# My 55 gallon Mbuna build



## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Quick little background on my aquarium journey to this point:

A little over a year ago I started to get into a new hobby, aquariums. I did some research, posted on some forums, basically everything a newbie should do. After that initial research period, I felt comfortable to take the next and biggest step, purchase. Over time, I ended up assembling a decent setup: a 46 gallon bowfront with an Aquaclear HOB filter. Substrate was gravel, and I had a piece of driftwood along with some plants. Final stock ended up being some Penguin Tetra, Sterbai Cory, and an Angelfish. After a good 8 months or so of this stock, I began to think about other stocking options. I ended up right back at square 1, research. Eventually I found my way to Tanganyika Cichlids, and this wonderful website. I soon realized that a Malawi tank was more appropriate based on I wanted from my tank, and a post I made in the Tanganyika forum which was full of very helpful advice from experienced aquarists. One key point I took away from this is that with Mbuna footprint is much more important than volume, and that my 3 foot tank, although suitable, was a little on the short side. I began looking into going all in and just buying a larger 4 foot tank. After a period of debate, I decided to go ahead and move forth with the switch. I gave away my fish, moved the 46 gallon tank to the living room in anticipation on resale, and started looking into what I would do for my next tank!

And that brings me to this topic. I decided to do up a little tank journal, wanted to share the setup process, and the eventual rewards of my hard work with you guys and girls as this forum was extremely helpful in the research and planning stages!

Below i'll list what I plan to use in my new setup:

*Tank:* 55 gallons. I painted the background black using several coats of black, water-based acrylic paint. I chose acrylic mainly because of it's easy removal, but also because I could paint the tank in my room, whereas I obviously couldn't with spray paint.










*Lighting:* Standard lighting that came with the tank

*Filtration:* When I bought the tank/stand on Kijiji, it also came with a Fluval 305 canister which I plan to use in addition to the Eheim 2217 I purchased.

*Heating:* A pair of Eheim 150W heaters

*Substrate:* Pool filter sand

*Rockwork:* The rocks were a fun experience. I don't have a car so I had to get a ride with a friend. As a result of his generosity, his car broke down about a block from my house. I ended up carry my rocks to my place while he waited for the tow truck. That evening, I soaked the rocks in hot water for about half an hour, then scrubbed them with a hard bristled brush before leaving to dry inside overnight. Here are some photos of what I have to work with:
























I'm especially fond of the large stone in the back of the first picture. Silly thing weighs quite a lot, but it should look very nice off to the side, breaking up any symmetry that tries to sneak in

*Misc:* Still looking into placement, but i'd to use a wavemaker or two to help create current for my fish. I also want to utilize the wavemakers plus the intake/outtakes on my filters to help push water in easy to clean locations.

*Fish:* Planning a 1:4 M:F ratio of the following 3 species: labidochromis caeruleus, iodotropheus sprengerae, and cynotilapia afra.

Tonight or tomorrow I hope to do a mockup of where my rockwork will go. On Sunday, I hope to clean the sand/filters, and get everything into the tank, and start my cycle using the old media from my bow front

Tune in for more updates!!


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## shelbynjakesdad (Mar 13, 2013)

Sounds like you pretty much have it covered - you have definitely done your homework. The only thing I see missing is more blue fish. The afra will give you some blue, but the females are kind of dull. If you want Cynotilapia, I'd sub Hara for more blue. I love how the Cynotilapia species change color and barring with mood. If not set on Cynotilapia, what about socolofi or callainos for more blue? Other than that, your plans look great, I look forward to seeing your progress! :thumb:


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Nice planning. I bet that rock on the left was fun to haul down the road!


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Quick question about maintaining the water parameters. I'm going to put a bag of crushed coral or something in both my filters to help maintain the levels that my Mbuna will like. Do I jut toss them into a mesh bag and throw the whole lot on top of my filter media? And regarding the rift lake buffer recipe up in the library, at what point do I add the mixture?

