I think I made some newbie mistakes..

[Menagerie]

EEk, I am so sorry to hear that. What are your current water parameters?

any other suggestions for similar environment fish?

There's a few things you can do in that tank--species tank, community tank (dwarf cichlids and others--tetras, Kuhli loaches, cory cats...) or Dwarf Cichlid community tank (various dwarf cichlids).

 

[EEk]

so later in the day, after i took care of the lost fish, i took another set of readings (I still have to get a nitrate test kit) and nothing has really changed. I'm using the color coding based kits and if anything, the nitrite level is getting ever so slightly higher (the yellow is starting to turn yellow-orange). So, I'll be watching that very carefully.

after reading what Allivymar said above about the ammonia cycle having come and gone, turns out that the bio wheels came from a previously established tank. I think that means that I might have a partially cycled tank now and just have to watch the nitrite and nitrate levels.

As for the plants, I'm not sure exactly what I have.. I know I have some amazon swords and some anubis (sp?) there's one more type but i can't think of the name. its not java moss

Menagerie, I would like to stick with other cichlids, not to offend, but I don't think tetras are very.. personable? exciting? umm, they don't look at you through the tank when you walk by. At least not the ones I've seen. I'd like 2 more dwarf cichlids of peaceful nature, but they are hard to come by in hawaii. or maybe i'm not looking hard enough.

 

[Allivymar]

It is kinda tough to get certain fish in Hawaii; because of cost many lfs don't ship them in. But it doesn't mean they aren't out there! Look into locating a fishclub in your area; they will surely have connections for you, and quite likely a breeder or 10 LOL

Aha, a mature biowheel; that certainly explains the lack of ammonia readings! Do continue to keep a close eye on those nitrite levels.

 

[Menagerie]

I would like to stick with other cichlids, not to offend, but I don't think tetras are very.. personable? exciting?

That's fine, just offering suggestions! I have two tetras that I call the "ugly ones" whenever I need a "canary"--they're it! I really like my Serpea tetras for their red and black coloring. I also have Silvertips--lovely orange with just a flare of silver at the tips. None of them are personable, but that's why I have cats.
For excitement, I sit by the 80 gal Mbuna cichlid tank

 

[EEk]

hmm, so my nitrites are rising, at .3mg/l today. i've read the cycling and chem faq, but they don't say what i should do at this point. do i ride the spike out? do i pull the fish out? i think a water change?

any recommendations on compatible dwarf cichlids? i'm thinking to get two more. even if i can't find them locally, i wonder if i could order them and ship them here without too much trouble?

*edit* i have some pics up now..

 

[Menagerie]

Water changes are needed daily until the readings go to zero.

Compatible dwarfs--just about any of them. As long as they are not breeding, they are so peaceful. I have Apistos and Bolivans in my community tank.

 

[EEk]

Thanks Menagerie! I'm gonna do a water change tonight then head out and see what the lfs has in stock.. kinda price some fish. Maybe look for another piece of driftwood too

 

[Allivymar]

I've Bolivian Rams, Keyhole Cichlids and 6 angelfish babies (bodies about the size of your thumbnail - they will be moving out once they are dime size ) in my 15g. Bolivians are supposed to hit about 3 or so inches long; mine are maybe 2 inches tops, but they are breeding all over the place LOL no ram babies yet tho. The Keyholes are supposed to get to be 4-5 inches, but again my guys are pretty small (smaller then the rams). Not sure why my guys are so small; the keyholes were at the lfs for months and never got bigger (I hemmed and hawed about them for a while LOL), and I figure since the rams are putting out so much energy breeding they don't have as much for gettin big, but all are fat healthy piggies

Do be sure to invest in a QT before buying new fish. You don't want to add new fish right to the tank (after acclimating of course) for 2 important reasons:

Just because a fish looks healthy in the store doesn't guarantee that health. You don't want to have it infect your other fish.

Treating disease with meds can really kill off your good bacteria colonies and cause the tank to cycle all over again - bleaugh!

A minimum of 2 weeks is recommended; I wrote an article on FW QT - its in the article section

 

[EEk]

Thanks Ali, I read your article, good info.

