# new 56 column



## ElChef194 (Dec 25, 2011)

just finished putting together new to me 56 column tank. same exact one Rob72 has. lightly planted w/ no real driftwood as of yes. gonna add withe each paycheck. added cycle starter and using AC50 filter with fluval 250w heater. tank is super cloudy despite having rinsed the gravel, my hose was just a little to rough when adding water, and i stirred up a bunch of residual dust. pics to come.


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## Rob72 (Apr 2, 2011)

next time you do it put a plate on the gravel and let the water hit it, it will help not to stur the gravel up when adding water to the tank


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## scooterlady (May 10, 2011)

Do you have any source of ammonia in your tank...fish, or fishless cycling?


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## ElChef194 (Dec 25, 2011)

scooterlady said:


> Do you have any source of ammonia in your tank...fish, or fishless cycling?


fishless. i had some nutrafin cycle...bacteria in a bottle...leftover from a buddy's 55 build. it is the first time i am using this to cycle the tank. i also threw 5 gal of water from my 30 gal tank, and the filter i am using...AC50... was also on the 30 gal tank, so there is plenty of bacteria to start a colonizing. preformed a water test this morning and my ammonia has not spiked yet. i am real low on my test chems so i am gonna give it a while before i test again. my water is still pretty cloudy, i think once it clears up i will test and see where i am at.


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## ElChef194 (Dec 25, 2011)

Rob72 said:


> next time you do it put a plate on the gravel and let the water hit it, it will help not to stur the gravel up when adding water to the tank


i did let the water hit the faux driftwood piece when i adding water to the tank. and i did not mention before, when i added the gravel, i had it in abt a gal of water to add plants in wet substrate, liquid fert for plants, cycle starter, and water conditioner. the water was so murky i couldnt see the gravel underneath.


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## ElChef194 (Dec 25, 2011)

so, water cleared up signifigantly. using old aquarium water from my other tanks certainly helped speed the process along. i harvested some of my plants from my 29 gallon to plant this tank. i am into the nitrite spike of the cycle, which are right around 3ppm. at this rate i can expect to have fish in by the end of next week! my ctenopomas will look so awesome in the tank, i know it!


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## Rob72 (Apr 2, 2011)

good deal glad its going better


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## ElChef194 (Dec 25, 2011)

woke up today and tested my tank, as it was crystal clear last night @lights out. water params are as follows:
Amm: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: ~10ppm
pH: 6.8

FISH IN TODAY!! 

edit w/ pics to come!


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## Subaru4wd (May 6, 2011)

8 posts and not a single picture??? 

Fail! *old dude


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## ElChef194 (Dec 25, 2011)

Subaru4wd said:


> 8 posts and not a single picture???
> 
> Fail! *old dude


subaru, i know it was a fail w/o pics but uploading to forum requires transfer of pics from phone to comp, and i have spent all morning uploading and organizing all of my tank photos. it was a pain in the butt i have been putting off.


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## ElChef194 (Dec 25, 2011)

finally able to put new driftwood in tank today. hauled it out of a local creek 5 days ago and have been sun-baking it since, although i had to bring it inside when it rained the other day. so, today i drenched it in boiling water (had 4 big ol' pots boiling away on the stove this afternoon- used roughly 15 gallons of water) to sanitize it as best i could and i am very confident that all parasites and bugs are gone or dead. when i put it in the tank, i had to move plants and substrate around alot, so i stirred up a lot of dirt. i also had to remove 3 gallons of water to cover for displacement, and i took that opportunity to rinse some of my filter media. gonna cover it 2/3 way up with moss and put some corkscrew vallisneria and anubias at its base with a grass bed around the rocks on the right side of the tank. gonna do that sometime next week, will post pics!


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## Rob72 (Apr 2, 2011)

looks really good, like how you put the driftwood in it, looking great


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