It’s really interesting to watch the difference in the natural Aquarium Cycle between my 20 Gallon tank and my 55 Gallon tank.  In the 20 Gallon tank the Ammonia levels began climbing starting on the fifth day after setting up my Aquarium and putting in my first set of fish.  The ammonia levels first went to 0.25 ppm for a few days, then climbed to 0.50 ppm for a few days and then went as high as 1.00 ppm for a period of 4 days before going back down to 0.50 ppm and now slowly dropping down to 0.25 ppm and less over the last few days.

Obviously the Cycle in my 20 Gallon Aquarium is well under way.  As for the 55 Gallon, it seems like the same thing is happening except much slower.  It took almost 10 days from setup and putting in fish to get the Ammonia levels to start going up.  They first climbed to 0.25 ppm for a few days, then 0.50 ppm for a few days and now have been at 1.00 ppm for about three or four days.

I’m keeping an eye on the Ammonia levels every day to make sure they don’t end up going any higher than 1.00 ppm.  I’ve also been adding in a few cap fulls (5-15ml) of Cycle into the tank on a daily basis to help establish a healthy population of beneficial bacteria.  My tests also show that my Nitrate levels have started going up as well in the last few days which means that the bacteria that convert Ammonia into Nitrate are starting to form nicely.

I did also do a 20% water change today in hopes that it will help to lower the Ammonia levels a bit.  I’ll test the water again tomorrow to see what’s happening.  So far the fish seem to be doing fine at the 1.00 ppm levels of Ammonia but I don’t want to stress them out too much so if the levels go up any higher than that I’ll do another partial water change while I wait for the biological filter Cycle to establish itself.

I also picked up a school of 8 Baby Cardinal Tetras for my 20 Gallon tank the other day and they seem to be doing very well in that tank so far.  I may end up either putting them in my 55 Gallon once it finishes Cycling, or I may move the one adult Cardinal Tetra I have in the 55 Gallon right now into the 20 Gallon tank.  I don’t like it being there by itself.  Tetras prefer to live in schools so I think the single one I have in the 55 Gallon is lonely right now.

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Yesterday I went out and bought a new 55 Gallon Tank with a Stand from my local Big Al’s Aquarium Supplies store.  I’ve been looking around for a nice stand and the only ones I liked so far are at Big Al’s so I decided to get it there along with the 55 Gallon Aquarium.

This is going to be my main tank, and I’ll probably use the 20 Gallon as an intermediate place for some of my smaller fish or new fish I bring from the store as a mini-quarantine system.

Here’s what I ended up picking up yesterday for my setup:

• 55 Gallon Aquarium Tank
• Glass Aquarium Canopy
• Aqualight T-5 Light
• Some Gravel

I was going to also pickup a Rena XP3 Canister Filter, but they were sold out.  So, today I went over to King Ed’s Pet Supply and picked up the following to add to the setup:

• Rena XP3 Canister Filter
• Some Filter Media
• 300 Watt Heater
• Thermometer
• Aquarium Background
• A Bit More Gravel
• Cycle

This is a picture of the setup with just the stand put together and the aquarium and background installed.  It’s not the best picture as it was a bit dark, but you get the gist of what it looks like.  I’ve got the gravel in there now, the filter and heater setup, and I’m letting the filter run it’s course to go through the water while the heater brings it up to the correct temperature.

I’ll try to take some more pictures soon so you guys can see what it looks like lit up.

My New 55 Gallon Tank

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