JU5T

To answer a few questions. It's planted. It's been one month. Getting ready for 2 pea puffs. The tank has a steady diet of nitrites. It has lots of nitrates at this point due to starter water having some, root tabs/liquid fertz etc. I haven't done a water change yet. I anticipate several 40% water changes to get the nitrates down and ready for fish once it's cycled. Part of me wondered if it was already cycled and I was just catching the nitrites doing their thing. I appreciate all the feedback. I'll just keep waiting. 😃 Classic tank cycling stuff.

I have a 10 gallon that I'm trying to cycle. I test every 24 hours. I add 20 drops of an ammonia additive to keep it at about 2ppm. The ammonia is processed completely by the next test. My nitrites have been a steady .5ppm for 5 days. Am I just not giving the tank enough time to process the nitrites to nitrates before adding more ammonia? Should I stop adding ammonia to test or will that stall the cycle? There was about 3 days where I let the ammonia go to 0 without adding drops and the nitrites didn't budget from .5ppm too. I added some bacteria and it fired up again the next day. It's been a month exactly. Any help is appreciated.

I know. I give me a 50/50 chance. 2 pea puffs I got at my LFS. They were in their display tank. They are a fully grown pair of male/female buddies. Where one goes the other follows. I'm not sure how much life they have left in them, I didn't ask, but they are really well tempered and currently living in my son's planted tank. He's trying to teach me the ropes.

My first planted tank learning experience. Really boring. Probably just pictures of plants dying. I'll update this first post and first pic to show how it's looking currently. Currently: 10g, Crypt Wendtii, Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus, Scarlet Temple Fish: None Plans: Remove Scarlet Temple if it doesn't survive. Replace with Java Ferns attached to rocks in the background. Add Pothos/Spiderwort to the filter and a side hanger. Add 2 pea puffers I already have. Journal first step: Until now I've only ever kept Goldfish (several years ago) which was quite the workout. I love them, but I was up for a new challenge. Something I could grow live plants in and fish that were easier to care for. I have 2 pea puffers (I guess I'm attracted to little poop machines) that are currently in my son's tank. After this one is more established and is done cycling I will add them.

That was fast! Thanks so much. Is it just me or is that an odd way to phrase it? Oh well, probably just me. Thanks again.

I wanted to grab some java ferns but the store says "Maximum quantity in stock reached." It will only let me add one to the cart, but that message makes it sound like they have a lot in stock. What am I missing? Or is my cart not working? Thanks if you know

Thanks! I've pretty much got the build sorted now. Now it's time to make the stand, make the sump, drill and plumb etc. I'll probably do it all over the course of several months. I'm a slow worker. I really appreciate the advice and shot in the arm I needed to make some decisions.

Thanks peeps! Just knowing the proper term to google can be so helpful. Low-tech it is. And that amazonian frogbit is adorable. Nobody commented that a sump was a terrible idea so I think I'm settled on that. I was planning on making my own 10g with a backup overflow. I plan to drill the tank myself. If I mess it up I have a second identical tank that I can have someone else have a go. I'll poke around youtube for the suggested overflow. At first glance it looks nice but there's barely any surface area to the weir which is worrisome to this plant noob. I was planning something DIY but the presentation of the glass is very appealing, especially in a 25g where it will be hard to distract from. 🤔 I should also mention that my tap water is low pH and very soft. How might that affect any of this? My rimless tanks have been sitting empty for years now in a very cold garage in the winter. One for 5 years, the other for 3. Should I be worried about the seals?

Hi. I’m looking for help designing my system. I haven’t kept fish in 3 years and I’m trying to learn from my past mistakes. I want it to be very easy to maintain. I want it to be robust and very peaceful. I have a 25g rimless landen tank. I’m planning to plant it and add a school of rummy nose tetra or celestial pearl danios. I’m considering a 10g sump. I like the idea of decluttering the display tank. I like the amount of filtration, oxygenation, and opportunity to add an overflow set up. I had to add aeration to my last tank and the bubbles/pump were loud and messy. A major concern is to not need aeration. If I did have to add it I could add it to sump and close it up so I couldn’t hear it. I know a sump is likely overkill but that reason alone is not a very weighty con for me. I learned a lot from the video about how to vacuum your tank on the channel. I was doing just about everything wrong. I swore I’d plan on a system that didn’t involve carrying full buckets of water (clean or dirty) around the house. I plan on using the methods demonstrated in the video with the Python Water Changer so no buckets. I’d be refilling with tap water and then treating it in the tank. Plants will be new for me. The tank will be established without fish. I haven’t made it to researching CO2 but I think there’s a chance it won’t be needed on a 25g. Thoughts on that would be very helpful. I feel like I know the direction I want to go but I’m at a point that I could use some help cementing some ideas to build on. Searching online the options are just endless! Thanks for reading!