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halp Anonymous
So I'm still cycling my tank for my Blue Crayfish. It's been maybe 2 weeks so far.

Nitrates are maybe at 10, Nitrites are 0, Ammonia is pretty low too, it seems good to go I think.

But my tests say that the water has a high Alkalinity level. That means acid or chlorine in the water right? (Honestly not sure, google hasn't been much help.)

I've been using Aquasafe conditioner so I have no idea what's wrong. Can anybody help me out with this stuff? Maybe I'm doing something wrong?
>> Anonymous
My biology teacher in sophomore year once had a problem with too much acidity in the turtle tanks. She went to the beach and got some of the sand-and-smashed-shell from the water's edge and kept sprinkling some in for a few days until it was the proper pH level. Maybe that could help you?
>> L.M.F.C
Alkaline means a lower concentration of acids. Still googling to figure out what pH these guys prefer, but it seems people keep them with African Cichlids, so they probably like a higher pH, 7.8 or some shit.

You're tanks isn't cycled right if you're getting ammonia readings. I've never kept a blue crayfish, but if they're anything like other inverts they probably don't tolerate ammonia very well. Try getting some Biozyme, Biospira, or some other product to aid beneficial bacteria growth.
>> Anonymous
>>201692
Are you cycling with some kind of fish in?
And I hope you arnt hoping to keep both crayfish and fish togethet. Usualy such attempts end up with missing fish and satiated crayfish.
>> halp Anonymous
>>201702
Well see, the thing is, my PH if fine as far as my tests go, right around 7 if not slightly higher 7.5.

I guess I could try the sand thing next time I go to the beach or something.

>>201707
From what I've found, Blue Crayfish can take PH from 6-8, I guess their pretty hardy but that is a pretty general statement.

Anyway, I'll go to the Petsupermarket tomorrow and see if I can find some of those products. The only thing I've really been using is Cycle so yeah I'll give it a try.
>> halp Anonymous
>>201718
Nope, no fish at all, though in the couple weeks that I have been cycling I have dropped in some regular fish flakes (once a week?) to try and help get the bacteria going.

And don't worry I know, Crayfish love fish. If I ever put anything else inside the tank (Which I doubt I will) I'd put in a surface swimmer or something like that.
>> L.M.F.C
>>201726
Yeah, I'd try one of the others. Cycle is crap, so far as I've seen. It never works for customers.
>> halp Anonymous
>>201767
Damnit to hell, the guy at Petsupermarket said it would work, I knew I should've been a little suspicious!

Just this week they had 2 baby Arowanas die on them, NEW BORNS WITH THE EGG SACS ATTACHED! And they were feeding them feeder guppies! Ok enough of the rant, I'll go check out those products you listed, thanks!
>> Anonymous
>>201770
The only product that realy works, afaik, is biospira. All others have some bacteria, but not the right type, meaning they are fairly useless.
But. You are doing it wrong, and even biospira wouldnt help you. I mean, how can you cycle with no ammonia in the tank? Even if you put a good colony of beneficial bacterias in your tank it would die out of hunger. WTF are you doing wasting time like this? Bacterias can not grow in the tank if noone poops in there. Are you pooping ammonia in the tank, huh?

Or are you doing fishless cycle, meaning adding some amonia every day according to your tests?
Because if you neither have fish nor adding ammonia by yourself then all you really do is wasting electricity running this filter of yours.
>> halp Anonymous
>>201823
Well, I will admit, I'm a little ignorant to the process. I really didn't know you needed to have fish in an aquarium that you were still cycling, lulz. But that does make sense, needing to have shit in your aquarium for your bacteria to grow on. I just didn't exactly know that it needed it.

My Alligator Pleco shits foot long poop strings in my main tank. Next time he does that I'll put it in the cycling tank.

Thankyou for your constructive criticism! I kind of needed that information to begin with.
>> Anonymous
A nice big apple snail is fine too.
They eat and shit like machines.
Great for cycling.
>> Anonymous
>>201827
Its not realy shit that matters, its ammonia. No, there is no ammonia in shit, ammonia is in their pee. So you cant realy take a shit and stick it in the tank.
So you have 2 ways to do cycling. Get a fish or dose ammonia. Get some easy cheap fish (10c platy) and let it leave in there. Biofilter will establish by itself. After you finish cycling you can leave platty in there - if it will survive you will have a fish, if not a crayfish will have a lunch.
Or dose ammonia, try to go about, iirc, 5mg/l. Keep adding ammonia as it will dissapear, do not go higher 5mg/l.
For me platy is easier, but some treehuger dont want to harm fish, so they add ammonia by themselves.
And in general, inverts generate very little ammonia, but at the same time they poorly tolerate ammonia as well. Except snails. They can live in sewers.
>> Anonymous
>>201887

Bah, just pee in the tank and save yourself the hassle.
>> Anonymous
>So I'm still cycling my tank for my Blue Crayfish
>tank for my Blue Crayfish
>Blue Crayfish

;_;
>> halp Anonymous
>>201911
T__T

>>201887
Ah, I remember now, back when I started my first tank about a year ago, my friend said to put in starter fish to see if they'd survive or not. I wasn't sure what the point of that was but now I understand, alright I'll grab some simple fish before I get out of work, thanks!
>> Anonymous
Crayfish are tough as nails, and if you get the right one they usually wont bother fish. I have 7 different species of crayfish, they all require very little care. They like high pH for their carapace, alkalinity isn't a big issue for these guys. The only problem you may run into is him tearing up plants and eating their roots. Or just burrowing where he shouldn't.
As long there is no copper in your tank he should be fine almost no matter what.
>> halp Anonymous
>>202184
Alright, yeah I heard they were pretty badass like that, but I don't think I'm going to risk it.

I might wait till next week, I bought a couple of small convicts today to help the tank move along. I took out took out the background. It looked really fucking nice but without it I have double the space. Plus, it was floating everywhere and fucking up my gravel.
>> Anonymous
>>202274

...the background? was it just a plastic picture? I thought you put those behind the fishtank, not inside...
>> Anonymous
>>202370
Plastic pictures go outside, 3d backgrond (some of them look awesome) go inside. And yes, they can take lots of place.