Also i'd love some advice on placement of wavemaker/filter intake and output if anyone has any



shelbynjakesdad said:


> Sounds like you pretty much have it covered - you have definitely done your homework. The only thing I see missing is more blue fish. The afra will give you some blue, but the females are kind of dull. If you want Cynotilapia, I'd sub Hara for more blue. I love how the Cynotilapia species change color and barring with mood. If not set on Cynotilapia, what about socolofi or callainos for more blue? Other than that, your plans look great, I look forward to seeing your progress! :thumb:


Definitely put a lot of time into research. Having some experience under my belt from that first tank was huge

And regarding the Cynotilapia, oddly enough I think the Hara was what I was planning to get all along. The site I plan to order my stock from has them listed as Cynotilapia Afra "Hara", so i'm assuming that would be the Cynotilapia Hara.

Thanks for following 



Iggy Newcastle said:


> Nice planning. I bet that rock on the left was fun to haul down the road!


Haha you have no idea. I certainly worked harder for this tank than the last! :x I am NOT looking forward to the part where I have to actually put the rock IN the tank

Thanks for reading Iggy!


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

A quick rock mockup i've got sitting on the floor in my room. Tape would be the tank's area. I generally like it but i'm 50/50 on those two rocks sitting on top

Would love some opinions on the mockup


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

What are your readings out of the tap? gH, kH and pH? Do you have to buffer?

I would put a return for each filter in each corner. Then aim the wave maker towards one of the returns. Put a heater near each return, but you may find one will do the job.

This might help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Iggy Newcastle said:


> What are your readings out of the tap? gH, kH and pH? Do you have to buffer?
> 
> I would put a return for each filter in each corner. Then aim the wave maker towards one of the returns. Put a heater near each return, but you may find one will do the job.
> 
> This might help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds


I'm testing the water this weekend, so i'll post the readings then. I lost my paper with the readings from my previous tank, but I recall the hardness being quite low with a pH of 7.2-7.5ish

Pardon my ignorance, but i'm not quite sure what you mean by return. I'm assuming it's the output? If so, I will be placing them in the rear corners with the heaters nearby as you suggested, but wouldn't in make more sense to have the wavemaker pointing towards the input rather than the output?

I completely forgot about the rule of thirds, thanks for the reminder. I might move that larger rock in a bit more, not sure. I'll likely play around with it a few times over the course of the weekend.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

My bad. I work in the hvac business. Return airflow or water is always going back to a pump/coil/etc. You're right. Pointed towards the intake.

Post back the water tests. It will determine what, if anything, you need to do.

Good luck on the scape.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Iggy Newcastle said:


> My bad. I work in the hvac business. Return airflow or water is always going back to a pump/coil/etc. You're right. Pointed towards the intake.
> 
> Post back the water tests. It will determine what, if anything, you need to do.
> 
> Good luck on the scape.


Hahaha, no worries. Think i'd be ok with 1 wavemaker or should I buy a pair of weaker ones for each intake? Or maybe one for the front length and one from the rear length?


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Spent the day working on it. Everything is hooked up and running, both canisters have old media in them to quicken the cycling process










Unfortunately the lid forced me to change the placement of the intake and output pieces. I'm not too sure what my options are at this point, but i'll probably rearrange them if/when I get a wave maker.

I need to play around with the sand/rocks a bit, I think I need a few more caves


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## notchback65 (Apr 3, 2013)

Tank looks good! :thumb:

As far as options go,you could always make the output a spraybar;not sure what kind of top you have I use aqueon versa top..you can cut the plastic pieces to fit any plumbing.








Also not sure about your temps,but use only 1 heater or just get a little stronger one..

You can always cover up heaters and intakes with plants.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

It's a similar concept to yours, but a little less flexible. It has 4 panels on each lid that can be broken off to make room for piping and wiring. The left side doesn't have any of the panels left while I popped a couple out of the right one to make room. I have the spraybar for the Eheim output but i'm not sure where the best place for it would be with my current setup


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## amcvettec (May 11, 2012)

I've used my Dremel to cut the hard plastic on those lids. Was able to change tips to smooth out the cut as well.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

I don't have access to a Dremel unfortunately. I might make do with what I have, see how the fish once they're introduced. If not, i'll consider other options. Still thinking about a wave maker to help in circulation, but not sure what side to put it on

Also for when I buy my fish, if I plan to stock 1M/4F of each species, I guess the best way to approach this would be to buy more fish than I need, maybe 7 or 8, and rehome/sell off the extra males?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

> Also for when I buy my fish, if I plan to stock 1M/4F of each species, I guess the best way to approach this would be to buy more fish than I need, maybe 7 or 8, and rehome/sell off the extra males?


