DIY - Projects & Ideas • My Odyssey- Building a 100G Tank into my Living Room Wall

[cantrell00]

I would not exceed 1.0PPM on the ammonia dose though..

[CITADELGRAD87]

I picked up a KH kit on the way home, tap and aquarium water is identical, 89.5, 5 drops of the API kit solution.

I checked the nitrite, it's at .25, the lowest reading so far, 36 hours after the first re dose.

To re dose tonight, I dropped the ammonia back a bit, and tested 20 minutes after dosing confirming 1.0 ppm of ammonia as of 6 tonight.

[CITADELGRAD87]

24 hours after re dose to 1.0 ppm

Results, discouraging, ammonia, .5, maybe a shade under, nitrite, .5

Kh 107.4. All readings checked twice. Same results each time. Grrr.

[cantrell00]

Stay the course.. You have to be close...

[CITADELGRAD87]

Normally I'm a patient guy, see this thread for an example, but this is killing me. I am doing water changes in the 50 every 2 days, nitrates are fine with those, but the new fish are pretty big and I feel bad that they aren't in the new home.

It doesn't help that every single person who looks at the in wall says, "What, no fish yet?"

[Agridion]

Normally I'm a patient guy, see this thread for an example, but this is killing me. I am doing water changes in the 50 every 2 days, nitrates are fine with those, but the new fish are pretty big and I feel bad that they aren't in the new home.

It doesn't help that every single person who looks at the in wall says, "What, no fish yet?"

I went through the same thing that you are going through. Everyone was giving me a hard time because I had it set up with water in it for about a month before I put fish in. It took a while for the Ammonia and Nitrites to drop to zero. I didn't do a water change until the nitrites dropped to zero and dosed the Ammonia up to 3-5 PPM daily.

[CITADELGRAD87]

Ok, tonight, two days after a 1.0 ppm dose, both ammonia and nitrates are at 0.0

I re dosed tonight, stay tuned folks.

[newforestrob]

sounds promising

[Pizzle]

I put a blanket over the tank when I am doing a fishless cycle. The main reason is that the algae require light while the bacteria that we want to nurture does not need light. This way the bacteria does not need to compete with algae. The added benefit is that I don't have to look at an empty tank and get all those questions about why there are no fish in it.

[CITADELGRAD87]

Tonight, and I say this with the utmost sincerity, YIPPEEE.

After three weeks of cycling, and dialing back the doses each time, last night I measured approximately 1 ppm 20 minutes after dosing, and tonight, 0.0 ammonia and 0.0 nitrite.

ETA--redose tomorrow, or maybe start small water changes to get the nitrates down in the 20 range so I can add some....fish?!?!?!

[dsouthworth]

Finally! Here is where the fun begins!



I may have missed the post, but what happened with the TV project?

[newforestrob]

congrats,it has typically taken me around three weeks aswell when seeding with established media-the few times that I have done it

[CITADELGRAD87]

Finally! Here is where the fun begins!



I may have missed the post, but what happened with the TV project?

It's completed, I will take some more pictures when I drop fish, I cannot wait for tomorrow.

The TV is awesome to me, I got it up off the floor and it's semi recessed into the wall. Surround sound is all hooked up, and we started watching movies again.

[CITADELGRAD87]

OK, today was a GIGANTIC day in this project, today we finally added fish. We have been enjoying them all evening, and I figured it was time to report my progress to everyone who has been following along this long project.

Last night, I did a 20% water change, this a.m. I did a 20% water change, and at least as far as my API kit could tell me, the water parameters in the 50 were identical to the 100 water parameters, Ammonia, nitrite at 0.0, nitrates at 20ppm, temp 78.

First things first, dsouthworth remembered that there was also a TV aspect to this project, so here is the TV totally completed, surround sound hooked up:



Here’s the other half of that wall, after the plants were put in place, they are java ferns and annubias



Here is a close up of the totally cycled and plant prepped tank, all we need is some fish!



Then I broke down the rock piles in the 50 and started netting the new tenants, here’s a shot of the big boys in the waiting room



Baby pool



Yes, that is a blizzard of poo, I told them it would be a lengthy trip, but nobody ever goes before they leave home.

Cover me, I am GOING IN!!!



Here are some photos my wonderful wife took while I was dropping the new tenants in from the back, the start of the parade, first two in:



Official finish was Tangerine Tiger 1, lithobates a close second

Adult swim! Here is 15 seconds of quiet bliss before the kids are released



Here come the kids!!!



And with that, the fish part is done. My sister in law shot video on her iphone of the whole fish drop, if anyone can tell me how to put that on youtube I will gladly do that. It gets dark at about 5, and the room is pretty dark, so I didn't get any photos of the tank with the fish after they got comfortable, so it looks empty.



The night lights were cool before the fish, but now it’s amazing





As of 10pm local, 5 hours after dropping the fish, ammonia is 0.0, nitrites 0.0, nitrates 20 ppm. I didn’t really expect it to climb at all in 5 hours, but I will be monitoring these parameters every 12hours for the forseeable future, we will see about water changes. I withheld feeding yesterday, today and will again tomorrow, then I will lightly feed until I am secure.

My brother in law and sister in law were over for the fish move, they have been following along, we all sat afterwards and just stared at them, getting to know them as they develop personalities, playing in the current from the jets, the tank is very peaceful right now, I did have to net out the yellow peacock, he was a typhoon of agression against every fish he laid eyes on except the catfish, so I threw him back in the 50 and I will look at a different yellow peacock, open to suggestions on that. My wife was very pleased with the final product, she thought the newest fish, the lithobates, Taiwan Reef and Tangerine Tiger were too big, but she has revised her position.

I still need to play with the secret door closing mechanism, and add some shelves, switchplate covers, a bit of drywall, and I am going to use up the rest of the soundboard covering whatever I can reach inside the room. I also need to pain the secret door, or it isn’t much of a secret.

I will post some more on this thread until I call it totally finished, but I think today was my favorite part by far. A thousand thanks to everyone who has helped me on this thread, on my many other separate threads, and in Pms, Tim, Cantrell, BradyK, the guys at Fishtankdesigns 3d who made that wonderful background that the fish are so crazy about, SteveC, everyone, I am not omitting anyone, I just cant remember everyone’s names.

[Steve C]

That looks excellent man you have some beautiful fish in there

I know it was a ton of work but I bet now it seems all worth it sitting there watching them in their new home.

Job well done for sure