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peaceablegarden

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Aug 31, 2008
Messages
205
Location
Scarborough, Maine
After some grueling weeks, TANK 1 is finally cycled! This morning my Ammonia was finally 0. Other levels - NitrIte 0, NitrAte 5, pH 6.4. TANK 2 is almost there Ammonia was down to 0-.25, NitrIte 0, NitrAte 5, pH 6.4. WooHoo!

I lost two adult platies and one fry in TANK 1 and three Neon Tetra in TANK 2. We ran the gammut of columnaris, fin rot, and ich. Biggest lesson learned: WATER QUALITY is the most important to keeping fish healthy and is first suspect when fish are unhealthy. Once my water quality improved so did the fish. All of the disease in the was cured by increasing the quality of the water.

How I did it - daily PWC's, seeding material, constant monitoring. I'm glad I finally have a good understanding of the cycle. And how!

Now, mantainance, it seems that there will always be some level of NitrAtes (those get removed with PWCs). How much is acceptable (I think it's below some amount) and how often do I do the PWCs (every week or two) and how much (10-20%)? I suppose it depends on the levels of Ammonia, etc...?

Thanks to the community for all the help!
 
fish can withstand a good amount of nitrates so dont be alarmed if u see them also if u decide on plants for your tank the plants will use the nitrates
 
Maintenance--max 25% PWC weekly is suggested. Once the tank is fully established (weeks of good readings), ammonia will not be an issue. PWC are mostly needed to remove poo, nitrates, and keep the tank looking good!

Congratulations for sticking it out! You will be a happier fish keeper (but I'm sure you already know that!) :D
 
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