I have an old 10g collecting dust somewhere from my youth.. alas, many a fish suffered in that tank.. I admit I was a mean kid. But I can use that as my QT tank when I finally get my next set of fish. Though, I'm leaning towards just adding a pleco or two instead of more cichlids to the 20gal.. then I can get ANOTHER tank and make that more of a community tank.. ah, the addiction begins!

So I did a 15% water change last night, took tests for everything and I didn't see that much of a difference from the results before the water change.

I'm gonna water change again tonight, and then again tomorrow. What kind of changes in test results should I see? Should I be changing even more water? I also haven't cleaned the substrate during the water changes. Should I be doing that?

 

[Allivymar]

Keep in mind, when you change 15% your really not removing that much nitrogenous waste. Not a big issue with nitrates as long as they remain under 40ppm, but as you know, a prob with ammonia and nitrites. Think of it this way. If ammonia levels are 5.0ppm, a 15% change will only remove .75ppm; not even a full number! The levels should dictate how much to change; for example, if ammonia was around 2.0ppm, I might do a 30-40% change for a few days or even twice a day if its really high, which would lower the ammonia to a manageable level without removing too much tank water at one time. You may want to do some minimal gravel vaccing. Maybe one half the tank in total this week (ie: some today, some tomorrow), half next week for example. This way you are not removing all the good bacteria in there and giving it a time to catch up.

Heh, and so it starts. Good to see that dusty old 10g will get some good use If its been up there a really long time, you may want to redo the silicone seals.

 

[EEk]

Oh! That makes sense with the water changing amount and stuff.. ok, now I have to use.. ugh, math and figure out how much water to change

Turns out that 10g has a crack in it. I dunno if I want to try to seal and fix it and risk 10 gallons of water covering my bedroom floor. I think I'll just go buy a new 5gal tank instead..

I've decided to go with a pleco. I saw a neat looking one at the store the other day, sailfin pleco, i think. They said he can get huge if given the right environment so I'm gonna put him in my 20 until he gets too big and then... buy a bigger tank for him.. and more fish lol

As it is, it does look like the female is doing the humpty dance with the male.. or trying to anyways. Thing is that I don't have an actual 'cave' for her. I have some nooks and crannys in the drift wood, but nothing that is really secure. If I add a pleco, I'll need a cave even more so (i'm not actively trying to breed them, but if they do.. hey, bonus for me). I want to bounce some ideas off everyone, but I'll start another thread for that..

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

 

[EEk]

Sorry, one more question and I promise to stop bugging everyone

I have a penguin 330 biowheel filter. i think the current its making is too strong for my fish as they tend to stay on the far side of the tank. any ideas on how to reduce the current without changing the filter?

 

[Menagerie]

any ideas on how to reduce the current without changing the filter?

I don't think it's possible to change the flow rate with those. Someone correct me, if I'm wrong!!

That makes sense with the water changing amount and stuff.. ok, now I have to use.. ugh, math and figure out how much water to change

I recommend a 25% change daily until the results are a zero. You don't want to go above 50%.

buy a bigger tank for him.. and more fish lol

This is how I ended up with 6 tanks. Then I found myself saying I needed a ten gal breeding tank for my Mbuna cichlids. I have lost my mind

 

[Allivymar]

Mwaaahahahaha a sailfin plec and a larger tank. I hope you have room for a tank over 55g LOL cause that puppy will get HUGE. If it grows out to its true adult size, figure 2 feet long. I have a liposarcus pardalis, often sold as a common plec but is also known as a sailfin in my 55g atm. Its 8 inches long and will be looking for a new home when it hits a foot long. Yours will likely outgrow the 20 in less then a year; mine took one year to hit 6 inches long.

You might want to cut a slit in a filter sponge and fit that over the intake tube. It will slightly reduce the amount of water going in, which will reduce the amount of water going out. It also gives the good bacteria another place to colonise. Not exactly attractive, but it works!]

Heh and you're not buggin us; its what we're here for!

