begginer-fish id

[big flipper]

i have just started a new tank and am having problems with high nitrites and filter blocking up, i was missinformes when i bought the tank and dint know enough about stocking levels,and also bought, some spieces and WERE SOLD TO ME AS COLS WATER FISH, but infact they are tropical, now i think well i dunno what to do as they all seem to be getting along ok but i think i would like to seperate them into their correct species and living parameters, i need to ID them as i havent recorded what speicies i have and would like to know what i have does ony one know what web site posts pictures and what sort of speices they are and what living parameters they like...........thanks im desperate!!!!!!!!!!

i have to keep cleaning out my filter like 2-3 times a week as it is bloking up and its not from over feeding as i only feed them once a day and it takes them like 90 seconds to devour their food and no scrapes at all and they just love the plants as well yum yum......

i emptied out everything 4 days ago and started again and my water parameters are;

day 3 on cycle
water temp- 25 degrees celcius
ammonia- 0.60
nitrite- 0.50
nitrate- 0.00
ph- 7.3

are these parametees normal?????????

 

[Menagerie]

[center:0d1b10132e] Welcome to AA, big flipper! [/center:0d1b10132e]
Since you are cycling, the parameters are normal.
Read these three threads on cycling and ask Qs as needed.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=101&highlight=
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=25680&highlight=
Ultimately, you want 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and up to 40 ppm nitrate. Since you are cycling with fish, you will need to do water changes often to prevent the fish from getting ammonia or nitrite poisoning.

If you can't post pics of your fish, please describe them and we will try to help. www.liveaquaria.com is a good place to start looking.
What kind of filter are you using? If you do not know, please describe it.
How large is the tank?

 

[big flipper]

30 inch tank, with aqua clear 300 watt heater, weipro tc-500 internal filter, 26 in bubbler hose, 8 assorted plants, river gravel substrate,15 assorted fish. size is approx 20 gallons

ok i have found most of the speicies but on my journey's i will find the rest of them, here we go

1 bristlenose catfish
1 platinum lyretail molly
1 black and white spotted molly
1 black skirt tetra
1 platy
2 dwarfe gourami's???????? i think????? they were sold to me as female fighters but they sure look like gouramis to me
6 neons
1 black moore
1 oranda
2 unidentified catfish-they are long and thin with like goldy strips around them,
1 bubble eyes
1 gold fish he has a black strip down his back
and another two other fish which i will find but i think they are tropicals as well

lots of fish in a small tank....................hhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeellllpppppp

 

[Menagerie]

I have never heard of that type of filter. Maybe someone can help find the answer to why it's clogging. It's not full of plant matter, is it?

Good luck with the fish IDs and go ahead and describe some of them (or all of them)--the members here will try their best to help!

 

[big flipper]

when i clean it out the filter that is it seems to be quiet dirty like dirty muddy water dirty, ive been washing it out in the tank water not in the tank though do you think it may be because i have to many fish and to many plants in my tank, i am so scared i will bugger up the cycling of the tank if i dont leave the filter alone but i need to clean it as there is no water flow

 

[Toirtis]

Well, you have a mix of coldwater and tropical fish there. I would first think about seperating the goldfish from the tropicals....and as for cycling, fishless-cycling would have been much better, but since you already have all those fish, if you cannot return them, then you will likely need to do twice daily water changes of 30%-50% just to keep the ammonia levels below fatally toxic during the cycling process. 25ºC is good for the tropicals, but a bit warm for those golds...another resaon to find them their own tank.

 

[big flipper]

when i clean it out the filter that is it seems to be quiet dirty like dirty muddy water dirty, ive been washing it out in the tank water not in the tank though do you think it may be because i have to many fish and to many plants in my tank, i am so scared i will bugger up the cycling of the tank if i dont leave the filter alone but i need to clean it as there is no water flow

 

[Menagerie]

What are you using as substrate? How large are all the fish?

 

[TankGirl]

I think you have too large of a tank for an internal filter, and too many fish for it as well - you will likely have an extremely sluggish cycle with this setup. Look into a good HOB, like an AquaClear or a Penguin, or Emperor.

Also second the idea to separate the goldfish from the tropicals.

 

[big flipper]

the substrate i am useing is a river gravel it's a fine light brown gravel approximately 2-4mm in size, i also has 8 small plants which are doing very well dont know why but they are thriving even have 4 little plants of mondo grass that is thriving as well.

i must say thanks for all your help so far i think i really need some experinced help at this stage and not someone who just wants to sell sell sell, so thanks very much

i dont own a digital camera, but i will try to borrow one from work so i can take pictures of the tank and fish for you all here.

