75g Freshwater - Fish/Plants Advice?

Also, just how long does it take to cycle a tank? I used a good portion of the gravel substrate from the tank they had been in. I also added the Bio-spira. (http://www.marineland.com/products/mllabs/ml_biospira.asp ) when setting it up.

It’s been over a month now, and I’ve not seen the ammonia levels drop and the nitrite levels increase. Is this “normal” for an aquarium in this situation.

Also, I KNOW I am doing is bass ackwards, doing a “fishy cycle” with so many fish right from the start. I just couldn’t pass up all the free fish!
 
lots of questions..I jhope I can answer some of them.

if you had good bacteria from a source(either substrate or bio-spira) the tank shouls cylce in 4-5 days but can take a couple weeks given your bio load..tho I have cycled tanks with squeezins from one of my tanks in 3 days.

you shoul d watch the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

the ammonia in my tanks never got above .25 as well as the nitrites.

there's a catch to heavily planted tanks..if the tank was established you may not see ammonia at all..the fact that you are says it is probably not cycled..plants use ammonia and ammonium.
I'l check your posts to see how much light you have..excell should be fine but some plants may wilt for it(vals and crytocoryne)
if you are in the 3 wpg threshold you may want to look into a CO2 injection system.
also if you add the water conditioners to buckets of water you should be able to use the water as soon as you add the conditioners.
 
I test daily for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I’ve only tested a few times for copper. I just bought the phosphate test kit yesterday. I also have the hardness test kit but seem to be confused on how to use it… hmmm

After 6 weeks, my ammonia is still something I have to deal with and the nitrite part of the cycle has yet to begin. I now know I need to make larger/more frequent water changes to help alleviate the stress and poisoning the fish are undergoing.

I thought that by now the 4 biowheels in the two Penguin 350’s, as well as colonies in the substrate, would have matured enough to host enough bacteria to drop my ammonia to zero.
 
I wonder if you are seeing ammonium ..most conditioners break chloramine bonds and attach hydrogen to the ammonia NH3-NH4 the test kit may be testing total ammonia(NH3/NH4) and not specifically ammonia.

are you testing the water right after water changes or a day or two after?

if you are cleaning the tank and filters you could stall the cycle..

hard to say for sure.
 
When I test, I usually test before I do a water change and then a few hours after the water change. I use the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals for all my tests. I do nto think it differentiates between NH3 or NH4. Either way, should I have not seen a rise in the levels of Nitrites by now?

As for cleaning the tank delaying the cycle, perhaps you are correct.

Before I began to place plants in the tank, I vacuumed up the substrate twice using my python siphon. It carried away a lot of fine, brownish dust. I believe it was mainly stuff that didn’t get rinsed out of the fluorite when I first set up the tank.

I rinse off the filters in the Penguins once/week and have replaced the four filters once already.

Maybe that was too much?
 
are you rinsing the bio wheels too?

you can rinse the filter pads in tank water..i would replace them as there is nitifying bacteria on the pads as well

do not rinse the biowheels they shouldn't need rinsing.

also your plants may skew your readings..typically if they are established they may remove ammonia etc
 
Well, last night when I returned home all the fish seemed to be acting fine, even the one reclusive Discuss. I did a 50% water change and cleaned up the algae off the sides of the tanks. The Otos seem to be doing a good job as the algae appears to be in retreat. Some of the plants are really beginning to grow as well. My narrow leaf chain sword, that I just bought from the LFS, has already sent out runners! Cool beans.

The ammonia level is not as high as it was but I will still do another 50% water change when I get home this afternoon.

As for cleaning the Biowheels, I never do anything to the actual wheel part. I know it needs to be left alone. I have been rinsing the filters off once/week in the sink. I guess I will use aquarium water from now on.

My bleeding hearts seem to be doing really well. They where sort of pale in color at first, now they appear to have a pinkish/reddish blush to them and their leading edges of their fins have become a bright white. Two of the larger males seem to spend a lot of time swimming in circles around each other.
 
Thanks to all who suggested the larger water changes. My ammonia problem seems to be correcting itself now. The levels are WAY down and I plan on doing the larger changes until it’s zero and stays there. Next stop, watching the Nitrites… LOL

All of the fish seem to be doing a lot better as well. I snapped some photos after I did the water changes. My algae problem is in total retreat and the Oto Cats seem to be really doing the job! All they do is swim around; eating up the algae and cleaning off the leaves of the plants I have so far. As for the plants, they are really beginning to grow! I cannot wait to see how this tank looks in a year! (Fingers crossed)

See a few photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/darter02/sets/72157594552201878/
 
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