Recent content by taylorodw

Hello Grafx and welcome to AA! You are actually in good shape. Keep in mind, nitrites declining and leveling out at 0 is the final stage of the cycle. This normally takes 3-6 weeks. You are lucky to start with seeded material! You want to keep dosing ammonia and do a water change if nitrites...

Welcome to AA, Laura. I think your biggest problem is the shark. It gets more aggressive with age and that is a rather small tank for it. The rest is certainly on the heavy side of stocking for a 24 gallon, but if you keep up on water changes you will be fine.

It does get easier, and if you really think the gravel vac is not for you (since it sounds like that's where your problems started) you could try a python.

This is a magic time-travelling thread!

I like my snails too! Sometimes they're my favorite inhabitants. Here is my horned Nerite, I figured a true snail lover would appreciate it. It has gotten a lot bigger, but I haven't taken any pictures lately.

Right. This advice was meant for a tank where the cycle needed to catch up. I should edit the original. I agree that a 6 month old tank should be cycled (0 ammonia and nitrite), and perhaps, as you mentioned, residual ammonia from ammo-lock is the problem. I just wanted to be thorough with...

Yes, 15 days is good. I wait 2 weeks (14 full days).

If a store wants to compensate you for the Oscar, it will most likely be store credit. The Pleco is less likely to be compensated for, but it really depends on demand in your area. Anyway, I would ask for store credit and be prepared to get nothing in return. Just my opinion.

Good luck. MTS are cute and fun. You may eventually want to try an exotic snail like a horned nerite. Snails are pretty easy to take care of so enjoy them!

Yay! For future reference, sprinkle some fish food about a week before you plant to be out of town. That will release some ammonia and limp your cycle along.

I also don't know what would happen with a massive prime overdose. I know that prime reduces the amount of dissolved oxygen, so it could cause a problem there, but any chemical in a closed system can cause problems. Yes, one capful is fine for 60 gallons. Osage, where did I lose you? Do you...

Well, the often-posted standard is generally 0.25 ppm of ammonia or nitrite is the maximum reading we aim for. Your biofilter still has a bit of growing to do, but you are close. The shortcut is, just do water changes if ammonia or nitrite get above 0.25 ppm until both remain at 0. If a 0 ppm...

When you put untreated water directly in the tank, Prime's instructions mention to treat for the volume of the whole tank. This is a bit of a safety measure, to increase the concentration of prime to react with untreated water. Prime also neutralizes ammonia. The ammonia from dechlorination...

Like BigJim, I also drain, then add prime and re-fill the tank. Keep in mind that you have to dose for entire aquarium volume, not just the amount of water you're adding. Also, yes, your pH is fine for goldies.

I think your pH is 8.2. The regular pH test will read as high as it can, but the High Range will accurately read the higher level. I had the same problem once, with a pH of 8.4! Yes, PWC and retest sometime the second day after changing (ie change on 28th, test on 30th). This way you won't get...