First Planted Tank - 180L

[Nubias]

Plants arrived yesterday so today was the day.

Tank: Juwel Rio 180 - 100x41x50
Lighting: Standard Juwel Rio
Filter: Standard Bioflow Internal
Media: 2L of Seachem Matrix, foams and wool
Substrate: ADA Power Sand Special, ADA Amazonia and Sand
Hardscape: Driftwood and Bluestone (Type of basalt)
Plants include;
Anubias nana
Trident Java Fern
Narrow Leaf Java Fern
Spiky Moss

Micranthemum Monte Carlo
Staurogyne repens
Blyxa japonica

Hygrophila polysperma
Hygrophila lancea (sp. Araguaia)
Bacopa monnieri
Syngonanthus sp. Belem
Rotala sp. Green
Rotala sp. Colorata

Didn’t quite get the layout of stems how I wanted, the thought process was for a mixed jungle look. Will see what grows, what doesn’t, what does well and alter as necessary.

Will update as I cycle over the next few weeks, hopefully cloudy water clears up over night, running some extra filter wool in the top of the internal. Driftwood still being weighted down also hopefully can remove those rocks in a week or two.

 

[tam]

Wow, that's your first go? Looks great. I think trying a few things and seeing what works for your tank is a good way to go. Sometimes there seems very little logic and some people will struggle with a plant others find easy or a 'difficult' plant grows really well. Plus easier to decide what you really like once you see it growing it person.

 

[Nubias]

Thanks,

Cloudy still today but plants a looking a bit more perky. Did some testing also which may still be a bit off as I only dosed with prime to dechlorinate yesterday. I also decided to use stability for the first week to help assist in building beneficial bacteria.

PH: 6.4
Ammonia: 2ppm
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10-20ppm

Wasn’t expecting nitrate to show up yet but putting it down to the use of seachem prime and stability either that or I messed up testing (also a first time).

I’ve kept fish before but never really tested anything more than PH. Never had a proper planted tank with the exception of a bit of Java moss and a bunch of whatever random stem plants looked good at the time. That was almost 20 years ago though.

 

[tam]

It might be your tap water has some nitrate in it to start with. I haven't used it myself but I think I recall it usually being 4 weeks or so for the substrate to stop leaching ammonia. If you search back through the forum I'm sure someone will have discussed it

 

[Nubias]

Thanks Tam,

Might test the tap water tomorrow to see

 

[Marc Davis]

Really nice go.

Love everything, but I think you should invest in some seiryu stone. Keep everything the same and just swap the rocks. Will add so much more to the layout.

Yes, it will make a mess of the sand a little, but you can do one rock at a time and run a net through the sand to pick up the aqua soil after. This is just my opinion of course.

 

[Nubias]

Day 4

PH: 6
Ammonia: 4ppm
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 40ppm

30% water change following testing

Aqua soil seems to be doing its thing with low ph and ammonia levels, still showing nitrates with 0 nitrite. Tested tap water also and it has 0 nitrate showing.

Any other reason I’m getting nitrate readings this early? Shook the test bottle for a long time so pretty sure I’m testing right.

 

[ian_m]

Nitrate (and other tests) are easily interfered with by other substances in the tank. Dechlorinator is one of them that can lead to false readings high for nitrate and low for ammonia, possibly. Chlorine in tap water can lead to test kits reading zero. So much so you should pretty well ignore any results and just get on a leave tank for 8-12 weeks to do its "cycling" by itself and everything will be fine, no test kits required.

Please read this and put test kit in the bin.
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/what-about-test-kits.52487/

 

[Nubias]

Thanks for that interesting read I definitely agree with some of it.

Tank is starting to clear up though not yet completely, assuming bacteria bloom is the cause as I would of thought any cloudiness from substrate would have cleared by now.

 

[ian_m]

Tank is starting to clear up though not yet completely, assuming bacteria bloom is the cause as I would of thought any cloudiness from substrate would have cleared by now.

Purigen and/or Clarity will greatly help.

https://www.seachem.com/purigen.php

https://www.seachem.com/clarity.php

I have a bag of Purigen in one of my filters and if I do major plant fiddling that clouds the water I use Clarity to clear the water. Both work wonderfully well, albeit not cheap.

 

[Nubias]

Thanks may get some to give it a go before I add fish. Day 10 now, no nitrites yet ammonia is still steady at 2-4ppm.

Plants looking stable so far, hygrophila polysperma starting to take off. Little bit of algae growth on anubias and Java fern which I’ll start to keep an eye on.

 

[Nubias]

Still cycling, at the end of week 2 no nitrites showing yet. All other levels still consistent, testing ammonia and nitrite daily.

PH 6 ( tap water is only 6.6-6.8)
Ammonia 2ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10-20ppm ( only tested a couple of times)
Temp 26-27c

Added a surface skimmer to up the flow a bit which has helped a lot along with keeping the surface nice and clear.

