Beginning to feel hopeless with my two tanks

[nessybehr]

I've had two established tanks for a year now. I didn't do fishless cycle. Made silly mistakes in the beginning. But now I know I have decent knowledge but I'm starting to have issues again, losing fish. Ammonia spikes on and off lately in my 35 gallon so lots of water changes. On of mish ended up with fish rot do i have to treat the tank. In my 10 gallon my ph went up to like an 8? I have guppies and danios in it that doesn't make sense to me. I'm beginning to want to rip my hair out.

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[BBradbury]

Hello ness...

Get some floating plants into the tanks asap. Anacharis and Hornwort are the best natural water filters available. Small tanks less than 20 gallons are difficult to keep clean. I'd keep it for a hospital tank at best. Keep your fish in the larger tank and get it planted. Feed a little every three days and change half the water an hour or so after feeding. Do a good job of vacuuming the bottom of the tank too. Test the tank water frequently.

B

 

[nessybehr]

Thanks so much. My 10 gallon is super clean surprisingly but idk what's with the ph. I was thinking about removing some gravel from my 35 gallon it's about 6 inches deep.

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[nessybehr]

10 gallon and 35 gallon

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[Brookster123]

Interesting background on the 10 I agree with b.. Get some anarchis in there to help with the water quality..can't hurt anyways..

 

[nessybehr]

Ok thanks. Yah sorry I'm an artist haha

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[Brookster123]

Ok thanks. Yah sorry I'm an artist haha Sent from my SM-N900T using Aquarium Advice mobile app

no apologies needed!! Interesting is good!!

 

[nessybehr]

I came home to another dead guppy in my ten ahhhhhhh! My zebra danios are perfectly healthy though. Ugh

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[mudraker]

You might want to try testing your tap water and tank water before and after PWC. You might be surprised.

Any new stuff in the tank lately, new fish? new décor? Some things, like aragonite, marble and other mineral type rocks, will leach alkali into the tank, causing ph to jump.

I know someone who kept getting mini cycles in their tank, it turns out they were putting dechlor in the tank water, but refilling through the top filter and the chlorine in the tap was killing off all the bb.

Also, you really shouldn't keep substrate deeper than 3 inches, it will cause anaerobic conditions in the lower part of the tank.

As for the finrot and deaths, I'd really double check on what could be causing the water quality issues. What appears to be finrot (a really generic term) can be caused by many different things, including contaminates in the water column.

The tanks do look great, though.

 

[nessybehr]

I'm removing more than half the gravel but next week want to strip the tank to much right now. In the tanks I did just add more bush and plant decor for hiding spots somewhat recently. Hmmmm explains alot. I'm nervous about the gravel change though

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[Mebbid]

What are your parameters? How about water change schedule?

 

[Old Scales]

The rocks in the 10g look suspicious. Looks like calcium based rock and that will give you high pH problems. In the big tank, more than 3" of substrate can cause problems of too much anaerobic bacteria and it's toxic wastes. Test your tap water for all the tests you have so you know what you're working with at the start. Set a cup full out overnight to degas then test. OS.

 

[nessybehr]

I do a weekly partial water change and then do about 25 to 50 once a month also the rocks in my 10 gallon are just aquatic stacking rocks I've had those for quite some time before I even had the pH issue

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[Old Scales]

OH OK. Just offering possibilities. OS.

 

[nessybehr]

Thanks all!

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[Mebbid]

The rocks in the 10g look suspicious. Looks like calcium based rock and that will give you high pH problems. In the big tank, more than 3" of substrate can cause problems of too much anaerobic bacteria and it's toxic wastes. Test your tap water for all the tests you have so you know what you're working with at the start. Set a cup full out overnight to degas then test. OS.

I don't know about the rocks but those shells you're using as decorations will increase the ph.

Also, anaerobic bacteria is 100% desirable in an aquarium. It consumes nitrate for the oxygen and gasses off nitrogen gas which exits the tank. There's no toxic by products from it. It's actually the exact method salt water tanks use for nitrate control.

 

[nessybehr]

Anaerobic bacteria? I mean I have bio stars in my filter. But I'm going to take the shells out. Thankyou

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[Caliban07]

I don't know about the rocks but those shells you're using as decorations will increase the ph.

Also, anaerobic bacteria is 100% desirable in an aquarium. It consumes nitrate for the oxygen and gasses off nitrogen gas which exits the tank. There's no toxic by products from it. It's actually the exact method salt water tanks use for nitrate control.

+1.....

 

[Old Scales]

Hydrogen Sulphide, ? Aqua Chem where are you? Maybe there's not enough sulphides in our substrate but in lakes and waste water holding ponds it's a real issue when the bio sludge at the bottom gets too deep. The beneficial types are underneath the top most layers. I remember being warned about too deep substrate in the past. Maybe a debunked theory by now? Sorry. OS.

 

[Mebbid]

Hydrogen Sulphide, ? Aqua Chem where are you? Maybe there's not enough sulphides in our substrate but in lakes and waste water holding ponds it's a real issue when the bio sludge at the bottom gets too deep. The beneficial types are underneath the top most layers. I remember being warned about too deep substrate in the past. Maybe a debunked theory by now? Sorry. OS.

*shrug* I've never heard anything about that. But waste water and aquariums have vastly differing chemistry involved. I know 5-6 inches is the recommended sand bed depth for developing an anaerobic area.

The most commonly cultured nitrifying bacteria for the bottled bacteria comes from those wastewater plants but arent actually suited to the relatively low nutrient systems of our tanks. That's the reason they don't work most of the time.