38 Gallon Brackish Build

I would not even measure Nitrates till Nitrites show zero. Waste of good test kit. When Ammonia is Zero after 2 days, then start measuring for Nitrites. You will still need to add ammonia every 2 days till ready for fish. When Nitrites measure zero then start measuring for Nitrates.
 
Good point. I usually don't start testing nitrates early, but since I had seeded material, I was hoping for an instant cycle, so I decided to test for them. I'll probably stop until I get some nitrites.
 
We got nitrites! As of last night's test, ammonia is 0ppm and nitrites is 5ppm. I might have to do a water change soon if those levels keep going up. Good to know we're getting somewhere!
 
Things are really taking off for this tank now! We now officially have our first living things in the tank (besides good old beneficial bacteria, of course). I received my LiveAquaria order of the six stalks of Bacopa monnieri. LiveAquaria also does a great job, but I was really pleasantly surprised by how lovely these plants look. Packaging was great as usual, and the moneywort looks wonderful in the tank. It's nice to finally have some green.

I took out a lot of the driftwood since I couldn't get a lot of it to sink. I have three sinking pieces, but I took one out for one because I couldn't find a good spot for it. I'll probably rearrange the wood a little when I get the java fern on Friday. I also did a test today, and the cycle's going well. Ammonia was .25ppm and nitrite was over 5ppm. I'm gonna do a PWC to bring those back down to a readable level on Sunday. Good thing, I've been desperate to change some water and clean up since the seeded filter sponge I added wasn't the cleanest thing in the world.

By the way, does anyone know when would be a good time to start adding fertilizers to the tank? I'm using Seachem flourish and flourish excel. I was never certain whether I should give the plants a few days to settle in or if I should just start adding them right away.

 
Looks nice, except for that one skinny branch in the middle-front. Move it to the back or lay it down.
 
tanker said:
Looks nice, except for that one skinny branch in the middle-front. Move it to the back or lay it down.
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Yeah, I was thinking the same. I'll mess with it more on Friday.
 
It's all going so well! I'm so happy; last time I went to set up a tank, things didn't run nearly this smoothly. I received the java fern in the mail today. The plants were smaller than I expected, but otherwise, the order was great. I received a lot more than expected, and the plants all had an excellent amount of leaves. I spent about two hours today tying them to the rocks, and I'm letting all the tiny little plantlets just float around in the tank until they get big enough to actually plant. They look really good! Tying plants up is always a nightmare for me, and I ended up having to reorganize the rock stacks since I couldn't remember how they were before, but otherwise, all went well. The carpet's a mess now, unfortunately.

In other news, I moved the smaller driftwood piece, so hopefully it looks better now. I kinda like it, but I might shuffle it around a little more. And the cycle is going well too. Ammonia is getting eaten up fast, and nitrites are now off the scale. I'm gonna do a water change on Sunday to bring them back down to Earth. And sadly, I accidentally shattered my glass versa top while I was working with the rocks. My mom paid for a new one, so that's all good, but I'll have to top off the water more often now that I don't have a top. Ah, oh well.

So, aquascape is officially done! Now we just have to add our animals once the cycle finishes up.

 
Looking good. Go to either a glass shop or a plastic shop (Tap plastic) and have them cut you another top for your tank.
 
Thanks! I really like my setup for this tank, actually. I feel like it's a perfect balance between the rocky marine tank and the planted saltwater tank. My mom already ordered a new top for me, so I'm all set. I like getting the versa tops instead of just a sheet of glass because you can open the versa tops and cut space for filters and wires in the back.
 
CinnamonPearl said:
I like getting the versa tops instead of just a sheet of glass because you can open the versa tops and cut space for filters and wires in the back.
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You could just replace the glass and keep the hinge and back piece. A lot cheaper than to order a whole new top.
 
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