Diatoms Galore!

IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS! I can't believe how quickly November has gone, and now how quickly I'm rattling through December. What is particularly exciting about Christmas however, is not only Christmas itself, but the fact that my tank is now officially 100% cycled and come the new year, ready for fish!

Well, perhaps not 100%, but it is certainly practically there. I still have the smallest traces of ammonia, zero nitrites and a nice amount of nitrates which have become established.

I believe the level of ammonia present will be due to me continuously adding old fish food to the tank to maintain the cycle and also the fact that since adding my new plants almost 2 weeks ago, some are (expectedly) doing a little bit of dying off.

The decaying of the plants will also help attribute to my ammonia levels. This teensy bit of ammonia isn't bothering me yet seen as I am not going to purchase any fish until the new year.

So this is what the tank is looking like now! And please, excuse all the algae on the glass.

The tank is in a nice bright spot in my kitchen, has had brand new high voltage light bulbs and I've not bothered to do any maintenance on keeping the glass clean. The reason for this being, is that one type of fish I wish to populate my tank with is otocinclus. Ottos are complete algae lovers, and although you can supplement their diet with algae wafers and various veggies, having some (/a lot) of naturally grown algae in your tank is a good idea for when you first get them. They shall clear that all up quickity quick.

Besides the plants, my tank hasn't been exactly devoid of life. For the last few weeks my tank has been home to loads of little squiddly widdlies (a pet name). I believe they are possibly nematodes or even midge fly larvae. They squirm around my tank for a week or two and then suddenly I have a load of little dead fly all over the surface of the water.

Completely unharmful to fish (if anything the fish'd happily eat them) and have been relatively amusing to watch. I believe I have them since I kept the tank in the kitchen for months with a small amount of water sitting in it and no lid. Now that there is a lid, all the emerging midges are dying on the surface for there is no way to escape and not being able to lay any more eggs. So our neighbouring squiddly widdlies should soon all die out. I must admit, I'm not going to miss the constant midge fishing every morning...

ROLL ON 2012!...