Mousemommy
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Newbie here-my apologies-this might be long, but the devil is in the details......
Please understand I've been a poor fish-keeper in my past. Now that I have more life behind me than in front of me, I swore to be better. I've been lurking in this forum and found it a great resource and unfortunately a confirmation of my past ignorance......
So to the details:
5G Marineland Portrait.
Planted- with various PetCo plants pre-packed in gel ( rinsed ).
Substrate- Eco Complete.
Heated- Cobalt Micro ( new tonight, it's a replacement of a PetCo version & I'm twitchy--hoping it keeps temp ).
Bubbler- on low.
Cycled- confirmed with API test ( this took me 6 weeks - don't ask, I was an idiot ).
Now stocked with one (1) Male Betta Spendid ( young, under 4 months & active as all heck! ).
All water aged over 24 hrs ( & filtered with one of those ceramic "prepper" type filers ).
Treated with Prime.
Indian Almond Leaf added to ageing water.
After 7 days no PWC readings are:
Ammo .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
PH 8.0
After PWC ( appx 40%? )
Ammo 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
PH 7.8 ( I assume this is lower due to the IAL I just got ).
Since I'm planted & have a substrate, I'm probably more like a 4G, so %'s of PWC are rough estimate.
Duke ( my Betta ) is young and growing. He's been in tank for 2 & 1/2 weeks now. He gets fed 2x per day. I feed him Wardley brand Betta food-- Blue. I have to crush it because his mouth is too small to eat the pellets. This causes some debris, which I use a turkey baster to remove ( as best I can ). He doesn't eat longer than about 4 mins. He lets me know when to stop feeding him. He stops eating & spits his food out.
I use a small animal baby dropper to feed him his crushed & soaked food. He does not eat all I "push" into tank from the baby dropper.
Once a week he gets a fully cooked 1/4 pea ( skinned ) to help him poop.
So, the question is: is my "baby" feeding method causing my Ammo load to rise?
Until he grows & can eat full pellets, should I just do more frequent PWC's?
My ultimate goal is a once a week 50-75% change.
Or do I have a tank issue I need to address and if so, how?
Thank you for the input & advice.
Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice
Please understand I've been a poor fish-keeper in my past. Now that I have more life behind me than in front of me, I swore to be better. I've been lurking in this forum and found it a great resource and unfortunately a confirmation of my past ignorance......
So to the details:
5G Marineland Portrait.
Planted- with various PetCo plants pre-packed in gel ( rinsed ).
Substrate- Eco Complete.
Heated- Cobalt Micro ( new tonight, it's a replacement of a PetCo version & I'm twitchy--hoping it keeps temp ).
Bubbler- on low.
Cycled- confirmed with API test ( this took me 6 weeks - don't ask, I was an idiot ).
Now stocked with one (1) Male Betta Spendid ( young, under 4 months & active as all heck! ).
All water aged over 24 hrs ( & filtered with one of those ceramic "prepper" type filers ).
Treated with Prime.
Indian Almond Leaf added to ageing water.
After 7 days no PWC readings are:
Ammo .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
PH 8.0
After PWC ( appx 40%? )
Ammo 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
PH 7.8 ( I assume this is lower due to the IAL I just got ).
Since I'm planted & have a substrate, I'm probably more like a 4G, so %'s of PWC are rough estimate.
Duke ( my Betta ) is young and growing. He's been in tank for 2 & 1/2 weeks now. He gets fed 2x per day. I feed him Wardley brand Betta food-- Blue. I have to crush it because his mouth is too small to eat the pellets. This causes some debris, which I use a turkey baster to remove ( as best I can ). He doesn't eat longer than about 4 mins. He lets me know when to stop feeding him. He stops eating & spits his food out.
I use a small animal baby dropper to feed him his crushed & soaked food. He does not eat all I "push" into tank from the baby dropper.
Once a week he gets a fully cooked 1/4 pea ( skinned ) to help him poop.
So, the question is: is my "baby" feeding method causing my Ammo load to rise?
Until he grows & can eat full pellets, should I just do more frequent PWC's?
My ultimate goal is a once a week 50-75% change.
Or do I have a tank issue I need to address and if so, how?
Thank you for the input & advice.
Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice