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May 28th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Water Parameters: ammonia - 0.5
Nitrites - 1.6 pH - 8.5 (What is a safe ph conditioner to make it go down?)
My mistake for cycling with corys, but SuperBac stated it was needed for the product to feed off from(I'm guessing ammonia source). 
Btw, for some reason the hole in the crypt leaf keeps getting bigger. Does it have some sort of microscopic parasite slowly eating it away? I don't see any snails either.
Last edited by eiginh; May 28th, 2009 at 12:51 AM.
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May 28th, 2009
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by eiginh  Ph - 8.5 (What is a safe ph conditioner to make it go down?) | Nothing. Most fish can adapt to the pH of your water, so it isn't necessary to adjust it. Doing so with chemicals only causes it to fluctuate, which is actually much more stressful for the fish than a 'wrong' pH (ie different than their ideal). I'm keeping black neon tetras (acidic-water loving) in 8+ pH, and have no issues. The tannins in your driftwood will decrease your pH naturally to a degree. Quote:
Originally Posted by eiginh Btw, for some reason the hole in the crypt leaf keeps getting bigger. Does it have some sort of microscopic parasite slowly eating it away? I don't see any snails either. | I haven't had mine very long, but Butterfly sent me a neat article that said when they're brand new, they MAY go through 'crypt rot', where small holes in the leaves get bigger and eventually the leaf dies. People then think the plant is dead, but it actually isn't, it comes back again (regrows from the base). I've only had mine a week so I can't say from experience, but I'd remove that one leaf and see how it does. Maybe start a thread in the plants forum, that way lots of plant-expert ppl will see it and be able to advise  | |
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May 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Yes, it is because of crypt rot and everyone that posted told me to clip it off, though the whole leaf decided to rot away and saved me the trouble.
I got rid of the humongous driftwood and replaced it with a smaller one. The tank finally looks really spacey now. I also bought a wisteria plant and snail 
Water Parameters:
Ammonia .5 or .25 (the colors look too similar)
Nitrites 3.3-33 mg/l
I know it is way too early to even think about stocking, but I'm thinking about putting a sparkling gourami or a borelli's dwarf cichlid.
Last edited by eiginh; May 29th, 2009 at 03:15 PM.
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May 30th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I tested again and the parameters were the same from last night so I did a %15 water change and added Prime, I think it was a bad idea... I just read some posts about not using Prime with Bio-Spira b/c it'll slow down the cycle. : x... I'm assuming it would be the same with SuperBac. I'll just wait until Ammonia and Nitrites drop. Please feel free if you have better suggestions. Thank you. | |
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May 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Tested again and the parameters are the same .25 or .5 ammonia and 3.3> nitrites. I added another 4 oz of SuperBac b/c I think I screwed up when I did a WC and added Prime last night. | |
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June 1st, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I finally found the reason why I screwed up the SuperBac cycle, I removed the big driftwood which probably had alot of bacteria on it and replaced it with a smaller one from the 40g tank. I sent an e-mail to a staff from SuperBac and he told me not to feed the fish for a couple of days and let the bacteria grow within that time. I tested again and the parameters are .25 ammonia and 3.3 - 33 PPM. Word of advice do NOT buy Tetra Laborette master test kit, go with API. My ammonia ran out within 30 tests and the nitrite is soon to be running out. I am currently using API ammonia test kit which states up to 130 tests. | |
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June 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by eiginh Word of advice do NOT buy Tetra Laborette master test kit, go with API. My ammonia ran out within 30 tests and the nitrite is soon to be running out. I am currently using API ammonia test kit which states up to 130 tests. | I'm still using the same API ammonia test I originally bought the first time I cycled my 20g...I've lost track of how many tests I've done, how many tanks I've cycled and re-cycled...it's just now feeling a little 'light' and I've been thinking Ill have to buy another one soon.
Your tank's looking really nice. It sounds like things are coming along, and you're almost there!  | |
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June 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Water Parameters: 0 ammonia, 3.3-33 nitrate ppm. | |
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June 4th, 2009
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| Ammonia 0
Nitrites 3.3 or higher.
I'm waiting for a response from a staff from SuperBac to find out if I can do a water change. | |
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June 5th, 2009
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| 0 ammonia.
3.3 or higher nitrite... | |
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June 5th, 2009
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| Nvm adding fish,
Nitrite .3 ppm
Last edited by eiginh; June 6th, 2009 at 03:52 AM.
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June 7th, 2009
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| Woohooo!
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
It took two weeks w/ SuperBac but I believe I messed up the cycle because I took out a big piece of driftwood while it was cycling in the middle of the first week and replaced it with a different driftwood, which caused the cycle to take longer.  . | |
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June 10th, 2009
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| Picture Updates
New pics of the tank and one of the sparkling gourami's. He has a beautiful color. | |
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June 11th, 2009
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| You've done a very nice job Pete Congrats on finally getting through the cycle! | |
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June 11th, 2009
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| Thank you! I need to redo the plants though, they don't look natural having them all bunched up together in the back. If you have suggestions please let me know | |
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June 11th, 2009
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| I fuss with aquascaping a lot, until I really like it. I've found that if 'natural' is what I'm after, a bit of randomness doesn't hurt - that's how mother nature does it Everyone's got a different idea of what they like - if it were mine, I'd just add a rock or two, maybe some moss on the wood someday, and for now space the plants a little more loosely (the elodea [I think] and the one to the right of it) and let them grow. Then too you can watch your pretty fishie swimming among the stems  | |
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June 12th, 2009
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| I received the Christmas Moss last night which I ordered a week ago and it came with green mesh. Driftwood is covered with moss now | |
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July 3rd, 2009
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| Update
The green mesh has Christmas Moss in it but it's taking awhile for it to grow out. I am also having trouble taking pics of the fish, they wont stop moving! | |
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July 3rd, 2009
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| It looks good! | |
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July 3rd, 2009
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| Thank you Lucy I finally got pics of the fish! | |
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July 3rd, 2009
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| Update
More  | |
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July 3rd, 2009
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| They look good! | |
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July 3rd, 2009
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| yeah leave the raw shrimp in there | |
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July 27th, 2009
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| I'm missing two sparkling gourami's ... I think I accidently siphoned them or died and dissolved... | |
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September 11th, 2009
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| I recently purchased 36w 6500K CF Catalina light fixture, it is so much brighter than the 15w T8 light fixture.
Here's a pic with the new lights on the left.
The Angel is there temporarily until I can find him/her a new home, unfortunately he/she can't be in the same tank with the Barbs. The Angel is just recovering from all the fin nipping the barbs did. | |
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September 11th, 2009
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| Very neat! Great job on aquascaping. Hope you find a home soon. | |
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September 12th, 2009
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| Thank you. I still need a lot of work with aquascaping though, I need more carpet plants and also to cover the back wall. I'm still waiting for the Christmas Moss to grow out so maybe I can use that for the wall. | |
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September 12th, 2009
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| The new lighting looks really nice. Is your angel yellow? Very pretty. | |
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September 12th, 2009
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| Very nice set-up. Looks very realistic! | |
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September 12th, 2009
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| Thank you, the Angel is yellow/white. On his/her sides is white but the top (forehead all the way to the tail) is yellow with some specs of orange. I felt really bad for putting him/her with the barbs. He/she had a sibbling but the barbs...anyway it's very difficult to tell the gender. (hence he/she, his/her)  | |
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