Chris Bode

Thanks for the reply, you have confirmed many of my thoughts that I just wasn't certain about as a beginner aquarist. I have heard that even co2 can kill vallisneria if used too much so I should keep the dosage low. Is that correct? If needed I can move the Vallisneria to a different tank so I can use co2 I suppose. I heard that some of my other plants like Monte Carlo benefit from a little co2 anyway.

Have a look at the included image. I am thinking this is black beard algae or stag horn algae, but want to ask to be sure. Right now it is only growing on a small java fern plant in my 40 gallon tank, but I dont want it to take over. This is a newer planted tank that has a lot of smaller plants in it. I have some Amazon sword, java fern, java moss, hornwort, water sprite, monte carlo, scarlet temple, and a tall plant that I think is vallisneria. I dose a couple times a week with easy green all in one, and I use root tabs as well. Right now i have a fluval plant 3.0 light that I run at about 80% capacity for about 10 hours, and it is between 20-50% for an additional 3-4 hours. I realize this is longer than many say to run plant lights, but I love the look of my tank in my living room and I like the lights on while I am out there. So you guys tell me, do I need to reduce the amount of time or the brightness level of my light, do I need a co2 injector, or should I just try dosing with some liquid carbon like seachem flourish excel?

Thank you. Apparently I was under a false misconception that I should not add fish to a tank that was not cycled as they may die, but it sounds like doing so gradually is a good way to get it to cycle efficiently.

I have been thinking about taking some bio rings out of my canister filter on my other tank and swapping them with the new matrix media I have in the new filter. Ill do that now. When you suggest adding fish, how can I expect them to do if the tank is not cycled yet? I have been leery about adding fish to an uncycled tank as I am inexperienced. I don't want it to be a death sentence for the fish.

Hi all I am relatively new to the aquarium hobby. Currently I have a 75 gallon tank with an aquatic turtle in it that I have managed to do great with, but turtles are heartier than fish and I didn't need to worry about cycling the water too much in the beginning My question today deals with a new tank that I just started 9 days ago. It is a 40g breeder and there is no fish in it yet as it is not cycled. My setup is as follows: -Crushed coral substrate -2x sponge filter with fluval air pump (both had been used in previous tanks, but were not taken directly from one tank to another so IDK if they had any live bacteria when I started using them). -fluval nano wave maker -seachem tidal 55 filter with seachem matrix and fluval peat (to lower the PH because of the crushed coral substrate) -6x aquarium co-op easy planters with some various java fern and amazon sword. -A small piece of driftwood for lowering PH -Fluval Plant light 3.0, 36 inch Products I have used -Seachem flourish tabs under each plant -seachem flourish (realized later this may not be the best for the plants I am using) -fluval plant care iron+ -aquavitro seed bacteria -seachem prime for dichlorination I have been adding pinches of fish food for around 4 or 5 days trying to get some ammonia in the water. I have also taken a big lava rock and a few small live plants and easy planters from my other tank in an effort to speed up the cycling process. My water readings currently are as follows: (taken using API master test kit) Water temp: around 77 PH: Around 7.6 ammonia: Around .25 or .5 PPM Nitrites and Nitrates: basically none yet. I understand the basics of wanting to see a spike in ammonia and then some nitrites and nitrates, but none of my readings have moved in the past 3 or 4 days. I am just wondering if I am doing something wrong or if I just need to be more patient. My eventual goal for this tank is to have various types of guppies in it and I am getting a little impatient waiting for the tank to cycle. A basic picture of the tank is attached.