Yes.



> Still thinking about a wave maker to help in circulation, but not sure what side to put it on


Put it on the opposite side of your canister intake and aim it towards it.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Which intake? I have the Eheim on the left, with it's output aiming to the lower centre-ish area, and the Fluval on the right, which has the output hitting the surface.

And if i'm getting say, 8 each of the 3 species i'm stocking to get my ratio, should I buy all 24 fish and introduce them at the same time or can I wait between each species?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Either or. Sorry I forgot what your picture showed. I'd probably aim it towards the stronger/more gph filter.


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## brinkles (Jan 30, 2011)

You can add all 3 species at once, but it may be better to add whichever species has a reputation as the most timid first, and so on.


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

I have a similar setup to yours... 55g with an eheim 2217 and an AC110. I didn't use the spraybar either and I didn't have any problems with that. The tank has been running for 8 months or so and I have never had to clean the substrate. Those filters are picking up just about everything.

As for the rockwork, I agree with you that you need more caves, but if you buy your fish small enough, they won't mind at first as they'll find caves in tiny openings between rocks. I'd just try to build a higher pile of rocks in one end or something.

Great work so far, keep it up!


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

I think that the Eheim output will do a decent enough job of keeping the front of the tank clean, but the Fluval output break the surface so it's not helping the back much. I may place the wavemaker near the back right, pointing towards the back left to get some flow behind the rocks. I'm hoping that would give me a decent counter-clockwise flow.

Tank's been running since Sunday evening, did a water test thing morning, here are the results:

pH: 7.5
Ammonia: 0.25 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 5 ppm
GH: 3
KH: 3

GH/KH definitely need to go up, i'll look into some kinda of buffer material in the filters perhaps. I plan to add some ammonia tonight, then do readings over the next few days to monitor the ammonia conversion. I'll keep an eye on the pH as well, as in my old tank it dropped fairly quick over time. May have been the driftwood though, not really sure but worked for the last setup

Water is crystal clear at this point, tank looks beautiful. Missing a key component however...


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

I use baking soda and epsom salt to raise the KH and GH. Just find the ratio per 10g (test it in a bucket) that you need to bring those parameters to what you want and then add some everytime you make a water change. I just mix SAFE (to remove chlorine) with the baking soda and epsom salt in a large glass and pour it in slowly throughout the refill process.

My water parameters are very similar to yours out of tap... PH 7.6 GH and KH pretty low under 5.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

I was looking at the buffer recipe on this site as a possible solution, similar to what you recommended. Would I need bags of coral in my filters if i'm adding the buffering powder?

I added some ammonia last night as I said I would, about 10mL. Completely forgot to do a test afterwards however, so i'm not sure what concentration the ammonia was at after the first dose 8)

Even with my blunder, I tested my water this morning. Figures were the same, with the exception of the ammonia testing at 1ppm and the GH testing at 5 instead of 3. Added another 20mL of ammonia, and retested the tank about 25 minutes later. Ammonia came up at 4ppm, so i'll be monitoring it closely from here on


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Keep your ammonia dose under/at 3 ppm. Over dosing can stall your cycle.

If you have some coral try it. It may get you to where you will not need to buffer. Not sure, though. Never had to.


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

I tried the corals in my filter and it did nothing to my KH or GH. I've read that it won't work if your PH is already a bit on the high side. The only thing it did for me was make my filter noisier...hehe.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

I've read before that 4ppm was acceptable, while 5+ were when things start to stall. I'll keep it down to 3ppm next time just to be safe.

I tested again, readings were unchanged from yesterday's test. Ammonia at 4ppm with 0 nitrites, 5ppm nitrates, 7.5 pH, GH/KH of about 4. I'll likely use the buffering powder recipe to raise the hardness. Should be adding it while it's cycling or after?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Add it now. That way you can practice on how much you need to add. You'll be doing it every water change, so may as well get it dialed in.

Did you use established media?


