laga77
New member
Stated a new 120G FOWLR tank on 12-2. I used all dry rock and gravel to start with. To start, I added enough ammonia to read between 4-8 on a API test and set the heaters to 83F. I then added about half of a small bottle of Dr Tim`s One and Only which was left over from starting my Seahorse tank a couple of months ago and has been sitting in my freezer per instructions on the bottle. On 12-4, I added a small bottle of IO Bio-Spira, because I was not confident that the Dr Tim`s would still be good after 2 months in the freezer along with a softball size piece of rock from the sump of the other 120G tank. The next day, ammonia was at 2ppm so that tells me the Dr Tim`s was still good. On 12-6, ammonia was 1ppm and nitrite shot up to 5ppm. It would stay there until 12-11 when I could see the nitrite start coming down. Each day I would add enough ammonia to read 1ppm. I ran out of ammonia on 12-10 and threw in a cube of mysis. 12-13 saw the nitrite go down to 1ppm. This morning, 12-14, ammonia and nitrite are both 0, and a Nyos nitrate test is reading between 5-12. The skimmer has been running the entire time to oxygenate the water. The lights have also been on and there is a slight covering of algae on the rocks. Nothing serious. I just turned down the heater to 78F and will give it another 2 days before doing a 30G WC and then adding the first fish if nothing bad happens. The cycle of the Seahorse tank took 20 days. I believe it took that long because I did not raise the temperature. Final cost for two tanks was $28 for the ammonia and bacteria. A good investment for not having to stare at empty tanks for another couple of weeks.
