So, my corkscrew vals, hair grass and hygro difformis have been in the tank for about a week, maybe 2... everything looks fine (corkscrew vals are turning a bit clear in some spots...)

The Mayaca Fluvialitis, giant hygro, dwarf hygro, moss balls, hornwort, swords and java fern have been in for about 6 days....

All fish were moved in 6 days ago as well, plus the added 4 honey gourami.

All Ammonia has disappeared from the tank over that time, and there have been no NitrItes. I have noticed that the NitrAtes will rise to 40-80ppm, then I will re-charge the Nitrazorb and they will be at 30ppm for a day. The next day they will rise to 40-80ppm again, and so I re-charge again - basically on an every-other-day basis. I have also dosed the tank with AmQuel last night to try to get rid of some of the NitrAtes.

The Nitrazorb was just a week old when I put it in the fridge (because I didn't need it for the cycle). I called the store and they said that's fine, just re-charge it and it will be good to go. So, is it just a case of letting all the moved plants re-root so they can start eating the NitrAtes again? They really shouldn't be going that high after a day, since the fish are getting 1 very tiny meal in the mornings (until the tank is a bit more established). Every other day I put 1/2 an algae wafer in at night for the Otos, and the frogs get very small meals of blood worms every other day. Really.... very small amounts of food going into the tank at this point!

*I do not have the option of another water source and I can not buy water!

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

gee let's see.

you got plants thriving
you got fish thriving

at least not dying.

You got

0 ammonia

0 nitrItes

40ppm (or so) nitrAtes.


Yep you have to just set there and wait.

no danger. everything fine. So just set there and watch the fish and plants.

nothing to do but wait.

and FWIW you have the classic "silient" cycle. nitrAtes will drop down in a few weeks or so.

Meanwhile no ammonia, no nitrItes.

so yep just wait.

Oh yea betcha pH is up also.

my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Remind me why you're using nitrazorb and not doing PWC's?

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

So you finished your fishless cycle at last !!!

Shampagne shampagne for everyone !!! :D

You know i am not an expert,but i had same problem (my tap water is 40-80ppm),and was told by other members of this forum just to sit back and wait for them to drop,so i did,didnt feed fish for 5 days and nitrates went from 40-80 to 10-20
I do use "nitrate minus" , not sure if it helped . And started using nitrazorb aswell,but it does get my water cloudy when i move it ( i havent got space in a filter,so it just sits behind it)

Sondre

perhaps we should call Holly the gal in waiting.


Other poster.

I think she is using nitrasorb for the nitrates and no pwc to help the fishless cycle.

now she has plants. So she is attempting (i think) the planted system which IME does best with no pwcs. and makes nitrasorb irrelevant.

my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Holly

please pretty please stop dosing with amquell.

my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Gizmo: Nitrazorb is because we have Nitrates at 80ppm right from our water source, so, PWC don't help anything. I don't have another water source option and can't buy water..... husband would have a fit if I started buying water, hahahah.

Beaslbob: Why stop with the AmQuel? (Is it bad?) Susankat has used it before and said she had good results.... just curious.... Oh, and the tank is fully cycled, this is just the readings I'm getting after the fishless cycle is finished and the plants and fish are in.

Sondre: So, feeding less made less NitrAtes, which completely makes sense.... but what about when you start to feed normally... won't the NitrAtes go back up?

So, I suppose I will sit back and wait for the plants to re-root them selves and start eating the NitrAtes again. *sigh, so much waiting in this hobby, lol.

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

Because overdosing can crash the tank.

the tanks and especially the plants should be able to handle the ammonia.

If you are doing water changes letting the water age for awhile will take care of the chlorine. A little while longe the chloramines.

Not doing water changes and just topping off requires no water treatment.

Sure amquell has uses. But for the above reasons I don't use any chemicals.

but your results may vary.

with my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I did test only once after they went down and i started fully feeding them and results were the same nitrates 10-20 . i havent tested water for a while now,but i do 25-30 % water changes every 5 days .

i know some people only do WC every 2 weeks,some even once a month , but i am scared that water will get smelly :D cos when i open the lid to feed our fish,there this little smell,i guess cant expect to have no smell at all,but dont want it to smell as bad as the other tank given to me was . Smell was really bad !!! Had to put it in the garden .

amquell and prime smells.

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

i dont use any of these :D

sorry got my threads mixed up.

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Amquel + should only be used during water changes. You can half dose an extra day once a week. Also chloramines don't dissapate by just letting it age. We have had water tested for it after a week of setting and it will still be there.

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SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

Not too much to add,just this cracked me up.Other poster hahah

Yes seems Holly is the gal in waiting.I would just leave it be myself.Watch the fish for signs of destress,but a little nitrates will be ok.The plants will handle them in the long run.If it worries you that much,add more plants,lol.

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"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"