Cycling Advice

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Redwood

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Aug 5, 2018
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Hey!

I was gifted a pre-owned 40litre tank with filter/heater/etc. I’m planning to stock it with shrimp and set it up on Wednesday (5 days ago), having put some of the filter media in from my existing tank. I also moved over a few snails, platy fry, and plants in the thoughts that would help/give the filter ammonia to feed on.

Yesterday-
Nitrite: 5.22
Nitrate: 88

I did a 20% water change after that and this morning the results were:
Nitrite: 4.75
Nitrate: 80

I know that ammonia is something I should be keeping track of but it was only after setting up that I realised I’d ran out of strips for that (typical). Strips also aren’t the most reliable but they at least give me something.

I’m planning to do another water change today and have ordered some Seachem Prime as I’ve heard it helps a lot. Looking for advice since I know this takes some time but figured using some filter media from an established tank would help. Thanks!
 

Redwood

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Aug 5, 2018
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I just checked my tap water and it seems that itself has 25-ish nitrate so I think I might have that to fight against as well.
 

Rbishop

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Your plants will help with that. Ensure you get a good liquid test kit for more reliable readings and do the nitrate test exactly as the instructions state.

You can easily maintain a tank with nitrates in that range from the tap without any special needs.
 

Redwood

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Aug 5, 2018
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Planning to get a decent test kit ASAP. Am I right in doing water changes everyday? Any more tips?
 

tanker

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I would up the WC to about 50%
 

Redwood

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Aug 5, 2018
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Did one about an hour ago and luckily it was about 50%.

Since I’m planning on this being a shrimp tank, I found a package of alder cones, cattapa leaves, pods etc. Would adding any of those be useful now or would it do nothing and be best to add once the tank is cycled/ready for shrimp?

I’ve added a photo to give some idea of set-up. The moss balls and some of the plants are from existing tank. The layout will probably change, I’d like another piece of wood in there somewhere.02F1C8F5-FE10-4159-A956-DE5C394DE19F.jpeg
 

Redwood

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Aug 5, 2018
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It’s sad how inactive this forum is nowadays, I used to be a member years back and you’d have so many people helping you out or sharing things. Nowadays it seems like there’s not much interaction/activity.
 
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Rbishop

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What is your ammonia reading?
 

FreshyFresh

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This is a slower time of year for aquaria IMO.

Nice looking setup you have! Like said, 25ppm nitrates right out of the tap isn't ideal, but you can make it manageable. Maybe gear your water change volume/frequency such that nitrates don't exceed 40ppm on day 7 and then reset to base level on WC day.
 
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