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Yes. I had a few bags of Biomax and some sponge from my Aquaclear HOB that I split amongst the two canisters. I'm worried I added too much ammonia while trying to keep the bacteria alive in the week or so that i was between tanks, and that the concentration in my bucket was too high


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

3 days since last test and 5 since initial ammonia dosing I have some signs of life!

pH is remaining still at 7.5, as are GH and KH at 5 and 3 respectively. I'll work on buffering that tomorrow as well as playing with my aquascape a bit. Ammonia has been cut in half, down to 1 or 2ppm from 4. Nitrites have appeared and are just starting at 0.25ppm and finally Nitrates are at 10-20ppm


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Wait until ammonia and nitrite are both zero, and dose ammo again. Just don't exceed 3 ppm and you should be good. Once you're able to convert a dose within 24 hours and you have a nitrate reading, you're good to go with a strong colony.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Sounds good. I'm hoping it won't be too much longer until I can drop in the first stock. Comparing cycling my first tank versus cycling this one with seeded media....wow...it's like night and day.

When it's cycled, assuming the inventory of the site i'm purchasing from doesn't change, i'll able to add my Electric Yellows and Afras right away while looking around for some Rusties


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

I did have a question about the Afras, or more specifically the different varieties. Looking at the site i'm using, they list the following as being in stock:

Cynotilapia afra
Cynotilapia afra "Hara"
Cynotilapia afra "Jalo's Reef"
Cynotilapia afra "Ntekete"

I'm a bit confused as to what's different between the 4 species. Seeing lots of trade names as well and those are only adding to my confusion. From what I can gather, the main difference is colour. The regular Afras and the Jalo Reef Afras seem to have some yellow near the top of their blue and black barred bodies and top fins, while the Hara and Ntekete are mostly blue with black barring and no yellow. Is my understanding accurate?

If so, which variant would look best with some Electric Yellows and Rusties?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Afra is no longer the 'proper' name, but still used by most people. Cynotilapia are either undescribed and listed as cyno sp. or zebroides. Maybe there's another, but this is what I was told.

Here's a supplier list with current and accepted names of several Cynos:

Cynotilapia sp. ''Chinyankwazi'' Chinyankwazi 
Cynotilapia sp. ''Elongatus Mbenji Blue'' Mbenji 
Cynotilapia sp. ''Elongatus Taiwan'' Taiwanee Reef 
Cynotilapia sp. ''Hara'' Gallireya Reef 
Cynotilapia sp. ''Lion'' Lion's Cove 
Cynotilapia sp. ''Lion'' Mara Rocks 
Cynotilapia zebroides Chimate, Tanzania ''Red Top Dwarf'' 
Cynotilapia zebroides Jalo Reef ''Yellow Top'' 
Cynotilapia zebroides Lundo Island ''Red Top'' 
Cynotilapia zebroides Nkhata Bay ''Yellow Blaze''

Cyno females are generally a darker blue/grey/purple/brown color with lighter accents on their finnage. The exception, that I know of, are the Hara Gallireya Reef. The difference is where they occur(collection point) in the lake, and of course their colors and patterns.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Good to know, thanks for that list. I see Jalo Reef and Hara are on the list, but the Afra and the Ntekete aren't. There are regular names for the fish as well. The Afra and Hara are called 'White Top', while the Jalo Reef is a 'Red Top' and the Ntekete is a 'Red Top Dwarf'. I'm not quite sure what varieties the Afra and Ntekete are

I've been looking at some more pictures. The Hara would make a perfect blue fish for my tank (to go with yellow/black and rust/purple), though I really like the yellow accents on the Jalo Reef. I feel like the all blue Hara would complement the Electric Yellow better than a Yellow/Blue/Black Jalo Reef


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

The list is just what this supplier has available, not a complete list of the genus.

Here's the list of what's on this forum: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/results.php?genus=54


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

My mistake, read it a bit too quickly. I was looking through the species profiles last night, realized my mistake soon after

This mornings water test:

pH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0.25-0.50ppm
Nitrites: 2-5ppm
Nitrates: 40ppm

Ammonia is almost at 0 so i'll add 50% of the original ammonia dose, while waiting for the nitrites to drop back down to 0. Once ammonia and nitrites are 0, I should do enough water changes to reduce the nitrates to around 40ppm. That's the idea correct?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I would do a massive change to get nitrates as close to zero as possible. Your bacteria do not live in the water column. Always keep nitrates as low as possible, and schedule water changes as it approaches 20 ppm.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Ok, i'll do a water change today and bring the nitrates close to zero before adding more ammonia

