?

Assuming for the moment the latter, in the tank, then a nitrate of < 5 ppm is fine. One of my tanks reads < 10 ppm. Using the API nitrate liquid test. And I have lots of plants, and do 50% weekly water changes. There is zero nitrate in my tap water.

It is possible to get nitrates at or very close to zero. More plants and fewer fish (as a balance) is the way to do this; the fewer fish, the less waste, and the more plants, the more they need ammonia/ammonium.

Adding plant fertilizer high in nitrate will obviously add nitrate. I don't know what you are using; I use Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement which has minimal nitrogen derived from ammonium and nitrate (so they say). From my experience and tests, this is not adding any detectable nitrate. If you follow the method some use of over-fertilizing the tank (the EI method, etc) you would be adding considerably more nitrate. Some of these folks aim for 20-30 ppm.

Byron.

Timjwilson

My tap water tests a zero nitrates. I've got lots of plants and 3 Discus (juveniles) 2 bristlenose (2" & 3"), 5 cories and 2 (at least) babies. I do have a very large snail population.

My TDS has levelled out around 60 to 65 PPM

I also use the Seachem Flourish but maybe once every two weeks. (one cap). After actually measuring my tank, it is 45 gallons, not 55.

The nitrate test I use is from Hagen. I hate it because of the judgement required with the shades of purple/pink.

Byron

This sounds fine (the numbers, I mean).

AbbeysDad

Welcome to TFK!

If/when you have nitrates around 5ppm or so, I call it a win. You might find value in gravel siphoning unplanted areas. Also, pea gravel seems a bit coarse to me (allowing uneaten food and waste to drop below and decay) and perhaps a finer substrate on the surface would be better.
Also with respect to nitrogenous waste, the food quality makes a big difference (you already have this somewhat covered). Some fish foods use lower quality fish meal in their 'recipes' requiring copious amounts of starch (wheat, oat, soy, rice flours) binders and to increase crude proteins. But much of this just passes through the fish. I discovered when I switched to Omega One and Ed's Almost Natural (both use fresh, whole fish) that my fish suddenly produced less waste ... believe it or not.
And...it goes without mentioning to ensure your not over feeding.

Now I don't really buy into the (video) need for a sump/refugium as I'm seeing success with a simpler bio-filter...
I have two Aquaclear 70 HOB filters on my 60g. The first is a dedicated bio-filter. It uses an AC20 impeller for reduced flow. It has a thin, coarse pad and is filled to the rim with a packed mixture of Seachem Matrix and De*Nitrate bio-media. I rarely touch this filter to ensure the stability of the media/colony. The other filter is strictly mechanical with a sponge and tightly packed polyester fiber. I clean this filter often. I've also been using Seachem Purigen, a synthetic scaveger resin that adsorbs dissolved organic compounds and is regenerated with a 50/50 mix of chlorine bleach and water.
I have a [pool filter] sand substrate, no rooted plants yet, but a good mass of floating Aanacharis. I've been doing a 10g weekly water change (about to drop to 5g) and maintain tank nitrates of 5ppm. (I have very high nitrates in my source well water so have to pre-filter to remove).

I also go back to the 60's and 70's when I suffered from multiple tank syndrome. However, since I'm just a kid about to turn 59, I'm glad I'm not an ole fuddy-duddy like you and Byron!!!

AD