FishChannel Forums / Freshwater Forums / A Place for Beginners

125 gal ideas

bichirboi — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:42:42 GMT

So im redoing my 125 gal aquarium that previously housed koi commets plecos and rosies. I lost all of my livestock to a battle with my old crappy filters. I am ready to try again but id like to do it right. So heres what im thinking... id like to have 2 dinosaur bichir, clown loach, kuhli loach, and a black ghost knife fish. My gf would like a few bala sharks as well. I would also love to add a jack dempsy but im unsure about the compatibility of all of these species ive done some research and it seems as if id be able tohouse all of these species together without too much incident as long as they are roughly the same size. Id also like to add a few live plants but i have no idea where to start with the plants. Any feedbak is welcome :-)

Wow! Have Things Changed

MoFish — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 15:30:42 GMT

I have had a fresh water tank many years ago, about 50. As far as I can recall there was no such thing as 'cycling'. I am aware that you have to cycle SW tanks but didn't know that you had to do it for FW.

I have been reading the Fourms and I have a few questions. To start the cycle process you are talking about the Amonia that is under the sink, right? The same amount has to be added every day? How can I expect amonia levels to go down when I am adding fresh amonia every day? I should also do a 10% water change (with Prime) everyday?

I have a 20 Gal. Long tank with an Aqueon 20 filter. Do I run the filter with or without the filter cartridges?

I haven't done anything yet. I am just reading a lot. Nothing is plugged in and no water has been added to the tank yet.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Steve

aquarium cycle- still no nitrates

nicklej — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 17:42:30 GMT

i have had a 20 gallon freshwater aquarium set up for about 4 weeks now and there are still no nitrates i have 4 zebra danios and an alage eater in the tank i have put in api stress enzyme what do i do please help

Help! I have no idea what is going on with my betta!

Jaycee55 — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:32:27 GMT

I have been treating my betta for an outbreak of Ich brought on by my own stupidity (not quarenteening a new fish) and all was going well. Along with the small white spots of Ich, he had a larger bump or cyst (smaller than half the size of his eye) on his tail. It was white and seemed to slough off and get smaller as the Ich spots disappeared so I didn't worry. Even though he looked fine except for a slight remnant of the cyst on his tail which seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, I continued to treat by elevating the temp, slightly increasing salinity, performing partial water changes and adding Melafix. After a few more days the cyst seemed to be growing again even though there were no signs of the Ich spots returning. Within three days it got large enough that it started to rupture while I was watching my fish. I started seeing several of what looked like tiny wiggly white worms (planeria?) in the water and my betta started eating them. As I watched, they seemed to stop swimming (die?), and all was normal. Then as the fish started swimming by again, the same thing happened again. What the heck am I dealing with and what do I do? I have never heard or read of such a thing if it is indeed planeria. And if it isn't planeria, what is it? All through this my fish is eating and behaving fine. Please help!

o dear - what a terrible start.... cycle problems !

skywatcher250 — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 14:52:59 GMT

good evening all - im new here - im Si, i will post a message shortly in the newcomers section so i wont say to much about me here - all i will say is that im technically not new to owning tropical fish... its just been many years and ive stupidly forgotten ! i hope someone can help me...

cutting through all the boring stuff, my tropical 125 litre tank is ready to rock and roll, filter, heater, gravel, ornaments, all washed and thrown in delicately... aquasafe'd 100 ish litres of water ... all good so far. this is where i think i messed up.

LAST time i used stress zyme + 4 Zebra Danio - i think i did a 25% water change daily... that was last time - they all lived and were happy - this time like an absolute wally i listened to the guy at the fish shop, and added Nutrafin Cycle with ZERO fish - in other words i just have nutrafin cycle bobbing around... and now ive read up its doing very little good...

the water HAS gone cloudy, im not sure if this is good or not... my question is this... can i now pretend i didnt add the nutrafin cycle, go out and buy 4 x zebra danio and some stress zyme and bang it all in ... OR should i leave it as it is OR do i need to drain all and start again...

can anyone help ?

thankyou i should have known better - last time i didnt know about the nitrogen cycle and it worked fine, this time i want to do it the right way

p.s. i loved david lass's cycle pinned post - brilliantly informative... once i know how to proceed after this mishap ill follow much of that

Gravid platy

Crazy4fish417 — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 15:03:17 GMT

I have a pregnant platy. I had her in a breeding trap but after I saw a video I decided she wasn't ready. Not sure how long till it happens. Her gravid spot is pretty big compared to how it used to be. The only time I've done this before was when I accidentally bought one not knowing. She started flipping around the tank and died. Not quite sure how to do it and I don't want to go through it again. Learned about how to breed but being inexperienced I wanted to know if there were any tips. Thanks!

