anti
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Posts: 139 
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Post by anti on Jul 15, 2015 11:19:35 GMT -5
i set up a new tank with 9 plants 4 days ago with quite a bit of seeded media; to include a FSB and i find myself apparently in a cycle. i have been dosing ammonia to 2 ppm and 2 days later it stands at 1 but will not go down from there. i have no nitrites or nitrates either. one of the plants is a hornwort that is really starting to take off. i hear that this particular plants use ammonia nitrite and nitrate to grow. perhaps more so than other plants. i am wondering if it is impeding the development of the bacteria. anybody has any thoughfs it would be appreciated
a clarification note: i didnt intend to cycle. i was under the impression that it would be cycled already until i tested. i think that i inadvertany killed my bacteria from most of my media when it sat in the new tanks' sump without being feed for a week. except for the FSB which went from one tank to the other immediately. so i guess the real question is in regards to the horntwort if any. this is quite disappointing i must say.
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Post by Carl on Jul 15, 2015 12:59:34 GMT -5
Unfortunately a planted tank, especially with hornwort may impede nitrifying bacteria from populating as it essentially takes the food first needed by the bacteria.
I would suggest dosing with Prime and using a SeaChem Ammonia Alert to gauge ammonia NH3 levels.
A will admit though that with seeded media that you are having the problem in the first place. It might be possible that the media was not fully seeded, especially if it came from a planted aquarium?
Carl
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anti
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Posts: 139
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Post by anti on Jul 15, 2015 13:38:19 GMT -5
the media came from a fish only tank. i did dose with prime last night. i used the same test on the fish only tank with zero ammonia. do you think i should remove the hornwort for now?
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Post by Carl on Jul 16, 2015 8:48:36 GMT -5
I would suggest removing part of the Hornwort for now.
Make sure there is some source of "food" for the bacteria.
One aspect of your aquarium that stands out in re-reading this thread is you appear to be mixing cycling methods.
You should choose one method and stay with this one method, not blend methods.
If using seasoned media, you should not need to add ammonia as in the pure ammonia cycling method. Fish should be supplied with the seasoned method to feed the seasoned bacterial media.
Also I will note that I have had the best results with the seasoned method, followed by the liquefied fish food method, followed by the pure ammonia method.
Carl
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Jul 16, 2015 10:40:10 GMT -5
I'll just admit that with a planted only tank, I don't worry about the cycle to much. It will balance out. I would be more concerned if there are fish.
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anti
Full Member
Posts: 139
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Post by anti on Jul 16, 2015 12:57:10 GMT -5
ok thanks Carl. i started with the food as previously suggested until i took readings. i freaked out and assumed that the filter wasnt set up. at that point i figured that it was a mini cycle and if i dosed ammonia it would quicken the process being there was seeded media. thats where it went downhill. i was so close to putting all the fish back in immediately. glad i took those readings. now i am dosing 3 ppm ammonia and doing a complete cycle again unfortunately. i see no way around it at this point. i think i let my biomedia go too long without being fed. it was just circulating in the new tank for a week with no food. i was concentrating on the plants too much. looking back thats where i screwed up. oh well live and learn. plants are doing good though. anybody needs extra hornwort?!
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Jul 17, 2015 10:36:30 GMT -5
Hornwort is a very fast grower. I've let it grow out, then ditch when it started blocking out my lights. I took it out of the lighted 40 gal I have and put it in a betta bowl to help filter it. I like it in there.
You could use something like SeaChem Stability to help with that cycle.
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Post by Carl on Jul 17, 2015 10:44:46 GMT -5
The problem started IMO when seasoned media was added without a source of food.
The seasoned bio media method is meant to be used where fish are added immediately in a new aquarium or hospital aquarium, or simply kick starting an established aquarium that had been "damaged" by extensive medication use.
I am not sure Stability would help at this point
Carl
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Post by angelminx on Jul 19, 2015 0:22:57 GMT -5
Speaking of Hornwort...my largest SAE, whom I call Big Mama, but is probably just FAT, loves to chow down on mine. I've watched "her" at it for over 5 minutes at a time! It now has a lot of "needleless" branches (that I have to keep removing) and is getting a little "thin".  |
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Post by parker002 on Jul 20, 2015 12:06:47 GMT -5
If you're wanting your SAE to control algae, I would remove the Hornwort altogether. SAEs and other similar fish will adopt preferences for certain types of food and no longer consume algae.
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