Cycling advice for holidaying newbie

[mrmikemaynard]

Hi All,

I'm very excited to be getting a 36x24x18 tank and cabinet delivered from Aquariums for Life today. It's felt like an interminable wait - only actually 3 months - and I've spent much of that time planning and reading this forum. I kept Tropical fresh washer fish as a teenager, but almost 20 years on, this will be my first ever properly planted tank.

I will be away for a week in mid-July and two weeks at the end of August. Whilst I know it's difficult to know with certainty how long a cycle will take, I want to settle on a plan factoring in that I won't be able to do water changes whilst I'm away and I'd rather avoid the risks that come with auto-feeders whilst my tank is immature. The other bit of context is that I'm quite good with delayed gratification! So ..

My substrate will be a mix of Tropical Aquasoil (18l) Seachem Flourite Sand, and lava rock. There will be a dragon stone and darkmoor wood hardscape (which I've been soaking/cleaning for a while). No plans for CO2.I'm thinking of:

1) Setting up the hardscape this week
2) Filing and letting run whilst I'm away for a week (10-17 July), without any light.
3) Adding plants in mid-July, stating with a short light period (6 hours or so)
4) Starting to stock from early September.

I have two questions. A) Does this seem like a sensible plan? B) More specifically, will my aqua soil leach enough ammonia for long enough to keep my cycle going? Or is there a risk that it will crash if I wait 6-7 weeks before adding fish.

 

[Guest]

I would set the whole tank up before you go, get it fully planted and get the light on a timer. Get some floating plants in there too.

I don’t see the point of dark starting freshwater aquariums, and the plants will work magic from the start, kind of.

You will basically skip the first rough week, and when you get back do a large water change, quick scrub and continue as usual.

 

[mrmikemaynard]

Thanks . Just realised I missed an important point in my plan, that I don't want to stock before start of September as I don't want to be worried about feeding/ not checking water parameters whilst I'm away etc. I recognise that your advice might still stand, but would welcome views on my original question b, given my plan to stock in September.

Updated version of original plan.

1) Setting up the hardscape this week
2) Filing and letting run whilst I'm away for a week (10-17 July), without any light.
3) Adding plants in mid-July, stating with a short light period (6 hours or so)
4) Starting to stock from early September, after returning from holiday (last two weeks in Aug)

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Welcome to UKAPS,

I have two questions. A) Does this seem like a sensible plan? B) More specifically, will my aqua soil leach enough ammonia for long enough to keep my cycle going? Or is there a risk that it will crash if I wait 6-7 weeks before adding fish.

I would set the whole tank up before you go, get it fully planted and get the light on a timer. Get some floating plants in there too. ........ The nitrogen cycle is kind of mute in a planted tank, with regular water changes.

What @ says. Have a look at <"What is the “Duckweed Index” all about?"> it is a long thread, but it will repay reading.

You don't actually need to worry about the cycle "crashing", in some ways "cycling" is an <"entirely artificial construct">.

Where we differ from most forums, LFS etc. is that we've actually talked to scientists about the <"microbial assemblage in aquarium filters"> (and we don't <"have anything to sell">).

They are linked in above, but have a look at

• <"Correspondence with Dr Ryan Newton - School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee">
• <"Dr Timothy Hovanec's comments about Bacterial supplements">

cheers Darrel

 

[Scaperinc]

Dark start perfect for holiday start

 

[simon_the_plant_nerd]

You know when you forget which forum you’re on. I thought “Ooh lovely! I wonder where he’s going to ride his bike.”

 

[ElleDee]

If you set up mid July, you should be fine to leave it for a couple weeks months later. However, don't be surprised if you come back to a dusting of diatoms. That is just about the time they show up and it's a phase you gotta get through.
The first couple months can be rough as the tank matures, but you are in the right place to get advice on how to minimize these issues and contend with any problems that crop up.

 

[LMuhlen]

Acknowledging that there isn't a wrong answer, I'd stick to your plan and do the dark start. I see it as an aid for the common turbulence of the first weeks. I'd recommend it even if you weren't going to be traveling, but if you are, even more interesting as you won't be able to react to an eventual algae bloom that could hurt your newly set plants.

 

[LFNfan]

You know when you forget which forum you’re on. I thought “Ooh lovely! I wonder where he’s going to ride his bike.”

I thought exactly the same thing! Followed by 'Why am I not in the Off-topic sub-forum?' Now I have my bearings and can get into the thread!

 

[azawaza]

pedal hard, full gas.

 

[Iain Sutherland]

Hi Mike and welcome to the forum.
There isn't any benefit to starting before you go, the time would be better spent putting your hardscape in and staring at it, tweaking your layout to be sure of your plan until you get back end of august.

Stability and consistency is the key to success, be patient and plan well. Having two weeks absent, meaning no water changes in the first month is asking for problems. 👍

 

[mrmikemaynard]

The tank arrived as planned, and my wife said: "it looks much nicer than I expected!" Win!

