Cycling with ADA Aquasoil

[C. Andrew Nelson]

So the soil you are using is one that does not remove the carbonates. This is very important to know.

And for those who are keeping score, I am using ADA AquaSoil Amazonia in this layout.

The soil is still producing ammonia, so the tank is not ready for fish. It does look like there is a colony of bacteria getting well started.

I assumed as much. Wasn't planning on fish yet, but I have put a few Malaysian Trumpet Snails in there and they have been doing just fine for the past week or so.

Many aquarium plants do not mind some ammonia, but others will not like it. You can go ahead and plant, but if the plants start melting from the ammonia you will have to step up the water changes to keep the ammonia down to about 1 ppm. I would not risk plants at this point, but would continue water changes to keep the ammonia under 3 ppm until the soil has quit producing ammonia. 3ppm ammonia will continue growing the bacteria, so when the soil finishes its cycle the biofilter will be ready for a full load of fish.

I decided to do a large 98% water change late last night (couldn't get that last 2% without sucking up a bunch of sand). Tested the water just now and found that the ammonia level is at 0.1 ppm, which is interesting considering that the soil is probably still producing ammonia and our municipal water supply still registers at 0.25 ppm. That tells me the beneficial bacteria is reporting for duty. Nitrites are at 0.0 ppm. And even after the massive water change the nitrates are registering at 5.0 ppm.

Go, bacteria, go! Go, bacteria, go!

I'm going to keep monitoring the water carefully for the rest of the week. If all is well I'll start planting next week. I have about half of the plants for this scape floating in my 10 gallon holding tank (along with a few of the fish that are destined for this project). I'll be ordering the rest of the plants online.

[Diana]

Remember that there are 2 cycles going on here.

The soil is going through a cycle of ammonia production after being put under water. You need to keep doing water changes to remove the ammonia it is producing so that more ammonia will come out of the soil faster. Other than ammonia removal, there is not much you can do to hurry this cycle.

Nitrifying bacteria are growing. This is the nitrogen cycle.
These bacteria grow best under certain conditions. By maintaining these conditions the bacteria colony will be established fast. Optimum conditions include:
Ammonia not higher than 5 ppm, and a bit lower seems to work best. About 3ppm seems ideal.
Nitrite under 5 ppm.
Presence of carbonates. At least 3 German degrees of hardness and higher is just fine. Usually this means the pH will be above 7. It is good to see that the bacteria are growing in this setting with some carbonates but low pH.
High oxygen. Keep up the water circulation.

[C. Andrew Nelson]

And then, all of a sudden,...it was cycled!

[FANFARE]

Took forever and a day, but my Aqueon LED 16 Widescreen aquarium is finally cycled. Thank you to everyone, especially Diana, for your help and input.

Oh, and for those keeping score...

pH = 6.8
Ammonia = 0 ppm
Nitrites = 0 ppm
Nitrates = 2.0 ppm

I did have to do, as Diana suggested, a couple of water changes to help the AquaSoil in its cycling. And when I did those water changes I made sure that the GH, KH, and pH were where they needed to be to help the nitrogen cycle do its thing properly. Once I did all that it became a textbook example of a normal cycle through all the standard stages. But my initial theory did work in as much as I was able to use the ADA AquaSoil's ammonia output to feed the beneficial bacteria. And overall I still got away with less water changes than what is sometimes recommended. Had I planted the tank immediately I would have done daily water changes.

Now comes the fun part. I get to add plants and fish!
(And shoot a video of it all, of course.)

[Diana]

Looking good!

What plants are you planning on planting?

[C. Andrew Nelson]

What plants are you planning on planting?

I've dubbed this tank "The Thailand Project" because as a challenge to myself I want to use only plants, fish, and invertebrates that are native to the country of Thailand. So some of the plants I'll be using include...

Microsorum pteropus (Java Fern)
Vesicularia montegnei (Christmas Moss)
Cyperus helferi
Vallisneria spiralis (Italian Val / Tiger Val)
Cryptocoryne cordata "blassii"
Hygrophila corymbosa "siamensis"
Blyxa japonica
Rotala rotundifolia
Eleocharis acicularis (Dwarf Hairgrass)
Pogostemon helferi (Downoi)

Haven't fully committed to that last one. I think under the lighting conditions in this set-up the Downoi will grow tall and spindly which I don't want. I may pass on it. The others I'm definitely going to use.

[Crazygar]

You have a good list, if you are planning deep tannin stained waters, some of those light hungry plants might starve. Thailand Project, good stuff, will be nice to see this grow out!

Gary

[Diana]

If you have the API test kits there is a code on them. The last 4 digits represent the month and year it was bottled.
Most test reagents are good for about 5 years, but some (GH for sure, perhaps others) only last about 3 years.
The GH test fails by not changing color no matter how hard or soft the water is, no matter how many drops you add.

[C. Andrew Nelson]

You have a good list, if you are planning deep tannin stained waters, some of those light hungry plants might starve.

Nope, I have no interest in a tannin stained aquarium. I will do as many water changes as is necessary to keep that water clear. Part of the challenge I gave myself is to use only the stock equipment that came with the Aqueon LED 16 Widescreen kit. I'm not beefing up the lighting and I'm not adding CO2.

Thailand Project, good stuff, will be nice to see this grow out!

I'm so jazzed to finally get this project underway. I initially thought of doing a more broadly themed Southeast Asian aquarium, but I wanted the extra challenge of narrowing it down to one country. I chose Thailand because some of my vary favorite fish in this hobby originate from there.

[Crazygar]

And therefore lies the great interest on keeping the project going. Looking forward to pictures and as always videos.

Gary