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A little advice for the new guy please

spill50

Member
Joined
19 Jan 2010
Messages
211
Location
Beverley, UK
OK before I start, I'm new to everything aquaristic and have done a lot of reading the past few months but If anyone can take a look at my test results and give me any advice it would be much appreciated.

I have a 130L Medium to heavy planted tank and I was planning on introducing a few Zebra Danios tomorrow but now I'm not to sure.

OK here are my test results for the past couple of weeks:

03/02/10 -- pH - 7.5, NH3 - 0, NO2 - 0.1, NO3 - 5
25% Water Change
06/02/10 -- pH - 7.5, NH3 - 0.6, NO2 - 0.8, NO3 - 20
08/02/10 -- pH - 7, NH3 - 0, NO2 - 0.8, NO3 - 50
10/02/10 -- pH - 7, NH3 - 0, NO2 - 1.6, NO3 - 20
11/02/10 -- pH - 7, NH3 - 0, NO2 - 1.6, NO3 - 20
12/02/10 -- pH - 7, NH3 - 0, NO2 - 1.6, NO3 - 20
25% Water Change
13/02/10 -- pH - 7, NH3 - 0, NO2 - 1.6, NO3 - 20

I've been supplementing the filter with Bactozyme and dosing Nutrafin Cycle as instructed on the bottle.

I understand that the traditional cycling (dosing amonia) isn't needed for planted tanks and you just need the slow introduction of fish.

So... I'm a bit worried about introducing the first fish while NO2 is still at 1.6. Should I wait another week ( I can only get to the LFS at weekends to buy fish) and carry on with the Nutrafin Cycle dosing?

Any help would be much appretiated.
 
Hi all,
I'd wait until the NO2 is zero, at the moment the plants can't cope on their own with the ammonia produced, and it is entering the nitrogen cycle and be converted to NO2 (and NO3). I'd stop dosing the filter with Bactozyme and dosing Nutrafin Cycle, you can carry on with your ferts, and by next week the NO2 should have gone. Personally I've never cycled tanks, I just leave them for a couple of months once they are planted and at that point you can ibntroduce the fish without any problems, even very sensitive fish like Dicrossus (Checkerboard cichlid).
cheers Darrel
 
Hi Thanks for the advice. Yeah I didnt want to add fish with the nitrite so high. Since posting the first one the nitrite has dropped rapidly its was 0.3 when I checked yesterday. So hopefully some fish soon, but whats another week in the grand scheme of things ;)
 
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