Water change

[Jaxi]

Ah thanks I'm trying! Can you please tell me if putting lots of plants in helps the process or not and is there an ideal temperature?

 

[Jaxi]

Another plant question... Does gravel need to be a certain depth for plants to do well?

 

[jcolon]

It's only tough at the beginning . Once your tank is cycled, stocked and established...all you've got to do is feed em, do your routine pwc's and cleaning...and enjoy.

Fish keeping really is much simpler than it appears...setting everything up initially is the challenging and potentially stressful part. You've already got a lot of things going for you since you're asking good questions and are open to advice.

+1 with Eco23 ... he could not have put it any simpler ... the difficult, stressful and often times most expensive part of this hobby is getting the tank established. Once it is established ... just routine PWC's, filter maintenance and proper feeding is all that's needed.

An established tank is everything ... it's what allows you to add fish with minimal PWC's, it's what allows you to leave for a few days ... and still have healthy ... albeit hungry fish when you return. More importantly an established tank will save you $$$$ as your stock will be in a healthy environment ... so no need to do much fish replacement. Just add de-chlorinator and water ... that's it.

 

[eco23]

I'm not super knowledgeable about plants (jeta is the man with that stuff), but fast growing plants like Anacharis are great absorbers of ammonia. There's even a technique called "silent cycling" which involves heavily planting your tank (my understanding is ~50% of substrate) with fast goring plants, and trusting them to help keep toxin levels down while you SLOWLY stock the tank. It's not as easy as add plants + add fish = cycled tank...there's a lot more to it than that, but fast growing plants will only be a help in your situation.

As for temp, the beneficial bacteria prefers warmer temps (77-86), but it won't make a dramatic difference in your situation.

 

[jcolon]

Ah thanks I'm trying! Can you please tell me if putting lots of plants in helps the process or not and is there an ideal temperature?

Plants can take up ammonia and nitrates as nutrients ... so I feel plants can be a vital part of a happy healthy aquarium. Plus live plants can provide oxygen, provide cover, even food to some fish ... but also provide an aesthetic look that plastic plants just don't measure up to.

Plus if you go with the right type of plants ... not that much more is required. See the link below ... it will give you a good idea of what aquarium plants are available. I'd suggest go with low light plants to start as tank lighting is the vital component to keeping live plants.

PlantGeek.net - Plant Guide

I would say a minimum substrate depth of 2 inches ... but you can go up to 3.

 

[alex07]

I agree, plants will help decrease toxic exposure on the fish. That is why I asked yesterday if you have any plants.

 

[Jaxi]

Thanks for that. I have the light on for about 8 hrs a day. A long pink tinged light. I think 36 watt. Is that ok for the cycle to work ok or doesn't it make any difference. Think I'll put some more plants in as I love them!

 

[eco23]

The light being on or off won't make any difference. I've heard arguments on each side...but through experience I don't believe it makes any measurable difference. During a fishless cycle we recommend keeping the lights off simply to prevent algae, but one thing which will be important is keeping your plants alive and healthy. Dying and decaying plants will leech more ammonia which will only compound the difficulty of cycling with fish.

 

[Jaxi]

A bit of algae is wanted though as this is natural for the fish. Is that correct?

 

[eco23]

Every healthy tank should have some degree of algae from what I know. The key is balance where it's not a major issue.

 

[JimmyA]

If you just have gravel as a substrate, you'll need to use some aquarium fertilizer tabs placed next to the roots for plant growth. Also, I modified my light from 17 watts to 55 watts, 5600 K. Before I did these things, all my plants were dying.

 

[Jaxi]

Going back to the water change issue. My tanks cycle has finished. I did it with 4 mollies, testing and several water changes. We want to get 2 fish today. Will the nite levels change? Will I need to do a water change sooner to accommodate? Should I just test in a few days to see what's happening? So many questions! Basically I need the next steps after cycling. Thanks.

 

[jetajockey]

If the tank is reading 0 ammonia 0 nitrite for several days then you are good to add a few fish to the tank. Just be sure to keep testing regularly to see if the toxins spike at all, if they do then water change accordingly.

 

[Jaxi]

If the tank is reading 0 ammonia 0 nitrite for several days then you are good to add a few fish to the tank. Just be sure to keep testing regularly to see if the toxins spike at all, if they do then water change accordingly.

It has been 0 on both for a few days. When you say spike are we talking a slight change or a big change like the spike when it was cycling?

 

[jetajockey]

It has been 0 on both for a few days. When you say spike are we talking a slight change or a big change like the spike when it was cycling?

Any consistent reading of ammonia or nitrite is a cause for concern.

 

[reefdiver]

Jetajockey is right. What I do is a water change before I add fish. I think it will give me more wiggle room. I would also guess how much filtration you have would help you.

 

[Jaxi]

Jetajockey is right. What I do is a water change before I add fish. I think it will give me more wiggle room. I would also guess how much filtration you have would help you.

I have an eheim pro external which seems massive and very efficient.
So do you still do a water change even though your readings are good? Does this help the balance when the new fish go in? If there is a change once the fish are in will it alter back to 0 naturally or do you need to do a water change to get it back to 0?

 

[jetajockey]

I have an eheim pro external which seems massive and very efficient.
So do you still do a water change even though your readings are good? Does this help the balance when the new fish go in? If there is a change once the fish are in will it alter back to 0 naturally or do you need to do a water change to get it back to 0?

I do frequent water changes also to keep the water pristine, the bacteria will eventually convert any toxins but the idea is to keep the fish safe until it does.

 

[Jaxi]

I do frequent water changes also to keep the water pristine, the bacteria will eventually convert any toxins but the idea is to keep the fish safe until it does.

Got you. So you water change regularly regardless of readings. How often do you check using the tests?

 

[jetajockey]

Rarely, if ever. Sometimes, even in established tanks, freak things happen, I have really soft water so I've had some random pH crashes. If I see a dead fish I might test, but usually I do a water change and keep watching to see how things go. Having dozens of tanks and some heavily stocked makes a dead fish now and again not a real shock, but still.

Well established tanks rarely need to be tested, just on a as-needed basis if something goes awry.