 

[big flipper]

ok i have taken out all the goldfish now and am only left with the tropicals there, hopefully they will be ok or maybe some more of them may have to go back to the shop,i tested the water parameters again last night and the results were a little horrifying well i think they are;

water temp-25 degrees celsius
ph-7.2
ammonia-0.70
nitrite-1.80 !!!!!!!!
nitrate-3.00


also i think the filter maybe filling up with old plant matter from the tank as i seen some roots and leaves stuck to the bottom of the inlet last night,
i read the box and it told me that it pumps at 600 litres per hour is that enough?????, as i cannot fix a HOB as around the edges of the top of the tank is plates that the two top lids sit on so there is now way i can have one unless next time i empty the tank completly i take it to a glass cutter.

 

[big flipper]

i think maybe the problem with the filter is old plant matter getting in the intake of the filter, i seen some old roots and bits of leaves stuck to the intake last night, the manufacturers say the filter works at 600 litres per hour is that ok for the tank????, i calculated the tank size it is 21 gallons and i know have approx- 23 inches of fish as the goldies have gone from there.

i tested the water again last night, chech this out;
water temp-25 degrees celcius
ph-7.2
ammonia-0.70
nitrite-1.80
nitrate-3.00

 

[Menagerie]

21 gallons is about 80L. You should have a filter that turns over the water 6-8 times per hour, which would be 480-640. If all the measurements are correct, your filter should be good enough, but it's not.
What are you using as a substrate--rock, sand, dirt?
You need to do a 50% PWC to get those nitrites down immediately. Then, 20% PWC to keep the ammonia and nitrite down. In a fully cycled tank, there should be no detectable ammonia or nitrites. Nitrates up to 40ppm are tolerated by most fish.

 

[big flipper]

the substrate im using is 2-3mm river gravel, light brown in colour and have about 8 smaller plants.

if i could at some time modify the top of the tank to fit a HOB what brand and what size would you all recommend?????

also with the plants in my tank they are doing quiet well but would co2 injection help alot more and i have a 20 watt flouresence light as well is that all enough or what would you recommend?????

 

[jsoong]

2-3 mm gravel, that's pretty fine <1/8 inch>.... did you rinse out the stuff before putting it in the tank? Fine gravel have lots of sand/dirt mixed in, unless you rinse lots, there will be lots of muck coming out in the tank. May be that's what's clogging up the filter as well?

No CO2 injection -
1. don't complicate things during cycling ... get one thing done before the next.
2. plants can't use extra CO2 unless you have enough light - 4wpg <80 wattts in your case> or more before you should bother thinking about CO2.
3. plants are doing well - no need to mess with success.

PS - if you are thinking of CO2, you won't want a HOB filter <CO2 get lost in a HOB>, a small canister will be what you need - should you plan to go that route.

I second the immediate water change to reduce nitrite & ammonia ... They are reaching dangerous level ....

 

[Toirtis]

if i could at some time modify the top of the tank to fit a HOB what brand and what size would you all recommend?????

I like AquaClears....a 200 or 300 will be quite sufficient.

 

[big flipper]

i cleaned gravel extremely well before i put it into the tank, but were the internal filter is directly beside it was a plant called an onion plant and the fishh used to eat it alot and since i have removed it which is five days ago the filter hasnt blocked up ahain well so far it hasent so thats a good thing.

i do have a question though can you keep two dwarf gouramis in the same tank safely and also have tetras with them?????????

and also my flouro light is a single 20 watt set up so how do i make it like about 60-80 watts or can you by special wattage globes for them or do i have to get a whole new set up????

 

[big flipper]

 

[big flipper]

ok it is now day ten (10) on the cycle of my tank i now have 6 neons small, 2 dwarfe gouramis, 1 tetra, 1 molly, left in the tank.

water parameters are;

water temp-25 degrees celcius
ammonia-0.10
nitrite-3.50
nitrate-35.00
ph-7.1

i also did a 20% water change last night to try and bring down the nitrite levels, but i cant understand why they are so high and the ammonia levels are way down????
would it be because of rotting plant matter??????

is this cycle ok or do i need to do more water changes????

 

[Menagerie]

The cycle is doing fine. You get a spike in ammonia, followed by a spike in nitrite and then nitrate rises. You already have nitrate, but I am not sure why. Nitrite is poisonous to fish. You should do a 50% water change and add some aquarium salt to help the fish get through the nitrite spike.