My 20 gallon fresh water tank so far

[Fresh2o]

I would do 50% daily water changes for a few days to bring that ammonia down to zero. I think this is a combination of too many fish added at the same time with not enough beneficial bacterial (BB) and not enough water changes. Adding the ceramic media will help but you won't see benefits for several weeks (or however long it takes for the BB to become established). Don't clean or change the filter media. If you have to, merely swish it in the water removed from a water change.


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[stooker]

Well now I checked ammonia , nitrate and nitrite. Ammonia went back upto 4 , 0 nitrate and 0 nitrite. 2 weeks ago I had nitrate even though the ammonia was high. What i'm doing wrong ? I've been doing 25% water changes and adding water conditioner , ammo lock and stress zyme everytime. so 5 gallons every week. Is there a different method I can approach this ? EthanBeltramo thinks my plants to the left are non aquatic , if so could they be the contributing factor to my high ammonia levels ? The water has cleared up a little since adding that UV sterilizer. Thanks again for all your help

Do you know anyone who has an established tank you can get some cycled media from? Or a good LFS?

 

[EthanBeltramo]

Possibly. I too was tricked by the false advisertisenent and ended up with dead fish and nasty plants


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[PerfectDepth]

fishguy22,
Read this:
Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice
and this:
I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

 

[fishguy22]

Thanks everyone for all the replies ! Unfortunately I will be out of town for the next few days starting tomorrow but when i get back I plan on making some changes. My roomates know nothing about what i would want to be done so i'll spare them the crash course. Fresh 2.0 thank you. Stooker not that I know of , could I ask a pets shop to give me some or how does that work ? Ethanbeltramo should I take the risk and throw out those big leaf plants to the left of the pic ? I did some research last night and found out those plants are grown near water sources but not meant to be fully submerged. So I am debating on removing those completely. And thank you PerfectDepth, i read both links and I think I have a better understanding. Since I have a 20 gallon tank it said to always double up the size, like how I have a heater that could heat a 40 gallon tank but its for my gallon tank. So should I get a 40-50 gallon filter for better filtration ?
thoughts ? Aqua Clear Fluval Power Filter | Filters | PetSmart

 

[stooker]

It all depends on the store, if they do it or not. Just tell them your situation and ask if they could help you out with some established media to help seed your tank. Usually fliter floss or something. Prob wouldnt hurt your case if you bought a thing or two for your fish...

 

[fishguy22]

It all depends on the store, if they do it or not. Just tell them your situation and ask if they could help you out with some established media to help seed your tank. Usually fliter floss or something. Prob wouldnt hurt your case if you bought a thing or two for your fish...

thats true, maybe ill buy my upgraded filter but when i do i will just transfer the ceramic rings to the new one right ?

 

[Fresh2o]

I think you can wait until you can get back to remove the plants. They won't die overnight. If you feel that you have no need for them, remove them before you leave.
You can either add a second filter to the tank or swap the filter with a new one and transfer the ceramic media. Or you could do a bit of both: add a second filter and transfer the ceramic media to the new filter. I am running two AC50s on my planted 20g tank.
I would do a huge water change before you leave town.


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[fishguy22]

I went ahead last night and tossed those big leaf plants and did a 50% water change since I wont be home until monday night. Also that UV sterilizer seem to do its work pretty well. My water now is crystal clear. Should I unplug it for the time being since I dont have much BB ? I read that you need to have established BB because if you dont and then add the uv sterilizer it will kill it ? I was just concerned about the bacteria bloom and got it.

 

[fishguy22]

Alright It has been awhile since I posted so here is a UPDATE. So I think I found out my issue when my water perimeters were all over the place. I kept using AMMO lock to lower the Ammonia and I think that made it so the ammonia couldn't be transferred into Nitrate and so forth. So I stopped using it and added API Stress Zyme to boost the biological filter. I added 20mm a day. After about 4 weeks I had great results. So since I haven't made a post in about 2 months here are my initial readings as of today. PH is right around 7 , Ammonia 0ppm , Nitrate is 40ppm , Nitrite is 0ppm. Does that mean that my tank has cycled ? During the 2 months I only lost 2 fish, 1 corey cat fish and 1 orange dwarf gaurmi, but all the other fish are fine and look healthy. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[fishguy22]

So I will be setting up my first C02 setup tomorrow in my tank. I did my research for a week and found out the pros and cons and what to do and what not to do. My build list for this includes AQUATEK CO2 Regulator Mini, a 20oz C02 paintball canister, Fluval CO2 Indicator Kit , AQUATEK CO2-Proof Tubing 16 Feet, AQUATEK 3-in-1 CO2 Diffuser &Bubble Counter Check Valve. Now Should I buy a second timer for the C02 ? I've read and seen some videos saying to turn the C02 on and off an hour after the lights have been on and an hour before the lights go off the plants can soak up the rest of the C02. And I know not to leave it on over night.

 

[fishguy22]

My aquascape looks completely different now and I will be posting update pics soon but my question was does anyone know what type of aquarium grass this is ? thanks

 

[Fresh2o]

The grass like plants appears to be a species of Blyxa. I have B. japonica in my tank and grows/spreads rapidly with the right lighting and ferts.
That green and white plant to the left of it looks amphibious. How long has it been in there?


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[ImACoolguy]

The grass like plants appears to be a species of Blyxa. I have B. japonica in my tank and grows/spreads rapidly with the right lighting and ferts.
That green and white plant to the left of it looks amphibious. How long has it been in there?


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It's what's known as "white ribbon" it's semi aquatic. The leaves need to be above water or it will eventually rot and die.


Caleb

 

[fishguy22]

Alright guys I think I messed up. So I've had my C02 setup in my tank for about 2 weeks, i had it 2 bubbles per second then 2 nights ago i bumped it up more to 4-5 per second. When I got home today i lost a bunch of fish. So I'm assuming I gassed my fish right ? My ammonia was barely reading the scale, nitrite 0 , nitrate 0 and my PH was 6. Now i know adding C02 lowers your PH even though it said 6 could it be potentially lower ? I lost my 3 zebra danios , 1 corey cat fish and 2 of my 3 khuli loaches My 2 Madagascar rainbow fish are fine which surprised the hell out of me and my pleco is still alive. So I immediately did a 50% water change. I have the C02 turned off for now. What is a good rule of thumb for using C02 ? 1 bubble second or less? Yes put a huge damper on my day but its the name of the game and just stuff that happens with this hobby. A learning process. Also some of my cabomba plants died. Can using too much C02 also hurt the plants? Right now I only have 2 10watt 5200k halogen lights.

 

[Fresh2o]

How many hours is the CO2 on per day? What colors are you getting from your drop checker throughout the day? I'm guessing yellow.
Any change in the amount of CO2 should be performed gradually and monitored very carefully.
Try losing half a dozen fish that go for $12 a head to CO2 overload. It stinks.


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[fishguy22]

How many hours is the CO2 on per day? What colors are you getting from your drop checker throughout the day? I'm guessing yellow.
Any change in the amount of CO2 should be performed gradually and monitored very carefully.
Try losing half a dozen fish that go for $12 a head to CO2 overload. It stinks.


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Well right now I have the C02 regulator plugged in with my lights. So they both turn on at 11am and turn off at 9pm. Should I buy a second timer and run the C02 for less time throughout the day ?And Yea I had a drop checker and it was a yellowish green so no good . I checked everything last night and it was going fine. I left for a car show at 8am this morning and got back at 7pm. My roomate texted me around 5 saying abunch of fish were dead. I bet you If i was home today i could of saved some. Any reason why my moss died and a few other plants ? **** dude that sucks !

 

[Fresh2o]

I can't think of why the moss and some plants died. Would not think CO2 would be the culprit.
Since CO2 diffusion methods and effectiveness can vary, BPS counts may be more of a guideline. I'm running around 1-2 BPS and still getting good plant growth.
Yes, I would get a separate timer to control the CO2.


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[fishguy22]

I can't think of why the moss and some plants died. Would not think CO2 would be the culprit.
Since CO2 diffusion methods and effectiveness can vary, BPS counts may be more of a guideline. I'm running around 1-2 BPS and still getting good plant growth.
Yes, I would get a separate timer to control the CO2.


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So how long do you run your C02 for ? Should I only run mine like 4-5 hrs throughout the day? Yea man IDK why the moss went up and died and so did a few plants, the temperature has been at 80 the whole time so no temp shock. And just bump my BPS down to 1 BPS, And I have an airstone that runs 24/7 so that should help with displacement

 

[ImACoolguy]

So how long do you run your C02 for ? Should I only run mine like 4-5 hrs throughout the day? Yea man IDK why the moss went up and died and so did a few plants, the temperature has been at 80 the whole time so no temp shock. And just bump my BPS down to 1 BPS, And I have an airstone that runs 24/7 so that should help with displacement

Just put it on a timer with your light. There is no use running it when the light is off anyway.


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