Deb Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 Please could someone help me in my new quest of aquariums!? I have a new AR980 which I filled 12 days ago (no fish yet). I have a big piece of bog wood bought from a pet shop for tanks and 10 small live plants and one medium size plant. I did the test kit thing when it was filled and had ph of 7.2, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate all 0. The tank is now decidely brownish green and so I did another test today ph6.6, ammonia and nitrate 0, nitrite 0.25. Changed about 35 litres of water and added cycle and aqua plus. I think I put tto much cycle in (100ml) should it have been 50ml for a new tank? Put these two things in initially too. Am I doing things wrong? Getting a heater this week before the fish - just a couple of tester fish to start. Have been reading your site and so much info but a bit overwhleming for a beginner!! The "cycling" hasn't started yet I understand until the fish go in. Please any comments welcome. PS The tank gets about 1-1/2 hours of direct sunlight a day which I am now trying to screen with a curtain. Has three lights with it, one purple and two white tubes. Tank holds 215litres which is nearly full - probably got 90% filled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 Hi Deb, welcome to the forums! We have an AR980 as well, they're great tanks though we find the hood filter a bit loud. I'll pop up a link for you to see pics of it later. You're going through the initial cycle and things are just starting to get settled. You really can't overdose a tank with Cycle, so don't worry too much about that. More is better in this case. Basically you're trying to establish bacteria in those ceramic noodles and filter pads in the filter (water and gravel as well, but I'm just sticking with basics). The cycle will give you a head start with that, but you need to add a fish or two or start feeding the empty tank (with fish food) to give the bacteria something to do, or they die off. Now, you noticed the colouration of the water and the drop in the pH. That's a good observation. The driftwood in your tank is giving off the brown colour (called tanin) and lowering the pH as well. This is a good thing as many fish feel "happier" in tanin water - just avoid putting cichlids in your tank with the low pH as they're happier in a rock tank with high pH. Sunlight - well, you're going to want to avoid direct sunlight. If your tank starts growing brown algae you'll need some direct sun to help the "good" green algae start growing and kill off that nasty brown stuff, but aside from that direct sun causes algae growth and can be hard to clean with the gently curving glass of the AR980. Block as well as you can. Heater - well, one of the most important things to do with a new tank is to get the heater working properly. Get a 200W heater (a 300W will do too) and pop it in asap. Get a thermometer as well and start getting your water warmed up. You need to get the temperature at a proper level and stable before adding any fish. Aim for 25 degrees for now, you can go warmer if your fish need it later on. Lastly - READ. Go to your library and check out everything you can on fish and aquariums. Find out where your (chosen) fish come from and what water temps and pH they prefer. Try and find fish that are compatible and don't always trust the shop clerks at the fish shop - they hardly know what they're doing half the time. Oh yeah, you can see our AR980 here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted September 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 Wow you are really know your stuff!! I have a Jager 150W heater on the way as it was recommended to be a good one. Do you think this will suffice. I wiil get some fish food and start feeding!! I've got no idea what fish to get - quite like the idea of a community tank though. My husband (whos an engineer) found the downfall of water too noisey so modified the chamber by putting a straw in it and it works brilliantly to quieten the water falling sound!! (He's always "fixing" things!). Your tank looks fantastic and I hope mine could be somewhat like that oneday!! It's handy to know someone with the same dimensions so I can run things past i.e. how much water changing do you do etc. I forgot to mention I have three little red snails in my tank. Thanks BlueandKim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted September 5, 2005 Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 Hi again Deb Actually heading out the door, but I'll try and answer those questions for you. Jager is a VERY good brand - made by Eheim. The brand is excellent but the wattage is low. You'l find that the 150W heater will be on quite often as it doesn't meet the "1W per litre" rule. Water changes - we have Discus so we change quite a lot of water. I recommend 40 litres once a week for that tank with an average community tank. Snails actually help with cycling a little. They eat and poo so they give the filter something to do. You could also put in a peice of fish or meat to start decaying - and putting off ammonia for the bacteria to start cycling. Have to run, take care and talk to you soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted September 5, 2005 Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 Hold on though, the nitrite levels went from 0 to 0.25...it almost seems as if the tank has started to cycle . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted September 5, 2005 Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 Yeah, they "Cycle" would do that but the bacteria will die off if nothing more to do... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted September 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 This is probably a really silly question but.... if you are trying to copy nature with the lights on 10-12hrs a day, why should you also be blocking the real thing i.e. sun? It just seems a little ironic that on one hand you want the light but do everything to stop "big yellow"! Also with the two white lights ...should they be both on at once or alternately? Thanks Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted September 5, 2005 Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 Have you looked at the brightness of your tank lights compared to the sun? I'm betting the sun is easily 10X as strong as your tank lights. 10 times the light without very good water conditions and lots of plants=algae. That's all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted September 5, 2005 Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 Hi Deb, you will find that Jager heaters will heater a bigger water capacity than equivalent heaters because they have more surface area, the box should tell you what size it will do up to, off the top of the head a Jager 150 watt should heat 300ltrs, although personally i always buy 300 watt because they aren't much dearer. On the note of the filter noise i have found the noise is from the water falling on to the filter pads, your LFS (local fish shop) should have filter wool in bulk (usually around $5) which is a lot thicker and cuts down on the noise considerably, a double layer may work even better but i haven't tried it. I have an AR850 which has an identical filter (slightly shorter) and with the extra filter wool it's basically silent. Good luck with the tank and fish and definetly research everything before trying or buying (here and on the net) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted September 5, 2005 Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 Hi Deb, Welcome...you can go to the "Welcome" and introduce yourself. This is a great site...people always eager to help. They have more knowledge here than any place in my area. I bought my first tank (only a 10 gallon) in March/05...and I LOVE this hobby. Oh...do you realize...MTS...has no cure Take care...enjoy this site...enjoy you new hobby! Dolorosa (Caper) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted September 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 Thanks for the warm welcome Dolorosa! I am finding enormous support already! Please tell me what MTS stands for? Funny that you haven't got this kind of thing in your country eh! I am quite keen on this fish thing and can't wait to get some actually swimming in my tank! Cheers Deborah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 5, 2005 Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 Multiple Tank Syndrome - the urge to go and buy another fish tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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