Ammonia

Crazy4fish417 — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 09:10:33 GMT

My community tank had an ammonia problem so the pet store said to wait three to four days and do a fifty percent water change. When I did it was .50 which was worse. (.25 last time.) What do I do?

swithching to cichlids

concon525 — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 08:20:19 GMT

Hi all, new to the forum. I have had a successful 75 gal saltwater tank up and running for about 10 years. Had a major catastrophe resulting in total loss not long ago so due to expense i'm switching to fresh water. Would love to raise cichlids but wont be using a 75 gal, want something a bit smaller. Where to start? What size is good?

Week 5 update!

rhbama3 — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:09:57 GMT

I have had a great time reading all the info on here! You guys are great!

Here we go:

The 29 gallon tank is looking good! Still doing weekly water changes and adding MicrobeLift "Start up Blend". The Cobomba, Anacharis, and Anubius plants are growing( Anubius is flowering). Small amount of algae is on driftwood now. I've apparently inherited some tiny snails when i bought that last piece of driftwood. I've got about 10 tiny grain of sand sized crawling around on the glass. I just purchased a Penguin 350 double wheel to replace my single wheel 200. Planning to remove the air pump and airstone as it is really putting a lot of bubbles in the tank and is quite noisy.

Livestock now consists of:

5 serpae tetra's, 2 Platys( male), 2 Zebra Danio's, and 3 Cory cats. Plus the snails i guess. Hoping to add 6 rummy nosed tetra's soon, maybe 2 more Platy's( female)and then 3 oto cats or a bristlenose. Calling it full after that.

Water parameters( using both API test kit and tetra 6-in-1 strips):

ph 8.2, nitrite 0, ammonia 0, nitrate 0, alkalinity 180, hardness 300, and temp stays at 78 degree's.

Comments or thoughts on plans appreciated! Robert

Question about a Betta with ich

Jaycee55 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:32:20 GMT

I have been treating my betta for ich for several days now and he is definitely showing signs of improvement. This morning, however, I noticed a small white spot on his eye. Could this be ich as well? I have never seen it on the eye before and I'm concerned that it could be a secondary infection. Thus far I have been treating by increasing the water temp, slightly increasing the salinity, and adding Melafix. I have removed the charcoal from the filter and done a partial water change which I will repeat tomorrow. All water parameters are within acceptable limits. I would be grateful for any information or advice as I love this little fish and I owe him the best possible life for all the joy he has brought me.

Tank for 5 Goldfish?

BettaNewb — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 15:48:56 GMT

So I have decided to get a goldfish tank. It will consist of
1 Red and White Ryukin Goldfish
1 Red Ryukin Goldfish
1 Oranda Goldfish
1 Calico Ryukin Goldfish
1 Black Moor Goldfish
1 Otocinclus
1 Mystery Snail
2 or 3 African Dwarf Frogs
6 Cories
10 Zebra Danios
5 Ghost Shrimp
What would be a good size tank for all of this? I want to be able to have a tank that would fit all of them as adults as well, so keep that in mind. Also, what kind of filter would you recommend?

