New tank-guidance

[briggspower]

So I setup a new 90 with a wet dry sump. I used bottled bacteria start smart, along with a little established gravel and piece of lava rock from my lfs tanks. Also added a piece of driftwood with a plant out of their tank and some floating plants. Tank has been up and running for 4 days at most. My PH is high little under 8.0, ammonia is almost gone, zero nitrites, but I have a decent amount of nitrates. I thought I would see ammonia spike, followed by nitrites, and after that nitrates.

My wet/dry has bioballs packed to the top, then it has pond matrix along with one of them Xport bio plates in the bottom. I also have the gravel and lava rock I got from my LFS in the bottom chamber of my W/D.

My question is could my tank have really cycled that fast? I tested it a whole lot and keep getting the same readings. I added 3 feeders last night and fed them alot to see if I could get the ammonia to spike but it went down and nitrates went up. I'm going to start logging my numbers so I can keep a better record of this process.

I'm afraid I screwed something up and I'll have issues down the road. Has anyone ever had nitrates without seeing any nitrites?

 

[Hendre]

Bottled bacteria would have that effect. Have never seen nitrites while cycling with such products, usually has enough bacteria to get a half-decent cycle going.

 

[esoxlucius]

Don't worry about it. It looks like the bottled bacteria and the stuff you added from established set ups has given you the perfect kick start. Now is the time to do a water change and add your stock, slowly, otherwise the ammonia spike you are afraid of may very well come to fruition if you pile a load of fish in at once.

 

[BIG-G]

I agree. Just progress slowly, you should be okay.
Going by your testing, assuming your test kit is accurate sounds like you have a cycle established.

 

[jjohnwm]

Much nicer to have things going well and be worrying that's a bad thing....than to have a disaster brewing in your tank but believing that all is well.

If the donor tank that provided the gravel and rock was heavily stocked (as LFS tanks tend to be) then even a relatively small amount of gravel would have a significant population of bacteria in place. Add that to the bottled stuff you used, and it seems quite reasonable that your tank would be cycled enough to deal with a couple small fish. Add new ones gradually and you will probably be fine.

Congrats...you done good!

 

[DN328]

So I setup a new 90 with a wet dry sump. I used bottled bacteria start smart, along with a little established gravel and piece of lava rock from my lfs tanks. Also added a piece of driftwood with a plant out of their tank and some floating plants. Tank has been up and running for 4 days at most. My PH is high little under 8.0, ammonia is almost gone, zero nitrites, but I have a decent amount of nitrates. I thought I would see ammonia spike, followed by nitrites, and after that nitrates.

My wet/dry has bioballs packed to the top, then it has pond matrix along with one of them Xport bio plates in the bottom. I also have the gravel and lava rock I got from my LFS in the bottom chamber of my W/D.

My question is could my tank have really cycled that fast? I tested it a whole lot and keep getting the same readings. I added 3 feeders last night and fed them alot to see if I could get the ammonia to spike but it went down and nitrates went up. I'm going to start logging my numbers so I can keep a better record of this process.

I'm afraid I screwed something up and I'll have issues down the road. Has anyone ever had nitrates without seeing any nitrites?

Yes, I have cycled a tank and detected a small trace of ammonia and when completed 5ppm of nitrate. I used the API test kit. I probably never tested at the point where I saw nitrite.

I cannot back this up and I suspect the items from the LFS is really what helped you establish a cycled tank so quickly. This is from someone who also have used Seachem Stabilizer. BB in a bottle is helpful, but not 4 day cycle good.

If you only have nitrate readings at this point enjoy droping in some tank tenants. ;-)

 

[briggspower]

Yes, I have cycled a tank and detected a small trace of ammonia and when completed 5ppm of nitrate. I used the API test kit. I probably never tested at the point where I saw nitrite.

I cannot back this up and I suspect the items from the LFS is really what helped you establish a cycled tank so quickly. This is from someone who also have used Seachem Stabilizer. BB in a bottle is helpful, but not 4 day cycle good.

If you only have nitrate readings at this point enjoy droping in some tank tenants. ;-)

 

[briggspower]

Thanks Hendre, esoxlucius, BIG-G, jjohnwm, DN328..I appreciate the responses and encouragement. I'm going to keep testing and doing water changes to see if something pops up before I put any fish in. I did put in 3 comet feeders and I've been feeding them a few times a day just to see if my system will handle it. So far so good. When I get home ill be checking the parameters again.

