My Planted Tank Journey

[DannyC]

So, first things first, it was suggested to me to make a journal to track the progress of my tank in this thread : 

I thought it was a great idea so here we are and welcome to my journey!

Below is a picture of my tank as of Wednesday 1/13/2022.

Mechanical stuff:

• 30 gallon long rimless aquarium
• Fluval 206 filter
• Current Satellite Plus Pro 24"-36"
• 100w Eheim Heater
• Aquarium Co-op USB Nano Air Pump and an air stone https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/air-accessories/products/usb-nano-air-pump

 

Plants:

• Anubias Nana
• Dwarf Sag
• Val
• Crypt Wendtii red
• Amazon Sword
• Christmas Moss

Livestock Plans:

• ~20 Rummynose Tetras
• ~6 Oto's once algae builds up and they have some job security
• Pair of Apistogramma Agassizii Fire red

I was going to include the sand and stuff in with the plants list, but I wanted to explain what I did more thoroughly than just saying what I put in it. On the left is sand, some inert Caribsea stuff, with a barrier of dragon stone between it and the right side. Right side is a small single layer of crushed lava rock with Fluval Stratum on top and then capped back off with more crushed lava rock. My thought process for this was that maybe the small layer of crushed lava rock at the bottom might help with circulation and help prevent anaerobic bacteria from building up. I know that small stuff sifts down through bigger stuff so I fully expect the Stratum to do this, but still, here's to hoping it helps! Oh, also, I have an Aquarium Co-op root tab ( https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/easy-root-tabs?_pos=1&_sid=378134a34&_ss=r ) under each Val, crypt and Sword node (3 under the sword). This may be overkill with the Fluval Stratum, but I still consider myself new and learning so, meh. Can't learn if you don't make mistakes.

I'm somewhere like a month into my cycle (a bit over I am pretty sure). Doing fishless cycles, dosing ammonia to 3ppm. I normally use these as my guides when I do my cycle in case I need any reminders/help. https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/the-almost-complete-guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html https://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles_51/fishless-cycling-article.htm Second link is more for the ammonia dosing calculator. I think I partly crashed my cycle about 10 days ago when I put my hardscape stuff in the tank, and then again on Thursday when I added my plants in. I say partly because I was processing 3ppm ammonia to nitrates in about 2 days, but now its taking like half a week to do it. I didn't lose my nitrite to nitrate bacteria though which seems weird, but even now whenever I test my water parameters, which is every evening, there's never any nitrites, but my ammonia is slowly going down and my nitrates are still going up so I am assuming they are still there, but I'm not 100% sure. Seems like it though.

Lastly, to get everything up to date, my tap water comes out at what looks like 7.0 pH (I swear some of the colors on the API kit stuff are so dang close its hard to tell between something like 6.8 and 7.0 pH), 0 ammonia, nitrites and 0 nitrates. The pH my quarantine tank, which I have been cycling along side my main tank, is showing 6.6, and my main tank is showing 6.4. Not totally sure why the pH is dropping, so I will have to figure that out. If anyone can help with that or has ideas let me know! I know Fluval Stratum lowers pH so I imagine that's why the pH in my main tank dropped to 6.4, but not totally sure about the quarantine tank as it just has some crushed lava rock and some pvc for hiding.

So that is everything up to date as of 2:23 AM 1/16/2022

I appreciate anyone who reads this (I know its long) and decides to watch/help me on my journey!

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Great start! pH may be wonky for a while as you are still cycling so I wouldn't worry about it much. The difference between the two tanks could be as simple as size difference and of course what's in the tanks. I have 5 tanks of varying sizes and they vary in pH though they are fully cycled. pH isn't a number I chase anymore- it's only worth it if it's very specific to a species you're keeping. I might have missed it, how big is the QT tank?

p.s. everything you do to the tanks will mess with your parameters for a while. adding too many fish at once can easily crash a new tank's cycle so it can be a fine balance. Just something to keep an eye on!

[DannyC]

On 1/16/2022 at 11:23 AM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Great start! pH may be wonky for a while as you are still cycling so I wouldn't worry about it much. The difference between the two tanks could be as simple as size difference and of course what's in the tanks. I have 5 tanks of varying sizes and they vary in pH though they are fully cycled. pH isn't a number I chase anymore- it's only worth it if it's very specific to a species you're keeping. I might have missed it, how big is the QT tank?

p.s. everything you do to the tanks will mess with your parameters for a while. adding too many fish at once can easily crash a new tank's cycle so it can be a fine balance. Just something to keep an eye on!

Quarantine tank is 10 gallons. Not really chasing pH, but more so just wanting to know/track my parameters and what's affecting them. Like, when I eventually move fish from quarantine tank to main tank, if the pH is different, do I need to acclimate the fish to the main tank parameters first? Also, if my tap water comes out at around 7.0 pH, but my tanks are 6.6 and 6.4, would water changes be a dangerous shock to the fish? If so, what should I do to alleviate? This is more my train of thought for keeping track of things. I also know ammonia is very basic and raises pH. Normally after I dose my aquariums up to 3ppm the pH is like 8.2/8.4 ish, and it seems to drop accordingly as the ammonia is processed as well.

Also, I've been keeping fish off and on the last few years so I have some experience, but it's definitely been a learning curve, and I definitely still consider myself a beginner with lots to learn. When I began the hobby I found myself wanting to dive right into high-tech setups, dosing CO2, and got in over my head fairly quickly with algae issues. Decided to relearn properly and start with low-tech stuff to build a solid foundation on. 

I appreciate the reply and advice! Feel free to chime in whenever and enjoy the ride with me!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I think that's part of the fun, is asking yourself these questions and watching things even out- which I think will happen for you eventually. It would have to be quite a pH difference for you to shock your fish but if there's ever a worrry all you have to do is put the new fish in a smaller container and add some of the new tank water every 15 minutes or so until new tank water is more than half of what was in there to begin with- but I think once your tanks settle they won't be that far apart. Aquariums are like our tiny slice of life experiments!