Another Question On Cycling

MoFish — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 11:36:10 GMT

I am using ammonia that I purchased at Ace Hardware to cycle my tank. It takes me 10 drops of ammonia to reach 5 ppm in my 2 gallon bucket. So my 20 gallon tank should require 100 drops to reach 5 ppm. Now I plan on cycling by dosing the ammonia daily until I get a Nitrite reading and then cutting my ammonia in half. My question is will this create a humongous ammonia level in my tank before I see any Nitrite at all? I will be running my filter and airstones constantly and raise the water temperature to about 84 degrees. I just wonder if 50 or 60 ppm will be harmful to my tank. Thanks

Filtration

Recalcitrant78 — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 01:16:17 GMT

I haven't kept fish for awhile. The last time I did this THE way to filter a freshwater tank 55 gal or less was under-gravel, power-head, outboard filter. I know things have changed but I don't really know what's new or why or if it's any better. I kept Cichlids for 8 years with the old method but that was 10 years ago. Is there any good reason to deviate from this setup?

just asking

RtBshark — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 01:17:26 GMT

i would just like to know

newbie RTSkeeper

RtBshark — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 20:25:32 GMT

i own a baby rts thats almost 3 inches in length. i've never seen him eat the fish foods that im giving whenever its feeding time. but during the day, it looks like he's eating algae from the stones in the pond. is that enough for him to grow? i was hoping that he would be able to reach 5-6 inches when he reaches maturity. i need advices. thanks

Algae Eater

Mtmikepsl — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 07:52:17 GMT

Hello All,
I'm having problems with algae buildup on the glass of my fish tank and was looking for an algae eater to remedy some of this. I have a 45 gal tank that is tall and was looking at the plecos but I think they would get to big for my tank. I looked at the tiger banded plecoltia but my local shop hasn't been able to find one. I also tried introducing 2 rubber lipped plecos but they passed away shortly after acclimating them to my tank. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Stupid question about feeding

rhbama3 — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 15:14:08 GMT

After a google search didn't really answer my question, i thought i'd ask the experts:

My tankmates consists of 5 platys, 2 zebra's, 5 serpae tetra's, 4 rummy nose tetra's, and 3 peppered cory cats.

The foods i have are Tetra-min flakes and Granules. I've also bought a variety pack of frozen cubes. Bloodworms was the only cube i've tried so far.

Here's the problem: Every time i feed the fish, the Platys and danio's are llike vacuum cleaners. Very little gets past them, and the serpae's and rummys get very little. What little food does get by the P's and Z's gets eaten by the serpae's and rummy's but if it hits bottom, the cory's beat them to it.

So, I'm trying to figure out how to get the Rummy's and Serpae's enough to eat without putting TOO MUCH in. The stupid zebra's and Platys look pregnant after feeding time!

Oh, and the bloodworms were a big thumbs down by most of the fish. They just watched the worms float down to the bottom. The Cory's loved them, however.

Any idea's?

New fish tank and fish

FishRookie — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 14:03:30 GMT

My 3 daughters begged me to get them some fish. So we won't down to the local pet shop to make that happen. They were super sad when we found out that we shouldn't add fish for a few days. The guy at the store suggested we try the seachem water conditioner and take our chances with adding the fish the same day. This is what we did:

Cleaned the gravel and fake sea plants with warm water.
Filled the ten gallon tank with room temperature tap water.
Installed the pump without the filter.
Installed the heater at 80ish degrees.
Put in the Seachem water conditioner per the instructions.
Ran the pump without the filter for about an hour.
Installed the filter.
Threw the fish in. (2) dalmation fish (2) Platy

So far it's been 36 hours and all seems ok. The water is pretty clear and the fish are active and are eating what little we have fed them. Am I out of the woods? After doing some research, this is definitely not the way to go about getting an aquarium started. Are there any steps I should take to increase the chances of these fish surviving? Any help would be appreciated. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing!

A Cycling Question

MoFish — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 07:38:34 GMT

I read that when you are cycling your tank that the water level should be between 50 and 65% because the waterfall effect from the filter will help accelerate the cycling process. What about the heater? Can it break if so much of the glass is out of the water?

Tks, Steve

How Much Gravel?

MoFish — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:45:51 GMT

I have a 20 Gal. L tank and plan on using black gravel. Is 20 lbs. enough and any comments on using black gravel?

Thanks, Steve

Week 3 update (long post!)

rhbama3 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 17:26:08 GMT

Hi Fish experts!

