Cycling tank for planting when back from holiday

You telling me I wasted R104? Damn petshops.
It also says on the bottle it has a shelf life of 4 years.

 

We'll put it to the test when I get back from holiday!
I'll get some test strips and we see how well it works in the hands of a complete idiot

 

Good luck with test strips.
They are notoriously inaccurate.
They can give a general indication however that the ammonia and nitrite levels have fallen, and that nitrate is at acceptable levels.
For more precise tests, more precise tests are necessary.

My personal experience is that Seachem Stability does work.
I have used it successfully to set up a number of tanks, and have added livestock after a few days with no ill effects.

 

Ah crud! I was thinking that, trying to do a planted tank in such a small environment i would need to do constant testing to avoid disaster.
So what exactly are "more precise tests" then? Electronic tester? I know those things cost an arm and a leg. Are there other options?

If this tiny tank simply isn't going to work, please let me know so i can stick a goldfish in there and wait for better financial days.

although, after Zuma's brilliant move last night i doubt that's going to happen anytime soon

 

Stick a Betta in there....
A goldfish will outgrow the tank.

You could have the water tested at most reputable LFS.
Jungle Aquatics are probably closest to you.

The Nutrafin or API Master Test Kits are about the best you are going to get for home use.
They are VERY expensive though.

I wouldn't worry too much about water parameters.
Once the tank is cycled and you have added the fish you want, keep up with regular tank maintenance, and everything should be fine.
If it isn't you will soon see, and can then have the water tested.

 

Do you think shrimp would survive in there? Instead of a bettafish. I know I cant put the two together. So i would rather put something else in there with the shrimp if you guys think the shrimp would survive. Otherwise Betta it is.

 

A small tank like that could be a stunning shrimp tank.
With that driftwood you already have in there, you could easily add some Anubia nana or petite, Xmas moss or Subwassertang and a handful of shrimp.

I would just change the substrate to black inert sand, as the black substrate brings out the colours of the shrimp more.

 

Ye the black will come... was just a bit worried because i have read up on shrimps a little and apparently they are a bit sensitive to fluctuations in the tank. And this being such a small tank, and me being a bit of a noob, it might not end well. but what the hell. wie nie waag nie, wen nie.
I'm off to my holiday. So see you guys in a couple weeks.

Thanks for all the help thus far. You guys are spectacular!!!

 

Small tanks are more prone to fluctuations when compared to bigger tanks, as with bigger tanks you have more wriggle room before something goes wrong.
That being said, if you stay with a regular maintenance schedule you shouldn't experience any major problems.
There are too many people running nano tanks to think that something will happen. If it did, there wouldn't be any small tanks.
Shrimp prefer a mature tank, but can adapt to a newly cycled tank.
The important thing is to acclimate your shrimp to your tank before finally releasing them in it.
Keep the water parameters constant is more important that obtaining the perfect pH or other parameters.

If all else fails, and you loose the first bunch of shrimp, don't despair.
They are comparatively cheap, and can be replaced quite easily.

Start with the Stability when you return, give it a few days before attempting to introduce any livestock, and when you do, add just 1-2 to start off with.
Feed sparingly, and enjoy the pain of maintaining a tank.

 

I have the same tank but i have added a sump filter behind the tank for nano marine use. I have had no issues with this tank, I used filter floss and activated carbon when I had and we had a pair of Angels lay eggs more than once in this tank. I added the sump to add volume for nano marine and also to hide the the equipment.






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Hahahahahahhaha! What a mess!!


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Hey that looks awesome!! Just got home. Gonna have to start from scratch


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Good luck!

I'm in the process of setting up 3 tanks as well

 

But with a bit more experience - so things should be going better this round?

Later Ferdie

 

Lmao what exactly happened?

 

I think the piece of wood needed to be soaked a little longer (and by a little I actually mean a LOT) so it kept leeching into the tank for two weeks. Its outside in a bucket now.

Tank has been going for 3 days now and Im adding the cycle stuff from the bottle for 7 days. This is what it looks like for now.



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He he ... you like life difficult. You start with some hard to grow plants from the word go

Hope you have good light for the ground cover.

Later Ferdie

 

It happens to some of us at some point. I was lucky mine wasn't too bad - yellow water for months at a time and I kept on doing water changes until it stopped.