Hi all,
I started a 20 gallon tank just after Christmas. I did a fish less cycle and everything went swimmingly for a while. Took about two months, but the tank cycled.
I had some problems with a few plants, and I suspect that started my bigger issues. My lights are T5 HO and I was running them for too long. I also got some bad advice at my LFS and bought a bunch of one plant that was reddish and another that I later found out is prone to falling apart. I can't remember what it is called just now, but it's a common one. I also have java fern and java moss on my bog wood. The red plants did really badly and started to rot, so I yanked them out after a couple of weeks. The other started falling apart and I had to pull it too. But, by that point I was seeing a lot of what I thought was algae.
With all my parameters looking good, I started with three neons. They did great and after a couple of weeks I got a pair of cories. I was planning to get about 6 of them and a small school of neons. I got the cories before adding more neons because I hoped they'd start eating the algae. This is when I discovered that I didn't have an algae problem - I had a Cyanobacteria problem. Then my cories died and neither my LFS nor I could figure out why. They and the neons looked like they had ammonia poisoning, but there was no ammonia in the tank. We checked and checked. There's a thread about it in the sick fish forum.
Anyway, the neons are doing well now, but I can't kick the Cyanobacteria. I decided that I want to start again. I have a slightly bigger tank - 25 gallons. It's all I can fit in my living room. But now, I don't know how to work out the logistics. Can I save anything from the first tank? I could boil things like the gravel or maybe bleach it. Will that take care of the Cyanobacteria? Can I save any of the plants? What about the bog wood? I boiled it like mad when I first got it. Could I do that again?
Is there any way to get some of the good bacteria without transporting the bad or will I have to start all over again? I don't really have anywhere to put the neons while I switch tanks, so I think that they will have to go from a bucket into the new tank. Which means that I will be doing a fish in cycle...
I confess, I am feeling overwhelmed and that seems to be keeping me from moving forward on this. I really don't want to mess up. I was gutted when my cories died. I don't want to kill everything! Advice would definitely be welcomed.
I started a 20 gallon tank just after Christmas. I did a fish less cycle and everything went swimmingly for a while. Took about two months, but the tank cycled.
I had some problems with a few plants, and I suspect that started my bigger issues. My lights are T5 HO and I was running them for too long. I also got some bad advice at my LFS and bought a bunch of one plant that was reddish and another that I later found out is prone to falling apart. I can't remember what it is called just now, but it's a common one. I also have java fern and java moss on my bog wood. The red plants did really badly and started to rot, so I yanked them out after a couple of weeks. The other started falling apart and I had to pull it too. But, by that point I was seeing a lot of what I thought was algae.
With all my parameters looking good, I started with three neons. They did great and after a couple of weeks I got a pair of cories. I was planning to get about 6 of them and a small school of neons. I got the cories before adding more neons because I hoped they'd start eating the algae. This is when I discovered that I didn't have an algae problem - I had a Cyanobacteria problem. Then my cories died and neither my LFS nor I could figure out why. They and the neons looked like they had ammonia poisoning, but there was no ammonia in the tank. We checked and checked. There's a thread about it in the sick fish forum.
Anyway, the neons are doing well now, but I can't kick the Cyanobacteria. I decided that I want to start again. I have a slightly bigger tank - 25 gallons. It's all I can fit in my living room. But now, I don't know how to work out the logistics. Can I save anything from the first tank? I could boil things like the gravel or maybe bleach it. Will that take care of the Cyanobacteria? Can I save any of the plants? What about the bog wood? I boiled it like mad when I first got it. Could I do that again?
Is there any way to get some of the good bacteria without transporting the bad or will I have to start all over again? I don't really have anywhere to put the neons while I switch tanks, so I think that they will have to go from a bucket into the new tank. Which means that I will be doing a fish in cycle...
I confess, I am feeling overwhelmed and that seems to be keeping me from moving forward on this. I really don't want to mess up. I was gutted when my cories died. I don't want to kill everything! Advice would definitely be welcomed.