Some start-up background:

29 gallon tank, gravel substrate, Marineland Penguin model 200 Power filter, 4 inch airstone and pump, heater, and single bulb fluorescent bulb. I also added one Flourish Tab. Tap water added to a 30 gallon new plastic trashcan and treated with Tetra aqua-safe. Water vigorously agitated and then stirred occasionally for 20 minutes. Tetra Start-zyme added and then aquarium filled and heater turned on.

Livestock:

I went to the LFS and got two pieces of driftwood that had Anubius plants and some algae growing on them. These came out of tanks full of fish so i was hoping good bacteria had colonized on them. I also bought a set of Anachris. Then i bought 4 zebra danio's for the cycling. I got home and placed the plants. I was highly suspicious when one Danio was dead in the bag when i got home. After acclimating them, one died within an hour, and nother was dead the next morning. #4 looked fine and ate the small pinch of flakes i dropped in. I went to a different store and picked up two Platys to continue the cycling. I wanted to have 4 zebra's so i went back yesterday and bought 3 more. One is very aggressive and spends all day and night chasing the others around. Got home this evening to a dead zebra stuck on the filter.

Zebra's were the recommended fish to cycle with but i'm done with them. The Platys are still doing great.

Water cycling:

on the advice of the LFS guy, i have been using Start-zyme and adding some every two days for the last two weeks. However,i decided to switch to Microbe-lift Special Blend. Boy does that stuff stink up a room!

Saturday, i did a 10 gallon water change while vacuuming the gravel and rearranged the driftwood. All the plants are growing roots and new leaves. The Anubius actually had roots 2 inches longer in just 3 weeks! I also discovered 6 tiny snails on the driftwood.

Water testing:

I have been testing with Tetra Easy strips. I did not get an ammonia test kit because i was thinking it was a given that ammonia woul be produced with 3-6 fish in the tank. Anyway, here's where i'm at:

nitrate: 10, nitrite: less than .5, hardness:150, alkalinity: between 120-180, ph: 7.8, water temp 79 degree's.

overall, the platys are doing great and chasing each other at this moment, the aggressive zebra danio is tormentig the remaining two zebra's, and the plants look great. I plan to add more Special Blend this saturday and continue daily water testing.

Comments and advice appreciated, Robert H.

Making a sandstone cave formation?

rhbama3 — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 11:28:55 GMT

Hi everyone!

First post!

I'm starting a 29 gallon freshwater tank. Currently cycling with 2 platys, two pieces of driftwood out of the pet store fish tanks, a copule of Anubius plants, and 6 strands of Anachris.

Anyway, i eventually want to have some Kulkhi loaches among my reidents. I have a lot of slate and sandstone that can easily be busted up with a hammer. Is there any reason gluing( aquarium sealant) these together to make a formation would be a bad idea? The sandstone is very brittle but survived the koi pond just fine. Thanks, Robert

fish + heater

penguin22 — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 17:18:55 GMT

I have a 5 gal. tank and I want to install a heater, but how can I do it without harming Tiny, my ghost shrimp? And can I add an mystery snail right away, or do I have to wait a certain amount of time? and when is the best time to do it? Please help!

Taking plants out to clean gravel

painterroy — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 12:45:39 GMT

I have a question. I have a 5 gallon hex tank. It's pretty small. With the few decorations and plants I have it will be pretty hard to vacuum the gravel when I need to. Can I take out the live plants and put them back in after cleaning the gravel without hurting them?

How much to feed fish

mistee — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 15:34:25 GMT

This is a new tank, 5 gallons, has 3 small fish in it. Probably 3-4" of total fish length, excluding tails. Guppy, glofish, and neon tetra.

I've heard overfeeding can be a big problem. Currently, the tank seems to have cycled in part, nitrates are there, no nitrites, but ammonia is still there, and probably is because of too much food. (1.5 ppm ammonia this morning treated with Prime, then a 25% water change this afternoon. Now it's down to 1 ppm with Prime.)

I'd like to ask this in a very specific way, I hope it's not completely off base. A "pinch" doesn't work for me, as pinches can be varying diameters and thicknesses.

Let's say theoretically you could lay the fish flakes out in a single layer without any overlap, no flakes stacked on top of each other, if I'm making sense. What size diameter of flakes laid out this way would be appropriate for 3-4" of fish? Assume once a day feeding. Maybe the size of a dime, a nickel?