 

[EEk]

Umm, that's a big fish! lol

OK, perhaps the sailfin is a bad idea.. I'm just really anxious to get another fish and i really think my tank would benefit from a pleco or other 'housekeeping' fish..

now i see some black fuzzy on my driftwood and i know the pleco would clean that up right away too.. i haven't seen any rubberlip or bristlenose plecos at the local stores..

 

[EEk]

on a side note, I think my tank is cycled..

YAY!!

Here are my readings today after a water change (about an hour after)

pH: 8
Ammonia: 0 mg/l
Nitrite: <.3mg/l
Nitrate: 12.5 - 25 mg/l (low)

I'm using the Tetra color coded tests so the numbers might be a tiny bit off (like for Nitrates, the color is more yellow than orange so I put (low) )

My plants still need a little pick me up, but I notice that its algae thats on them and not that the plant themselves is brown.. Gonna look for that pleco or some algae eaters tomorrow so I can QT them right away.

My two cichlids are happy as can be. They are gonna get a brine shrimp dinner tonight There are only a few more changes I want to make to the tank before I 'finish' it (yeah right, as if you can ever 'finish' a tank). I need to make a slate cave, and I want to add a few more amazone swords. If all goes well, I should have the new fish, plants and cave in there in two weeks.

I want to take this time to thank EVERYONE that helped me start my first tank. I really appreciate it!! Thank you everyone!

Now, if only I could figure out where to put a second tank in my room

 

[Allivymar]

LOL And MTS hits again.

OK, coupla suggestions. You might want to look into a few otos (otocinclus); they can be good algae eaters and are wee lil buggers (1 1/2 - 2"). My only caveat is they need to go into a mature tank, or at least one with algae, so you'll need to make a hard choice. Do a QT and hope they will eat algae wafers for the 2 weeks (mine did, but not everyones does), or put them directly into the tank and hope they are healthy. Tis sort of a crap shoot either way.

Check those parameters in the morn and see how much they've changed; hopefully the nitrites will be a little higher, nitrates a lot higher and NO ammonia at all; would mean you are well on your way

Oh, since I'm too lazy to go over the rest of the thread, if we haven't discussed plants and what they can bring in, lemme do that now. A soak in alum, potassium permanganate or a 9-1 ratio water/bleach mix is a REALLY good idea, else you may wind up with snails or cyano bacteria or other things you don't want.

Btw, this is my plec; he was about 7 1/2" long in the pic: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/592/password//sort/1/cat/all/page/1 . As you can see, they're lovely, but oi. What a clumsy beast LOL and BIG. Its going to suck to have to give him up, but I can't do a tank larger then 55g here, and he will need a larger tank when he hits a foot long.

 

[EEk]

Otos huh? *goes and surfs google*

Hey, those look pretty cool!

Sounds like they might be popular enough to be scarce.. I hope I find some.. How's 3-4 sound? by the time they get too big.. i can transplant them to my new tan.. wait.. *sigh* so thats what MTS is eh?

Would it be ok to take one of my algae-fied plants into the QT when i get them? or would it not be a good idea if I want to move the plant back?

as for new plants, where would i get those chemicals from? i'm a little iffy on the bleach.. although you haven't steered me wrong yet, so i guess i can try it

btw, that is a really really nice looking fish! the size thing though helped convince me to go with the otos. Still, i'm jealous I don't have a tank big enough..

 

[Allivymar]

Yeah I do like the otos. Mini plecs; cute, peaceful and they never stop scraping (my big guy usually catnaps during the day). I have to admit mine only ate the brown algae (at least from what I saw) but others have had otos that only ate green. I have NO idea what that was about LOL And they won't get too big; I keep 2 in a 10g planted. Least I think so; haven't seen one in a few days....

Actually, while I normall say putting live plants in QT is a no-no, I think it would be a good idea in this case! It will give them what they need; the only caveat is it you have to treat the otos for something, it may affect the plants.

I've done the bleach/water thing, and used Lime-It. Obviously bleach/water is the cheapest and easiest in terms of having what you need laying around. Theres a great list of different plant dips at the Brooklyn Aquarium Society website: http://www.brooklynaquariumsociety.org/Articles/2001-Jan-pg 32.htm