Recent content by cloretta

THE SNAILS ARE EVERYWHERE! I spent 5 weeks cycling my first 20 gallon tank and added 5 live plants a little over a month ago, in addition to 10 tetras and 1 molly (now only 4 tetras:(). Soon after adding the plants, I saw the snails. Now, this is totally my fault because I did not...

As I replied to Autumnsky, I did a 30-35% PWC today, siphoned big chunks of uneaten food, and added about 7 gallons of treated water. However, when I checked my parameters yesterday, everything seemed relatively fine. I don't use testing strips, I use API's freshwater kit + a few others. I...

So I did a 30-35% PWC today (Tuesday), after that 25-30% two days ago (Sunday). The water definitely looks clearer, and I siphoned up some of the larger chunks/flakes of uneaten food. In regards to my LFS, I'm going to try and stop by again this weekend. However, I'm a fairly new(er) regular so...

Okay -- long story short, my little cardinal tetras are dying out on me. Within the past 3 days, 3/10 tetras have died. I got 10 of them on Tuesday, then did a 25-30% PWC on Sunday. It's now Monday, and 3 have died (1 on Saturday, 2 today: Monday). I finished cycling my tank almost two weeks...

Hi y’all! I honestly feel stupid for even asking this, but I’ve researched these questions forEVER only to receive super conflicted/varying advice. So… what should my ideal water parameters be? And what is within an acceptable range? Like, yes, I do know that my ammonia should be ~0, but at...

I'm interested to see what others have to say -- I think I'm finally at the tail end of cycling, so I'm starting to think about stocking as well. I have a ton of ideas (like you), but I don't know what's realistic/compatible, especially in 20G. Looking forward to checking back in:fish2:

Noooow Am I Done Yet? Okay, I think I might be done cycling. It's been around 2 weeks since I posted my last results, but today I had the miracle of finding ~almost 0 ammonia and ~almost 0 nitrites, after continuously dosing the tank [daily] to 4ppm of ammonia. I did a 50% PWC on Sunday (9/17)...

That's what I was originally going to do (following Seachem's planted aquarium guide), but I was told to relax with the ferts until cycling was over because they were hardy plants. Additionally, I was considering doing some 'real' aquascaping after I've cycled, because right now my tank is...

dalto & berto -- i'm honestly not sure what it is. but yes, i do use stability. i also just dosed with flourish, advanced, and excel yesterday because i've seen little plant growth

I actually setup/began cycling my tank on the 17th. I don't have fish, and the last PWC I did was 50% yesterday (9/4). I have not been using any bacteria booster. Any particular brand recommendations?

I know -- patience is a virtue. I've heard that it's a fish keeper's best friend, especially during cycling. However, this is the first tank I've ever tried to cycle, so I'm looking for an experienced aquarist to help me analyze what point I'm at in my cycle! I'm doing fishless, and I have 3...

Am I Done Cycling? Hi y'all, it's me again! I have an app that tracks my water changes, maintenance, dosings, parameter checks, etc., so I attached a picture/graph of a few of the water parameters that I regularly check. I have done 3 PWC (1 30%, 2 50%) and have always dosed with Stability and...

Hi there! I’m brand new to the online community and just set up my tall, freshwater 20 gallon tank yesterday (8/16). This is my very first time cycling a tank, not to mention it’s also my very first planted tank. I have several questions that I would love some advice on: 1. Are daily water...