fishy cycling, high temps, now white fuzz?

[Xena45]

Hey,

I have a 15g tall tank, w/ AC HOB filter. It's been setup since..... end of March?, but only had one fish in it until the beginning of May. For a while it had 4 female bettas in it, now it has 3 (two of the girls couldn't get along w/ eachother). It finally started cycling in the middle of May (i.e., I finally got some ammonia readings). After a while, the ammonia went away, and the nitrates showed up. My tank reading has been 0 ammonia, .25-1 nitrites, 0 nitrates.... for weeks and weeks. Today it's the same, but I think the nitrate reading is closer to 1 mg/L.

I've been doing 2-4 approx. 30% pwc per weeks, for weeks. The readings never change. Is this cycle ever going to end?

The fish seem happy and healthy. I only feed as much as they eat. They have gotten some frozen bloodworms a few times. I added 3 Walmart plant bulbs about a week ago. They are growing, but don't look so good, I think because I haven't been turning on the light so much because it's so HOT.

the tank is hovering around 82 degrees. I'm trying not to turn on the air conditioning to keep our electric bill low. can the girls deal with these temps? it's been almost a week of high temps.

Also, I just noticed two small clumps of white fuzz on one of the fake decorations - a plastic thing that looks like a piece of gnarled wood. Grr! Any ideas what's causing it? I vaccuumed, and there just isn't much garbage down there. Could it have to do with the heat? is it bad for the fish?

My horse seemed sick last night too... turns out it was just the heat, and he was also a little dehydrated. I love summer, but it's hard on the animals.



Any advice would be appreciated!

X

 

[Xena45]

oh - and the ph is high.

And I use StressCoat to condition the water before I do any pwc. I let the water sit a day or two before I do the change.

Thanks again,

X

 

[krap101]

probally uneaten food

im sure 82 will be fine.

 

[mr86mister]

82 is fine for bettas, they actually prefer temps a bit above 78...80 is said to be ideal(but who knows, the bettas never tell us anything), the white fuzz...hmmm....but i think your tank has already cycled....it just wasnt a noticeable cycle and no change, but is that possible people?

 

[Jchillin]

A cycled tank will have 0 NH3 & NO2, along with a significant NO3 reading (10-20ppm). What type of test kit are you using? Have you done any deep gravel vacuuming or changing of the filter media?

 

[Xena45]

okay, I'm sorry, I can't type. My first email had a typo in it that is confusing.

I have no nitrates in this tank, and haven't ever had any. For the last 3 weeks or so, I have had consistent ratings of about:

0 ammonia
.25-1 nitrite
0 nitrate.

At the time I wrote the first email, the nitrites were closer to 1 (not nitrates...that was the typo). I'm using a master test kit with all the little test tubes and stuff. I just keep on with doing pwc's 3-4 times a week.

The fish still seem happy and healthy though.

thanks for your help!

X

 

[Xena45]

no, no deep gravel vaccuuming - I did a little vaccuuming a few days ago, and the gravel seems pretty clean. (I have few fish, the tank is newer, and I don't overfeed).

I have not changed the filter media since the tank was set up.