I have a little trouble with whatever they'll eat in 2-3 minutes, because the tetra tends to linger below waiting for the food particles to sink, and I can never tell if he's getting anything within that time. So after 2-3 minutes, if I put a tiny speck more in and use the turkey baster to shoot it his way, sometimes I'll see him go for it. So makes me wonder if I have to adjust my pinch size.

Also, until I can get ammonia down, is it OK to just feed every other day, and then if it gets to 0, experiment with once a day? Is it OK to feed only every other day all the time?

Thanks for any help.

breeding apple snails

penguin22 — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 14:35:30 GMT

I want to get a pair of apple (mystery) snails. With some luck they will breed. Any tips on how to do that? Or will they do it on there own? And do I need to get a heater? How can I be sure I have a boy and a girl? Anything Helps!

When Can i add more fish to my New cycling 55 gallon aquarium?

voy120 — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 08:07:18 GMT

I most defiantly want more fish for my new 55 gallon aquarium its about 2 weeks into the cycling process.. i have 2 tin foil bars 3 tiger barbs 2 giant danio's and two pink kissing gourami... i would like to add more fish soon i want to know when it is best to do so with my current stock load seeming to be on the upper end of the recomendations i read even for the size of my tank ....overall my water quality is good nitrate and Ph are safe ammonia was on the stress side but i corrected that.. and with all the conflicting things i read about overcrouding its hard to make a good judgement.... 1" per gallon of water and so on.. and considering some of my tank inhabatants are nippers what are some good overall hardy choises? i prefer the flashy side of tropicals but its hard to judge with all my " wants" in mind i am more than willing to compramise because the happyness and health of my tank takes priority.. i am also in need of a good bottom feeder and or alge eater which should i choose i have looked at everything from plecos with does not seem to be an option to many catfish types.. to corys? what would be best sutied for my tank? any help and suggestions basied on experence would be wonderful

Need Help Sick Fish??? New 55 gallon Aquarium

voy120 — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 05:09:50 GMT

Where to Start i have had my 55 gallon fresh water aquarium set up for about 2 weeks now and i have several fish 2 giant danios 2 tin foil barbs 3 tiger barbs 2 kissing gourami . I had a golden dojo loach until yesterday he died devolped a white raised saddle patch by his dorsal fin .. anyways.. my concern is for my gourami.. when i got them home the next day i noticed in there tail fins right in line with the caritlage or bone lines in it. anyways one has it on his pectoral fin as well its been over a week since i noticed this it dosen't seem to have spread to the other fish as there is no visual signs from the second day i noticed it does that mean it not ick or that i dont need to worry what could it be.. also it seems that the tail fin on one of the goriami seems to be missing a chunk or two nothing major but could my barbs be nipping at his fins.. i would like to know what to do any advice would be great i am worried .. additionally my water hardness is nornal so is ph and nitrites are fine only thing off is my ammonia level was in the stress zone yesterday i treated the water then and it has gone down What the deal?

High Nitrates

WindowsDiva — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 16:05:33 GMT

Hi, i previously had goldfish in my 40 gallon tank. 2 to be exact. They passed on. I reconditioned the water . What i mean by that is i took more than half water out and put in new. Waited a week and got two baby oscars. Last week i got water tested and it was perfect. Now i tested it again and nitrates are high. I am using a biowheel 200. i have two air pumps, a couple big fake rock formations, 1 live plant, small rocks covering the bottom of tank. A few other fixtures for them to hide behind. I use a python cyphen when i do a water change to get all the gunk off the rocks and when i do a water change and clean the rocks, the water coming up from rocks looks really clear. The water itself also looks very clean. No fish has died in there. I bought the test strips and the nitrates just read 200...i immediately changed 10 gallons and used a dechlorinator. I am going to wait two hours and check it again. if need be, should i do another water change? if so when? Should i keep doing it until i get a .25...any advice? The ph and nitrites are perfect. The nitrates is only one which is way high. I also do not over feed. I drop a few cichlid pellets and watch them eat.

