Yeah I should of probably mentioned that from the beginning as it would of made my explanation easier:o I'm roughly following this guide Source: Fishless Cycling - Tropical Fish Forums No I haven't used real plants before so I will look forward to the snail explosion:D I don't really think there be a problem as the Axi will most likely eat the small ones and feel free to chip in thats why I started a thread
Well so far so good my tank now appears to easily cope with converting roughly 5ppm of ammonia to nitrates within 12hrs so I think it will be nearly cycled in a few days:D although I'm going to keep feeding it ammonia for a couple of weeks to let the plants establish a bit before I go sticking something in which might disturb them:WINK1: I also had some luck in a cheap bargain basement shop in town and picked up a tub of large "River Stones" (nothing of the sort they just look like rocks which have been sand blasted and then polished) for £1 which I'm currently soaking in aged water to see if they effect the water parameters and they already passed the vinegar test which is nice so it looks like I'll be going back for a few more tubs! only slight disappointment I've had is that the Vallisneria (or Sagittaria still confused) plants aren't doing to well and the leaves are progressively getting more and more brown:( although on the plus side I didn't like them all that much anyway [IMGLINK]http://i.imgur.com/rAlEGl.jpg[/IMGLINK] [IMGLINK]http://i.imgur.com/rVmdhl.jpg[/IMGLINK]
I have always used living plants but never had snails, unless introduced ie Golden on Zebra. I have had two mountain Shrimps for over six months now and live quite peacefully with the fish. Neve mixed inverts with fish before but they seem ok. Let's see some pics of the Axis
haha I will:D I think I'll get one for Christmas or the beginning of January I'm in no great rush and I want to make sure it's all perfect, I received my sponge filters today which I'm going to link up to a double outlet aquarium pump for my filtration as that means more aeration and less current movement:o
Well I've purchased my Aquarium Pump a Hailea ACO 9602 which appears to be unhealthily popular with hydroponics users for some reason either way it looks good for the money and I've also purchased 4m of 4mm air line tubing as well as some rubber suckers to hold it to the back of the tank so I think once all that arrives next week I will be pretty much set-up
Well I've just been offered two Axolotls by a lady a few miles away but I'm a bit unsure as there a "sibling pair" which I don't really think is a good idea to begin with but do I really want the hassle of flogging the eggs constantly or in this case giving them away as I wouldn't want to sell them as anything other then what they are:fingerdrum:
Well still no Axolotls:o however I've now got my sponge filters in and working off of a "silent" air pump apparently and all can say to that is ******** but it's bearable shut in the draw so it's okay I've also managed to nick the cable of my other internal filter which I was going to run to seed the new sponge filters so that's off and just sitting in the tank as I'm not taking any chances so hopefully that will be enough next on the list is to get a condensation tray and also a new daylight bulb and move the tank to a new colder location (it's currently next to the wall which backs onto the airing cupboard with the old boiler which means the temperature can fluctuate anywhere from 18-24°C)
