Hi, I am new to these forums (new to aquariums period) but I need some advice.
I am 5 weeks into cycling my first Aquarium. The water tests I have are PH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. My Aquarium is a 20 Gallon High with 3 - 15 watt florescent tubes (2.25wpg). I have 4 bunches of Anacharis and 1 sickly looking Java Fern.
Temp: 78
PH: 7.1
Ammonia: 0 (I dose it with 1ppm nightly and it always reduces to 0 by the following day)
Nitrite: ~1.0 (been hovering between 1.0 and 0.6 for a week now, fluctuating up and down a little, tested at a full 1.0 tonight)
Nitrate: ~5.0
My first question is with a planted tank what other tests do I need to have? especially with regards to keeping an eye on Algae outbursts.
Currently my tank has at least 4 different kinds of Algae, but none were out of control until the last week when I ran into a Green Water problem so hazy I literally can't see from the front of the tank to the back.
I looked at all my options and from what I read my best option right now was a blackout period. What I am worried about is my Anacharis - I don't want to black out the tank and uncover it only to find dead or dying Anacharis. Some places suggested 5-7 days, some suggested 4 days, some as low as 3.... What would be the proper blackout period to knock out Green Water when Anacharis is in the dark?
My other question is this:
I probably screwed up royally tonight, but the situation is as it stands and now has to be dealt with.....I realize that adding Ammonia during a fishless cycle is probably one of the contributing factors to the algae bloom, but I have a cycle to consider too that absolutely must be seen through to its completion so I gave the tank a double-dose tonight to give the bacteria something to feed on while during the blackout....so even though most advice I have read says "do not feed your fish just before a blackout" I essentially did about the same thing giving a 2.0ppm spike of ammonia to the water collum just before covering the tank.
I'm probably forgetting a lot, but that is basically the situation as it is tonight. I had covered the tank on Monday night and was planning on uncovering it Saturday morning giving it all day Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for 4 full days of blackout.
I realize that I still need to find out what imbalance caused the algae bloom in the first place so I can take steps to correct it, but I just don't know exactly which things I need to test for or what I can add to the water to correct it.
(It is of note that my tap water has ~20ppm Nitrates.)
Any advice would be very, very much appreciated.
I am doing the best I can with this aquarium, but I am rather terrified that I am going to destroy my Anacharis and my water conditions by doing this.
I am 5 weeks into cycling my first Aquarium. The water tests I have are PH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. My Aquarium is a 20 Gallon High with 3 - 15 watt florescent tubes (2.25wpg). I have 4 bunches of Anacharis and 1 sickly looking Java Fern.
Temp: 78
PH: 7.1
Ammonia: 0 (I dose it with 1ppm nightly and it always reduces to 0 by the following day)
Nitrite: ~1.0 (been hovering between 1.0 and 0.6 for a week now, fluctuating up and down a little, tested at a full 1.0 tonight)
Nitrate: ~5.0
My first question is with a planted tank what other tests do I need to have? especially with regards to keeping an eye on Algae outbursts.
Currently my tank has at least 4 different kinds of Algae, but none were out of control until the last week when I ran into a Green Water problem so hazy I literally can't see from the front of the tank to the back.
I looked at all my options and from what I read my best option right now was a blackout period. What I am worried about is my Anacharis - I don't want to black out the tank and uncover it only to find dead or dying Anacharis. Some places suggested 5-7 days, some suggested 4 days, some as low as 3.... What would be the proper blackout period to knock out Green Water when Anacharis is in the dark?
My other question is this:
I probably screwed up royally tonight, but the situation is as it stands and now has to be dealt with.....I realize that adding Ammonia during a fishless cycle is probably one of the contributing factors to the algae bloom, but I have a cycle to consider too that absolutely must be seen through to its completion so I gave the tank a double-dose tonight to give the bacteria something to feed on while during the blackout....so even though most advice I have read says "do not feed your fish just before a blackout" I essentially did about the same thing giving a 2.0ppm spike of ammonia to the water collum just before covering the tank.
I'm probably forgetting a lot, but that is basically the situation as it is tonight. I had covered the tank on Monday night and was planning on uncovering it Saturday morning giving it all day Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for 4 full days of blackout.
I realize that I still need to find out what imbalance caused the algae bloom in the first place so I can take steps to correct it, but I just don't know exactly which things I need to test for or what I can add to the water to correct it.
(It is of note that my tap water has ~20ppm Nitrates.)
Any advice would be very, very much appreciated.
I am doing the best I can with this aquarium, but I am rather terrified that I am going to destroy my Anacharis and my water conditions by doing this.