New 45 Gal Freshwater

Mtmikepsl — Fri, 04 May 2012 06:05:05 GMT

Hello everyone,

Just found this forum and was really excited to join. I am just starting out with an aquarium and work at a local aquarium taking care of the tanks and animals.

I picked up a 45 Gallon 34L 12W 23T aquarium and am going to supply it with a Marineland BIO-Wheel Emperor 280. I am planning on putting a little bit of rocks on the bottom as well as some fake driftwood and real plants and am using Caribsea instant aquarium kon tiki substrate. I tested my tapwater for ph nit amon and alk and it fairs very well and is almost in the range I need so I plan on adding 40 gal tap and 5 gal ro water with some tetra safe start plus.

My question is how many fish can this tank maintain?
Also out of all these fish which would be the best for starting the cycle of the tank?

Here is my shopping list
1 False Bandit Cory 3"
1 Bronze Cory 3"
1 Panda Cory 3"
1 Skunk Cory 3"
2 peppered Cory 3"
6 Penguin Tetra or Black tetra 3"
6 Endlers livebearer (Males) 1-2"
4 Platy 2"
1 Red Tail Shark 5"
1 Tiger Banded Peckollia 3-4"

Thanks for the help

-Mike

Aggressive gold fish

jelb1987 — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 23:24:57 GMT

I won 2 gold fish at a carnival about a month ago and got them set up in a filtered tank and got the proper water treatments for them. About a week after I got them one died. I immediately removed the deceased fish as well as the one that was still alive(Larry) and cleaned the tank and put new gravel in and such. Any way, Larry has grown a lot since I got him, and I had planned on getting another gold fish at another carnival. So I moved Larry to a bigger tank and went and got a second gold fish. When I put the new fish in the tank with Larry, after a few minutes of swimming around the new and much smaller fish, he started to chase it and nip at it's fins, and also kind of push it around toward the sides of the tank and into the gravel on the bottom of the tank. I'm not sure if this is normal or what I should do.

1.5 gallon now/ 14 gallon later

fishgodess — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 16:23:50 GMT

fish i like:
neon tetra
harlin rasbora
guppy
platy
tiger barb
long fin rosy barb
white cloud
ram
krib
can i add a mouth brooder? if so what type of mouth brooder fish will go in my 14 gallon allong with my fish picked?
what fish & how many of these can i put into my 1.5gallon ?
what fish & how many of these can i put into my 14 gallon?

Water changes for Goldfish in Bowl

genworks40 — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 08:26:10 GMT

Before I start, important points I want to make:

1) I know how horrible goldfish bowls are.
2) It is not my goldfish.

I am trying to get this fish moved to a tank, but so far, no luck. So I'm trying to improve conditions for him while he's imprisoned in this bowl. But I don't want to screw anything up.

The bowl holds only a gallon, but is only half full. It's a 4-5" fish. I started doing virtually 100% water changes daily and tests show the fish is putting out 4 ppm ammonia per day. Amazingly, this fish is several years old, I don't know why he's still alive, since he his overfed and has old food stinking up the gravel and only weekly water changes until now.

My question is about the water changes. I hear that changing too much water at once can shock the fish. But if I change only half, he's going to be swimming around in 2 ppm ammonia if I change 50%. By the next day, it'll be up to 6 ppm before changing, and then halved down to 3 ppm after a 50% change.

What is everyone's advice about how often to change it and how much?

Should I add Ammo-lock to minimize the ammonia exposure?

Does Ammo-lock sit around waiting for ammonia to be produced, so I can put in enough to treat 3 ppm (1 dose) and it will treat it as soon as it's produced, or does it only work on what's there at the moment of adding it? I also hear you can put in as much as a triple dose at once -- per manufacturer -- although probably only double is needed with daily changes.

I can do this 5 days a week, but on weekends, I'm not there to do water changes. So the other question would be, assuming there was no water change on the weekend (although there probably is), or the change was on Saturday, leaving a day with no water change, should I alter what I do on the Monday as there will be a greater ammonia buildup?

EDIT: Additional question: I will have the fish in my care for a week. Should I clean the gravel thoroughly, or could this cause the fish to go into shock? I read a story where someone cleaned up too much at once and it killed the fish.