I dunno if its possible to have to much media, whether mechanical or bio. But I have my W/D filled to the top with bioballs, and I have almost a full bucket of pond matrix in mesh bags along with an xport bio plate in the bottom chamber. Right outside the bottom chamber is where I put the seeded lava rock and gravel from LFS, then my pump is a good 10 inches from all that. Water level is right where it should be. Trickle is perfect. My pump is a little oversized but I can control it by remote so its running at about 40% and it has some balls to it still.

I did screw up and buy a marine light but I turned all the blue light off and dimmed the red/green each to 20%, have the white led around 90%. But I got some floating plants to help dim it more for when I stock it. My powerheads are also a little too powerful, however I can control them by remote as well, and it still might be too much even at 30%. I'm in the process of purchasing supplies for a plywood tank so I'll probably just throw the powerheads in the monster ply tank and downgrade for the 90. But for right now I'm going to run 1 or no powerhead in the 90 depending what stock I finally decide on.

I have a question for you guys. When doing water changes I am using Prime. But I'm supposed to dose for the total volume in the tank, and not just for the amount of water im changing right? I remember reading thats how to dose it for WC but figured I'd get clarification on that.

I'm super stoked to be back in the hobby. Even when I was away from it I always would check in/browse mfk every month. You guys are amazing at what you do and have taught me everything I know just by reading old posts. Thanks again

 

[esoxlucius]

Thanks Hendre, esoxlucius, BIG-G, jjohnwm, DN328..I appreciate the responses and encouragement. I'm going to keep testing and doing water changes to see if something pops up before I put any fish in. I did put in 3 comet feeders and I've been feeding them a few times a day just to see if my system will handle it. So far so good. When I get home ill be checking the parameters again.

I dunno if its possible to have to much media, whether mechanical or bio. But I have my W/D filled to the top with bioballs, and I have almost a full bucket of pond matrix in mesh bags along with an xport bio plate in the bottom chamber. Right outside the bottom chamber is where I put the seeded lava rock and gravel from LFS, then my pump is a good 10 inches from all that. Water level is right where it should be. Trickle is perfect. My pump is a little oversized but I can control it by remote so its running at about 40% and it has some balls to it still.

I did screw up and buy a marine light but I turned all the blue light off and dimmed the red/green each to 20%, have the white led around 90%. But I got some floating plants to help dim it more for when I stock it. My powerheads are also a little too powerful, however I can control them by remote as well, and it still might be too much even at 30%. I'm in the process of purchasing supplies for a plywood tank so I'll probably just throw the powerheads in the monster ply tank and downgrade for the 90. But for right now I'm going to run 1 or no powerhead in the 90 depending what stock I finally decide on.

I have a question for you guys. When doing water changes I am using Prime. But I'm supposed to dose for the total volume in the tank, and not just for the amount of water im changing right? I remember reading thats how to dose it for WC but figured I'd get clarification on that.

I'm super stoked to be back in the hobby. Even when I was away from it I always would check in/browse mfk every month. You guys are amazing at what you do and have taught me everything I know just by reading old posts. Thanks again

Yes, when dosing your prime dose for full tank volume like you mention.

In regards to bio media the amount you have is down to personal preference really. But the amount of BB colonating said bio media is solely dependant on how much bio load your stock is putting out. As an example, if you have 10kgs of bio media supporting a single small fish the BB will be sparsely populated though out the media. If you have a tank full of fish the same 10kg of bio media would be densely populated. If you chop and change your stock levels the amount of BB increases or decreases to meet the new bio load demand. That's roughly how it works. But don't add too many fish too quickly. The bio load will increase faster than the BB can increase to manage it, and that is when you'll get a mini cycle.

 

[briggspower]

Yes, when dosing your prime dose for full tank volume like you mention.

In regards to bio media the amount you have is down to personal preference really. But the amount of BB colonating said bio media is solely dependant on how much bio load your stock is putting out. As an example, if you have 10kgs of bio media supporting a single small fish the BB will be sparsely populated though out the media. If you have a tank full of fish the same 10kg of bio media would be densely populated. If you chop and change your stock levels the amount of BB increases or decreases to meet the new bio load demand. That's roughly how it works. But don't add too many fish too quickly. The bio load will increase faster than the BB can increase to manage it, and that is when you'll get a mini cycle.

Really nice breakdown dude thanks for explaining everything. Yeah I don't plan on stocking too many fish as its only 90gal. I wanted to get alot of media in there so when I start new tanks ill have some established media to jumpstart future tanks. And I also wanted to have much more rather then not enough. Thanks bro