Thank you all for the responses. Got lots of reading ahead of me! But @dw1305 and @ I'm hearing, spend less on testing kits, and more on plants. @Iain Sutherland I'm hearing be patient. I should have saved that money on next day delivery for soil for more plants in future!

There have been some advocates of dark starts, and others for getting plants in asap, and others more interested in my cycling exploits. After reflecting on all, I've decided I'm just going to take it slow, just like my cycling around the very hilly Crystal Palace where I live. Not least as my wife is so impressed with how the empty tank looks she's willing to consider it going in my preferred location which means recruiting some mates to move a large bookcase. The wait will be worth it in the end, I hope!

Thanks again, guess starting a journal might be for the best to update and get advice on different topics in future??

 

[LFNfan]

A journal can be a cool way to record your tank's development (for you and for 'watchers'), and a helpful reference / context to link to if / when you are asking more specific questions in one of the other sub-forums.
As well as keeping my journal (patchily) and having a bit of 'chat' in that thread from time to time, I tend to ask for advice on a particular topic by starting a new thread in the most relevant of the various sub-forums eg changes to my dosing regime in the Aquarium Ferts Dosing sub-forum, 'what's that white blob on my fish?' in the Fish sub-forum etc. It seems to work well as an approach.
Looking forward to seeing your tank...all in good time!

 

[PARAGUAY]

A lot of the approach you take is what works for you, in my case doing large (,as you would with a CO2 new set up) 50% water changes in my low techs gradually from daily to one a week in the first few weeks reduces algae considerably and less diatoms but l think heavy planting helps and you can eventually reduce to 30% a week, once your plants take off

 

[mrmikemaynard]

Filling her up: Advice please om floating wood
I got some helpful advice on cycling here: Cycling advice for holidaying newbie I ended up following @Iain Sutherland 's tip to take my time. So whilst my tank arrived in early July, I didn't put any water in until the end of August. In in the meantime, I tinkered with the hardscape in the tank: I really enjoyed just tweaking a little bit for 15 mins a day over the course of a couple of weeks. And I enjoyed my holidays without having to worry about stuff going wrong in the tank.


Water went into today. Hurray! And hurray for not flooding my flat! I used a a fish tank hook tap with valve connected to a hosepipe connected to my shower hose to fill it up. I've got a small pump for water changes. This was much cheaper than buying the Python water changing system and the valve gives lots of controls. Not a single drip. Pretty pleased.


What I'm less pleased about is...

My floating wood! I left it soaking again for a couple of weeks whilst away, and it had sunk in the container it was in, but when I filled up the tank, it floated. I emptied the water, and tried supergluing one piece into place, and put a rock on another piece. It seemed to be working -phew
But as the tank neared full, it broke loose. Damn. I only glued two points, perhaps that wasn't enough. I'm not sure what to do...just wait, or try more gluing.

I'm leaning towards waiting, or getting a big heavy rock to weigh them down. Got lots of plants arriving tomorrow somit would be helpful to have them in the their near final position... Any tips?

 

[mrmikemaynard]

Filling her up: Advice please om floating wood
I got some helpful advice on cycling here: Cycling advice for holidaying newbie I ended up following @Iain Sutherland 's tip to take my time. So whilst my tank arrived in early July, I didn't put any water in until the end of August. In in the meantime, I tinkered with the hardscape in the tank: I really enjoyed just tweaking a little bit for 15 mins a day over the course of a couple of weeks. And I enjoyed my holidays without having to worry about stuff going wrong in the tank.
View attachment 221968

Water went into today. Hurray! And hurray for not flooding my flat! I used a a fish tank hook tap with valve connected to a hosepipe connected to my shower hose to fill it up. I've got a small pump for water changes. This was much cheaper than buying the Python water changing system and the valve gives lots of controls. Not a single drip. Pretty pleased.
View attachment 221969

What I'm less pleased about is...
View attachment 221970
My floating wood! I left it soaking again for a couple of weeks whilst away, and it had sunk in the container it was in, but when I filled up the tank, it floated. I emptied the water, and tried supergluing one piece into place, and put a rock on another piece. It seemed to be working -phew
But as the tank neared full, it broke loose. Damn. I only glued two points, perhaps that wasn't enough. I'm not sure what to do...just wait, or try more gluing.

I'm leaning towards waiting, or getting a big heavy rock to weigh them down. Got lots of plants arriving tomorrow somit would be helpful to have them in the their near final position... Any tips?

Apologies I posted this in the wrong place. Meant to put in a journal I've started Post in thread '36x24x18: Good things come (I hope!) - Newbie' 36x24x18: Good things come (I hope!) - Newbie

Thanks again for your advice on the above.

 

[LMuhlen]

Using a rock to weigh it down is the easiest solution if the shape of the wood allows for it and you don't have any immediate need for a presentable layout. It may take a few days or even a few months for it to stop floating, but it gets there eventually.