As far as getting the fish into a tank, I almost had the go-ahead to put it in a 5.5 gallon tank I had lying around (better than a half-gallon, anyway), then he changed his mind and said he'd buy a new tank himself. Now I'm thinking it's never going to happen for this poor fish. I can't nag anymore, I just have to do what I can for this fish.

Thanks for any advice.

I need some advices, what in the world should I do?

delris6997 — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 13:51:38 GMT

Hello everyone,
I’ve done some investigation first for the ammonia in my well and for the ph differences of my tank and tap water, I now have some questions for which I would appreciate your opinions:
- Turns out that the presence of ammonia in my well water might be the consequences of a failed coliforms test in my well (but absences of E.Coli) . How bad do I need to take the aquarium down and sanitize it to make sure there is no coliforms (I can only imagine that coliforms at 80 F for 10 days they probably are having a blast in the tank) or can I just get away by treating the water for bacteria and let it sit for a while longer or should I just not worry about it because these are not likely to be harmful?
- For my pH (tap: 7.4 and tank:8.2), the sand substrate is the regular one from petco (I believe silica isn’t it?)and the gravel substrate is actually Activ-Flora googled it up, they come back and forth yes it raises the pH, no it doesn’t, yes…, no…. I put both my substrate to vinegar test none of them liberated gas even after 24 hours of contact . I could go for sand only but how about my plants, could the crypt thrive in sand? What do everyone think?
- My fishless cycling is I believe stuck it’s been 5 day that the nitrites are off the chart and the nitrates stays at 5ppm, the ammonia comes down to 0 every evening. Should I do a water change to bring to nitrites down a little? Do a high level of nitrites slow down the Nitrobacter as any high amount of chemicals could become potentially inhibitors of growth ? (If I have to take the tank down to sanitize it or just replace the water then maybe I should go with a fish cycling (platys perhaps) because this is more or less the traditional way and it works…)
- Oh yes my water has a yellowish-brownish color with no signs of brown algae on glass or substrate (yes there is a driftwook but I got it soak for 2 days in boiling water and boiled it 2 times the third day), What could it be, sight…?

I surely appreciate your input and hope that someday I’ll be in a position to return the favor.
Thank you,
Delphe

Cycling Levels so far

painterroy — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 14:22:37 GMT

After 5 days of fishless cycling in a 5 gallon tank these are my levels. How does it look?

Ammonia 4.0
Nitrite 5.0
Nitrate 40PPM
PH 7.2

Hot Lights -Something cooler?

painterroy — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 00:53:34 GMT

I have a 5 gallon Marineland Hex tank. The bulb in it is only a 15 watt compact fluorescent. It gets pretty hot and heats up the water. Is there any kind of bulb that runs cooler. My bulb seems to heat up the tank to 83 degrees after 8 hours with no heater on.

Betta's and Guppies

urofan — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 01:58:45 GMT

Can you put Betta's and Guppies together? Are Betta's and Guppies for Beginners?

3rd Day into Fishless Cycling - Ammonia High

painterroy — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:05:10 GMT

Ok I'm into the 3rd day. It's a 5 gallon tank & I just got my test kit today & the Ammonia level was around 8.0, very high. So should I do a 25 - 50% water change to get the level down.

If that works, should I keep adding ammonia everyday still?

Goldfish

urofan — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:21:01 GMT

Are goldfish a good fish for beginners? Can you mix orange and black goldfish together?

Brown Algae in my tank ...HELP!!!

eva10051 — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 19:07:36 GMT

Hello

Two weeks ago i changed tanks. I had a 12 Gallon now 26 Gallon. i used the water from the old tank and added new water. I have live plants and wood for decoration. Now im noticing alot of algae build up on the glass and i have this fuzz hairy stuff on my wood. My gravel is white but now it has brown on them. I do have a cat fish and just got a pleco a couple days ago. But so far it's not helping. I have special lights for the plants and keep them on from morning to night. I change my water once a week also. Can you tell me what is making it that im getting so much algae cause i didn't have that problem with my smaller tank but i also had plastic plants in my smaller tank.