Am I doing it right?

[oneteaspoon]

Got a 100L tank with a ghost knife & a bristle bose cat fish. I tested the water prior to putting them in and ammonia, nitrite & nitrate all 0 but my pH is tipping 8.0 so I managed to lower it to 7.6 over a number of days.

During the day both fish just lay about either under the ordiments or just on the gravel but with minimal movement, a fin flapping. Few days ago I fed them frozen blood worm and I noticed my ghost knife was excited. I read he is nocturnal and fed him after lights out. In the morning all the food was gone.

They just look sad and lonely. Can I get another 1 or 2 cat fish and a beta fighter? Or is there something wrong with my tank/fish?

 

[blert]

How long has this tank been set up?

I wouldn't get any more fish just yet.

 

[oneteaspoon]

It will be a week in 2 days and I know I should of done a fish less cycle but was talked into getting fish right away. I'm testing water daily, did a 30% water change last night as the ammonia test showed slight green/yellow & this morning my fish look a little happier

 

[blert]

Please check out the threads in the stickies of the 'Getting Started' forum. You are going to be doing a lot of daily water changes.

 

[HN1]

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

The tank will be too small for the knife if it lives long and grows well. Welcome to AA & GL!

 

[oneteaspoon]

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

The tank will be too small for the knife if it lives long and grows well. Welcome to AA & GL!

I don't research on the ghost knife and knew it would grow. But I didn't want to commit to a massive tank just yet so if he is still alive (I hope he is) ill invest in a larger tank for him

 

[ejaramillo01]

It will be a week in 2 days and I know I should of done a fish less cycle but was talked into getting fish right away. I'm testing water daily, did a 30% water change last night as the ammonia test showed slight green/yellow & this morning my fish look a little happier

I think that you answered your own question, the possible levels of ammonia could be the reason of why the fish look lethargic. I agreed with the recommendation of NO adding more fish yet.
Read carefully the link provided by HN1, and follow the directions there to fully cycled your tank (with fish).

 

[Fallout801]

Yeah, with amm, Trites and trates all reading zero you have a lot of work ahead of you if you want to keep those fish alive. The even more aggravating part is that it's going to take even longer to get your tank cycled out with all of the water changes you'll be doing. The first thing you want to see is your ammonia rise and stay stable enough to start bacteria production( and hopefully not off your fish.) After ammonia goes up you'll see your nitrites go up, fallowed by nitrates. When I got this result I slowly started doing 15 to 20 percent changes every other day to rid my tank of its excess ammonia ( to much ammonia or bacterial biproduct can hurt your bb more than help it ). I did a fish in cycle with a pair of jewels who went from pink to pale, and then switched those out for some Abn plecos toward the end of my cycle. They all lived but it definitely took its tole on the stressed out female and male jewel. ( by the way were at the tank surface gasping for air when the ammonia spiked)

 

[oneteaspoon]

I've got this product called stability which is ment to help avoid the water changes (I think). It's 3am here so I can't be bothered reading it's exact role. It's very expensive and I was wondering as I'll be doing ALOT of water changes do I need to add it? I'll keep up the water conditioners regardless of price.