I've bought some epsom salt, non-iodized coarse salt and baking powder. I'm using the buffer recipe from the library to figure out my concentrations. I don't have a large enough bucket at them moment so i've had to cut everything in half for 2.5 gallons instead of 5


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I would only do a water change if your nitrite is out of control. Testing for nitrate when nitrite is present, can give a false reading.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Alright, i'll monitor it closely and only do a water change if it's off the charts

Here are my results from my hardness test:

pH: 8.2
GH: 21
KH: 12

I added 1/2 tsp of baking soda, 1/2 tsp of non-iodized salt, and 1/2 tbsp of epsom salt to 2.5 gallons of dechlorinated tap water to achieve these numbers, so I just have to up the ratio for a 55 gallon tank.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Added the 55 gallon mix last night, these are the results from my morning test:

pH: 8.2 (+.6)
GH: 26 (+22)
KH: 14 (+11)

Ammonia: 0.25 ppm
Nitrites: 2-5ppm
Nitrates: 40ppm

How do the hardness numbers look. Are the GH/KH what I want for a Malawi tank?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I think they look good. Check the pH again today to see if there is any fluctuation. The higher your kH, the more stable your pH will be.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Was only able to do another test about an hour ago, but pH is unchanged. Here are the readings:

pH: 8.3
Ammonia: 0.10ppm
Nitrites: 2ppm
Nitrates: 30ppm
GH: 26
KH: 12

Ammonia is almost 0, so I added enough to bring it back up to 2ppm or so


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Today's reading:

pH: 8.2
Ammonia: .25ppm
Nitrites: .5-1ppm
Nitrates: 40-80ppm

The nitrites have slowly been lowering over the past 5 days after the initial spike. Dropping to less than 1ppm gives me hope that the cycle will be completed soon. I'll wait for them to read at 0 before redosing a small amount of ammonia to time the conversion process. If that goes well, i'll get my number to 0/0/20 and add fish!

On the subject of my stock, I want a ratio of 1M:4F per species, I would think 8 would be a nice number to purchase to get that ratio before selling any extras. Once they begin to mature, i'll need to vent them in order to guarantee genders correct? Or are there behavioural cues and physical characteristics I should be looking for?

And one more question. I will have Labidochromis Caeruleus and Cynotilapia Hara as 2 of 3 species. I planned for Iodotropheus Sprengerae as the 3rd species, but I feel they won't be quite as vibrant or colourful as the Yellows and Haras. What is another Mbuna that would in this setup?


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## notchback65 (Apr 3, 2013)

Yep your almost there....just be patient :thumb:

I personally think Rusty's are a good choice and the rusty/purple combination looks great;plus all three fish species will look totally different.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Probably gonna stick with rusties at this point and hope the purple comes out more, but i'm open to suggestions. Did another water test this morning, nitrites read at 0, with ammonia at .25, almost there!


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

I've had the following readings for several days now, with the ammonia sitting at 0.25. Is it normal for the ammonia to stall so close to the end of the cycle?

pH: 8.3
Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Nitrites: 0ppm
Nitrates: 20-30ppm
GH: 23
KH: 11


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Have you tried testing your tap or some bottled water for comparison. I have trouble telling 0 from .25 ppm.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

That would be the case. Checked back in my tank journal and sure enough my tap water tested at 0.25ppm. Should I not concern myself with the reading or wait for it to lower to 0 before proceeding?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Well to prove that your tap does/does not have ammonia, I would test some bottled/purified water. My guess is it will match the color of your tap water.


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

I have a Brita pitcher, so i'll test that water vs. tap water and see what's up. I can tell 0 and 0.25ppm apart easily so I know i'm not reading it wrong. That's more of an issue with the nitrates


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Does Brita remove ammonia? If so I'm putting one inline with my canisters! Juuuuusssst kidding...


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Hmm, I guess a Brita wouldn't do jack here, silly me. Guess i'll buy a bottle of water haha

Too bad, a line of Brita aquarium filters would be a funny thing to see


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## mike383 (Apr 25, 2013)

Hi everyone,

Sorry to go cold for a few months, had some stuff happen and I wasn't able to put any time into the tank since my last post. When I last left off, the cycle was progressing, though the ammonia readings were a bit funny. Not sure what to expect with the water quality or my cycle at this time, i'll have to do a test and see what I get. I plan to put some time into it now that things have levelled out so I hope to get back into my updates.


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