HeliAngel

No, haven't put any fish in yet.

I am cycling a tank and have put in some of the used filter wool from my little tank. I also have some water that plant material has dissolved/rotted down in, will this have the kind of bacteria I need to cycle the tank? Or will the filter wool be enough? How soon after starting cycling should I be testing? Am I correct in saying that I'm looking for low ammonia and low nitrites? Chemistry not my strongest suit!!

I have started up a new tank and the water is still quite cloudy after a few days of filtration. I think it is suspended clay-like silt from where I haven't washed the sand substrate properly. In the filter I have used the old filter wool from my little tank as well as black wool pads and ceramic noodles that came the tank (it's an Aqua One AR980). Do I need extra filtration to clear the water or should I just keep doing partial water changes until the suspension clear? I'm pretty sure it's not a bacterial bloom as it's been cloudy since I first filled it and has cleared about 75% but the last 25% just won't budge!!

Wow!! That tank looks way darker than my little one at it's worst!!! Mine looks like someone maybe peed in it once, not for a whole week like the photo!! It does rather look rather like the still, wooded creeks with all the rotting leaf mulch at the bottom. Nicely done! The big tank is definately a milky greyish cloudy colour. Do I just leave it be or do a partial water change? I've just googled Licorice gourami's - they're gorgeous!! I love the blue fins and striped bodies!! Are they available in NZ? Where from? I didn't realise that Golden would get so big, she's only 4cm-ish now so she'll being going in the big tank!!

F15hguy, thank you so much for your advice! The filter seems to have quieted down somewhat thankfully! New problem is that the water has gone cloudy, is this just an algal bloom or have I seriously screwed up somewhere? :tears: I will use 1/2 of the filter media from my little tank to set up the new filter/cycle process. My golden gourami isn't a dwarf variety and looks just like a blue gourami only yellow and without the spots on the sides. Whenever I changed the water in the the driftwood container, I filled it with boiling water and just let it cool so I'm guessing most of the tannins would have leached out by now? The tannins are what is making the little tank look like someone has peed in it, yes? (I have a piece of driftwood in it with java moss growing on it) I'm beginning to think that I should have just given the pleco and gourami to my brother and gone with guppies instead of a new big tank? :digH:

I am in the process of setting up an Aqua One AR980 to give my 18cm pleco (that I was kindly given months ago as a 3cm bristlenose!!) a more spacious home than his current 20L abode. I have filled with cold tap water (my 300W heater hasn't arrived yet), have the filter going and have added some washed, coarse black sand substrate. The filter seems quite noisy and I wonder about using an internal cannister type instead. Would 700-1000L/hr output be enough? Can you even overfilter a tank? Will the tank "cycle" effectively if the water is cold or will I have to wait until I have the heater? I'm intending to use some mature filter media from my 20L tank to get things started rather than just transfer the fish into the new tank as I only have 5 black neons, a golden gourami and the pleco and A) I don't want to lose them and B) I don't want to subject them to high ammonia levels and burnt gills. Does this sound acceptable or is there a better way to cycle a new tank? I have several pieces of driftwood that I have been soaking and regularly changing the water to remove tannins and get them waterlogged. They don't float now but are still slowly releasing tannins - water mildly discoloured after one week. Can I put these in the tank now or do I have to keep soaking until the water doesn't change colour at all? Any and all advice gratefully received, 'cos at the moment I'm a seriously floundering fish mum!! :nilly: