Is my tank ready for a pair of pups?

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waymoz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 15, 2008
69
0
6
melbourne, australia
Hey guys, recently set up a fresh new 6x2x2, filled completely with tap water. I treated it for chlorine and chloramine, and have been logging the water parameters. They are a bit strange to me and don't know exactly what's going on, maybe you guys can help me. filtration is a eheim classic 2260.

5/5/10 - tank set up and filled, i squeezed some old filter sponges into the intake to try get some ammonia into the filter. also had a 8cm gold severum in there because i had no where else to put him.
pH - 7.0
ammonia - 0.1 ppm
nitrite - 0 ppm
nitrate - 2.5 ppm

5/8/10 - been feeding the severum and leaving some food to rot, to try get a cycle going
pH - 7.1
ammonia - 0.1 ppm
nitrite - 0 ppm
nitrate - 0 ppm

5/9/10 - added some used ceramic media with established bacteria from a friends tank, to my canister to attempt to seed some good bacteria.
pH - 6.8
ammonia - 0 ppm
nitrite - 0 ppm
nitrate - 0 ppm

5/10/10 - stumbled across something mentioned on MFK called seachem stability and used that according to directions. readings were the day after first dosage. then i added second dose of stability.
pH - 6.8
ammonia - 0.1 ppm
nitrite - 0 ppm
nitrate - 2.5 ppm

5/11/10 - these readings were done after third dosage of stability and added 5 assorted peacocks, at about 3-5cm.
pH - 7
ammonia - 0.25 ppm
nitrite - 0 ppm
nitrate - 2.5 ppm

tomorrow i've got two motoro pups coming in, my question is, is my tank ready to house them? and if not can anyone explain what to do now? i've still got four days left of seachem stability dosing.
 
Isn't the answer "probably not but it doesn't make any difference"? Because tomorrow the rays will be there regardless of whether or not the tank is ready.

Your ammonia is increasing, not decreasing, and that's with half a dozen fish in the tank.

The only thing you can really do now, beside adding a filter that's already fully cycled for a high bioload, is be ready to perform water changes for the next couple weeks until the tank completes the cycle.
 
no! with the amount you must be paying for them in australia you are taking a risk. i would not put rays in a tank less than two months old and even then the massive extra bio-load the rays produce i would expect a spike in ammonia.
like pete said you are probably getting them anyway. so if you are getting an ammonia reading then 30% water changes twice daily till things settle down ,rays do not tolerate ammonia.
 
i can call him up and say the tanks not ready. how will i know when the tank is fully cycled and ready to take on the rays without ammonia spiking?
0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 5+ nitrates?
 
I would keep up the feeding and keep testing the water, it is likely that it will spike soon.

If it does not spike then I would give it 3 weeks of heavy feeding then you are probably good to go.

If the Ammonia or Nitrite gets dangerously high then water change to dilute (whilst cycling)
 
The one spike you are looking for is the nitrite spike. Sometimes this will last only for a day or so. Ammonia does not always spike that high as the bacteria responsible multiply quickly. The bacteria responsible for nitrite break down take longer to multiply hence a higher spike. So if you can hold off getting them for a week or so untill the tank is ready it would be great. Good luck with the rays as I realise they are a pretty special fish to own in oz! Are they captive bred ?
 
sam buckle;4134002; said:
The one spike you are looking for is the nitrite spike. Sometimes this will last only for a day or so. Ammonia does not always spike that high as the bacteria responsible multiply quickly. The bacteria responsible for nitrite break down take longer to multiply hence a higher spike. So if you can hold off getting them for a week or so untill the tank is ready it would be great. Good luck with the rays as I realise they are a pretty special fish to own in oz! Are they captive bred ?
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as far as i know they're captive bred. i'll have to double check when i speak to him next. buying off a guy on the internet. been to see them in real life, they look amazing. i wish aussie prices were the same as you guys for motoros...
 
Gshock;4134053; said:
Why are you constantly adding more bioload to your uncycled system? Your tank probably has another month to go before you can add anything else to it. A cycled tank should have no ammonia or nitrite.
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Hey, I thought the numbers I am getting are really strange, so tried to get more fish to try get some results. I've called up and got them to not send the rays over yet, so I can wait a little longer to put them in the tank.

Did another water test today and this is what I got.
5/12/10
Ammonia - 0-0.25 ppm
nitrite - 0 ppm
nitrate - 2.5 ppm (in between first and second colour on API test kit)
pH - 6.8-7

Dosed seachem stability after this water test.

Can anyone tell me whats going on with my tank? Is there anything I can do to speed up the cycle? I'm continuing use with Seachem Stability.
Should I take out the assorted peacocks? I added them with the intention to get more ammonia to get a cycle going.
 
Hey:

I am no fish expert by any means, but A really good friend of mine owns a private pet store and is quite experienced in water chemistry. He always told me when i am starting a new tank, if you can use about 1/4 of already cycled water from another tank if possible to start your new one off. This way you do a water change on the tank you took from and started your cycle and almost finished it by adding already cycled water to your ray tank.

I did this over a month ago, ran the tank 24/7 and just added my first ray about 6 days ago, everything is working well and the tank tests are good so far.

Just adding my 5 cents worth for ya.

Take care

Novaman
 
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