Some algae signs, little bit of BBA on Java fern and anubias (assuming imported) some signs of green/brown string/thread along with light green fuzz on some plant leaves. Assuming the tank is just doing it’s thing until things balance out. Trying not to panic anyway

 

[alto]

Nitrate (and other tests) are easily interfered with by other substances in the tank. Dechlorinator is one of them that can lead to false readings high for nitrate and low for ammonia, possibly. Chlorine in tap water can lead to test kits reading zero. So much so you should pretty well ignore any results

This continues to confuse me - it’s easily done to run successful aquaria with nary a test kit in sight BUT what are these interfering compounds you are so emphatic about ... can you provide details please

My understanding - from a chemistry/biochemistry background & having run many many assays for various compounds (as a means of enzyme mechanism analyses) - the specific chemistries chosen for the hobbyist kits are quite resilient & refractive to commonly occurring compounds in most tap/aquarium water (even when dosing EI - unless my comprehension of that is much awry ... certainly a possibility as it’s been years since I read Sears & Conlin & Tom Barr et al reports )
Not that substance interference cannot happen, but it is an unlikely event (or relatively easily compensated)

As an example
Hach Salicylate Method for NItrogen, Ammonia


(Ignore the specific methodology as this is for a particular Hach Instrument, but salicylate based N chemistry remains the same whether an aquarium marketed test kit, or waste water management etc)


Tab down to page 350 for a table of Interfering Substances
Calcium greater than 1000mg/l as CaCO3
Magnesium greater than 6000mg/l as CaCO3
Sulfate greater than 300mg/l as SO4 (-2)
Phosphate greater than 100mg/l as PO4 (-3)
Nitrite greater than 12mg/l as NO3-
Nitrate greater than 100mg/l as NO3-
Sulfide (hmmm are fish still alive )
etc

 

[alto]

Assuming the tank is just doing it’s thing until things balance out. Trying not to panic anyway

Did I miss your water change schedule?

Aside note - if tapwater is very soft, be wary of such flocculating agents such as Seachem Clarity

Seachem FAQ

Since soft water tends to have low alkalinity and little buffering capacity, it is possible that adding certain products to a tank with soft water could cause the pH to drop. In most cases, this is not an issue, but with soft and already unbuffered/ lightly buffered water, it could cause a shift in pH. In systems with low buffering capacity or soft water, it is best to use a lower 1/4 to 1/2 dose of many additives and test the impact or outcome before using the full dosage.

My pH dropped to less than 4, almost instantly
My livestock all died (slightly less instantly)

 

[alto]

Added a surface skimmer to up the flow a bit which has helped a lot along with keeping the surface nice and clear.

I finally set up my Eheim skimmer after nearly 2 years of owning it
I try to remember to turn it off when CO2 is off, my crazy vaillanti insist upon leaping in sometime during the night & never fare so well upon release (if the skimmer’s been running )
Shrimp will also sometimes get very cozy in there - found a group of 10 once

If you watch the Filipe Oliveira videos, he uses the Eheim skimmer to direct CO2 (intank diffusor)

Tank looks awesome & well done using local stone

I’ve some aquarium grey stone (ADA, Tropica) & it’s grand, but almost a little boring when every tank has grey stone
My local collectable stone is B.I.G - I did have some fantastic bluestone from a landscape yard that I’d split & smoothed away sharp edges (had fish that startled rather dramatically) ... except someone stole it while I was moving truly bizarre (it was in the laneway unaccompanied for 10-20 minutes) - it was less work to buy some stone at the shop to replace it

 

[Nubias]

Thanks Alto,

Currently doing 30-40% water changes every 3rd day approx.

I probably should have done some more frequently in the first week in hindsight.

Thanks for the tip about soft water and clarity.

 

[alto]

It’s not just Clarity
Be cautious with any additives
Formalin (& a few other meds) can be more “active” in soft water (though most aquarium marketed meds are so underdosed it’s irrelevant)
Always ask about formulation - I should have re Clarity ... but that came the next day

 

[alto]

Daily water change & algae removal will help - if you can manage
Python type system is well worth the investment though I went years with multiple tanks before finding one half price & finally purchasing

Kicked myself a long ways over that one (the delay that is)

 

[Barbara Turner]

Looking at the photo's you have gone for the wise decision to cycle the tank fish free.
Have you added to anything to provide you with a source of ammonia? (fish food a piece of dead shrimp/fish, or liquid ammonia)

You should see the various spikes of first ammonia and then nitrite finally nitrate.

There is a good guide here, only thing I wouldn't recommend is adding any fish or inverts till the tank is fully cycled.
https://tropica.com/en/guide/care/tropica-app/

I suspect the cloudy water is coming from your sand, did you wash it first? If not it will settle over time as you do your regular water changes.

 

[Nubias]

Yeah I have ADA Amazonia behind the rocks for the back half of the tank. Has been releasing 2-4ppm since the first day, have noticed it dropping towards 1-2 ppm in the last few days so have been dosing Dr Tims ammonia to up the levels. Just haven’t seen nitrite yet.