Confessions of a newbie

[ElwoodPDowd]

Hey chaps!

Got myself an aquarium for the first time a month ago, thought I'd share with you how it's going so far, so you can point me in the direction of all the terrible mistakes I've unwittingly made!

It's 62 litres, I'm keeping it at around 26degC. I have the filter pump going most of the time, and spout air through it for about 8 hours a day (until I get whinged at for the noise, anyway).

I got the tank around a month ago, set it up with white gravel substrate, a bunch of plants (and two mossballs) and a chunk of driftwood. I squirted in a good jollop of filter startup juice (presumably some sort of nitrogen-fixing bacteria) with another couple of mL every other day for a week. I didn't even think about testing for ammonia/um or NO2/3.

A week later, I went and got 10 little neon tetras to buzz around in it. Which they do, happily, though they're a bit shy. I changed about 20% of the water at the end of week two, and squidged in another jollop of the bacterial gloop.

At the start of week three, I lost one of my tetras. Poor little guy. I don't know what from; my spangly test kits say ammonia's a little higher than it should be but it's been dropping steadily, and everything else is as it should be!

So here I am at the middle of week four; I decided to give my little guys some company. First I went to the nearest big aquarium and scrounged a bunch of algae (I know, I know, mad to put algae in) and let it sit about for a few days. Then, I went and got the new friends.

My LFS (Woo, I'm down with the lingo) provided me with four mollies (three very pretty dalmation girls, and a silver boy who is no doubt having the time of his life) and a beautiful wee plec. Sadly I've completely forgotten the name the chap in my shop called it by (diplomat? something like that).

The plec is being very shy (well, I prefer to think of it as coy), but the mollies are real characters. They come up and say hello, and they eat everything that's not bolted down. Lovely wee guys.

Here's the plec, in case anyone knows what variety it is!

 

[SWerner13]

It sounds like a decent start however if you have any ammonia or nitrites at all then you are only compounding that problem with the addition of friends. You should probably pick up a better test kit (API's Master Freshwater Kit is a common one) or take your water to your LFS (took me forever to decipher the lingo) for a regular testing. The neon's are often a bit sensitive so its likely that he was lost due to the cycling of your tank. The regular water changes will help will all the pollutants quite a bit. I'm glad your having fun though keep it up and don't worry about mistakes to much we have all done it, at least you are on here learning. It took me longer than you to try and learn for myself.

 

[ElwoodPDowd]

Thanks for the speedy reply

I'd assumed if the ammonia was going down it would be OK - I can do daily 10% water changes until it settles. I certainly don't want anything else to die... the neon going ventrals up got me all emotional. If the mollies karked it, it'd be at least twice as bad, since they've all got really distinct characters. Whereas I can't tell the neons apart so just call them all the same name.

Incidentally, if anyone knows an easy way to make cucumber sink for my plec, I'd love to hear it!

 

[SWerner13]

But you gotta think about the fact that you added 5 fish that will produce more waste than the 9 you have already... Not trying to put a damper on things just making sure you understand. And 10% will be ok but it would be much better to do say a 30-40% water change every other day. If you don't wanna buy a test kit or take it to get tested the only way to be sure of clean water is lots of larger PWC's (partial water changes). Also alot of people just use veggie clips. Try peas as well. Cook them till they are soft and then peel the skin off your other fish will love those as well.

 

[ElwoodPDowd]

Bigger water changes won't be a problem, nothing's too good for the wee pups. Like the peas idea!

 

[gzeiger]

If ammonia is "going down steadily," what did it start at? Usually if you see a drop in ammonia one day for any reason other than a water change, you should be at zero the next day and ever after. What is nitrite at exactly?

Tetras and mollies will be happy in that tank forever, but you do know the pleco will grow to over 2 feet in length right?

 

[ElwoodPDowd]

When I get home from work, I'll test and post the ammonia/nitrate/nitrite numbers.

I'm prepared to get me a bigger tank when the plec grows up big and strong, but planetcatfish informs me that these ones (Inspector/Snowball plecs) generally grow to around 6". If he outscales the tank, I'll upgrade

I found a way of making cucumber sink, too. Boil the **** out of it!

 

[ElwoodPDowd]

OK, ammonia's gone back up a little, to 1ppm. Nitrite is at 0.25ppm and nitrate is 15ppm. Off I go to do another 50% water change!

 

[SWerner13]

Keep up the water changes man, I'm glad you have the dedication to treat your fish right during the cycling process. Try and make sure you keep it below .5 ppm or you might start having problems with your fish. Keep us updated.

 

[ElwoodPDowd]

Did another 50% PWC late last night, since ammonia was still high (1ppm), nitrates were rocketing (20-40) and the fish were gasping. They seem good this morning, no losses overnight. I'll re-test this afternoon, if ammonia's still up they're in for another PWC!

 

[SWerner13]

If nitrates are going up then you almost at the end of your cycle! keep up the water changes and you will be in clear soon. After you get everything balanced you won't need to do water changes nearly as often, just check for nitrates and see if you need to change the water.

 

[ElwoodPDowd]

Re-tested this afternoon, and things looked grim. Ammonia up again, to 1.25 (ish, 1.0-1.5). Nitrites up to 1 (!!) and nitrates down to 10-20. Could I have buggered up the cycling with my PWC's?

Did another 50% PWC after that reading, two hours later as I'm heading to bed, readings are pH 7.6, ammonia 0.75, nitrites 0.5, nitrates 30.

Hope I'm nearing the end of the cycle, poor Zig (the snowball plec) doesn't like these water changes!

Still, if I manage to keep the majority of the tank complement alive during this cycle, I'll be ecstatic. And definitely buying some sort of siphon soon, buckets and saucepans are not ideal!

 

[joy13]

You might want to try Prime water conditioner it helps with ammonia problems.
Water changes are very important when you cycle with fish.

On an off chance does any of your friends have a healthy tank that you could take some substrate or even some plastic plants from to jump start your cycle?

 

[SWerner13]

Keep up the water changes as much as possible. And a Python or something comparable is an amazing asset. Mine is comparable and cost only around 24 I think. It can be risky but if you have no friends available to help you out then the LFS can be of some help. If you trust them and think they are reputable then in my experience you can ask if they have any seeded media to buy (they are always willing to make money) but joy is right, a trusted friend is much better.