Cycling.

You will need to buy a test kit. I purchased ‘Salt Master Liquid test kit’ off EBay for £8. Don’t let the guy in the shop sell you one for £50 as most testing you won’t need, as you’re using R/O not tap water.

Go round a few Aquatic stores and find some nice Fiji rock. You will need to buy fully cured rock, which is almost all an off white colour. It’s expensive around £10 a Kg! don’t be tempted to buy of EBay.
I bought 7kg to start with and simply placed them in the tank. Turn them over a few times in the tank to release any trapped air.

You can use Milliput to cement the rocks together, I would wait untill your totally happy with your tank setup and arrangment.

I left my tank alone for a further three weeks. After a week or two the rock will go brown. Don’t worry it will clear up.

Follow the instruction supplied with your test kit and test for PH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

Levels.

PH: Should be around 8.2, mine is 8.1

Ammonia: Should always be zero, mine has never risen above this.

Nitrate: Always at zero

Nitrite: This level should be kept as low as possible. Mine is stabilised at 35ppm, 40 or less is recommended.

All levels will rise over time; regular water changes will stop these levels rising. For the Orca I have found 15% water changes every two to three weeks keeps all my levels stabilised.

Changing the water is the same act you performed to fill the tank. First unplug the spray bar, then empty water using a jug. Be sure to catch as much surface water as possible where fat deposits are floating.
I empty the water into the car wash bucket until it’s around three quarters full. I will also rinse out the filter medium in the old water once every month. Sometimes putting the filter sponge back in is difficult, and can push silt back into the tank. It will clear up within half an hour, and doesn’t harm the fish too much.

[email protected]