My first 20 gallon freshwater!

[SassyMiss]

Nope, found another lfs clear across town. They had them. And they had a turtle pond and a koi pond, and you could feed them for a $1. My little one had a great time.

 

[SassyMiss]

Try Amazon! Maybe you'll get lucky. Or eBay?

 

[FishCr8zy]

Nope, found another lfs clear across town. They had them. And they had a turtle pond and a koi pond, and you could feed them for a $1. My little one had a great time.

Ohhhh. Cool! I love places that allow you to feed their fish. It's a private breeder and not a chain store right?

 

[FishCr8zy]

Try Amazon! Maybe you'll get lucky. Or eBay?

Nah, I've tried every website I know of that sells pet supplies. All are around the same price. Even eBay! I'm prob gonna wait till petsolutions gets like a %20 sale or something.

 

[Scottyhorse]

SassyMiss, you don't want your nitrates at zero in a planted tank Ten to twenty PPM is best. Also, your PH is fine. I don't get where people get this "You need a 7 PH in your community tank!" thing from. I have a spawning pair of rams in my tank, and the PH is 7.6. Do they really need a PH of 6.8 or lower? I don't think so.

 

[SassyMiss]

Ohhhh. Cool! I love places that allow you to feed their fish. It's a private breeder and not a chain store right?

Yes, a private lfs. They had various ponds in display as well, so you could really see what one would be like. It piqued my interest in koi ponds.

 

[SassyMiss]

SassyMiss, you don't want your nitrates at zero in a planted tank Ten to twenty PPM is best. Also, your PH is fine. I don't get where people get this "You need a 7 PH in your community tank!" thing from. I have a spawning pair of rams in my tank, and the PH is 7.6. Do they really need a PH of 6.8 or lower? I don't think so.

Thanks for that. I was getting nervous every time trates went over 10-15.

I do dose Flourish comprehensive, a half dose, every other day, and a half dose of Flourish Excel on alternating days.

I think my ph is ok too, as long as its stable? It has stayed at 7.4 (once I learned the difference between the high range ph test and the ph test). .

Hardness has stayed stable too. I test gh and kh once a week, give or take a day.

 

[FishCr8zy]

SassyMiss, you don't want your nitrates at zero in a planted tank Ten to twenty PPM is best. Also, your PH is fine. I don't get where people get this "You need a 7 PH in your community tank!" thing from. I have a spawning pair of rams in my tank, and the PH is 7.6. Do they really need a PH of 6.8 or lower? I don't think so.

Yeah, some people are very keen on keeping everything as low as possible. My ph is usually around 7.5 and I have had no fish die from that before. So plants kinda need that nitrate? My tap is 0 nitrate automatically so would I need to increase the nitrate amount if I'm doing a planted tank?

 

[FishCr8zy]

Yes, a private lfs. They had various ponds in display as well, so you could really see what one would be like. It piqued my interest in koi ponds.

Koi ponds are really fun to own and more work too. But the work is worth it IMO. To bad petco/petsmart never has ponds on display.

 

[giffmastaflex]

Koi ponds are really fun to own and more work too. But the work is worth it IMO. To bad petco/petsmart never has ponds on display.

The Petco near me actually has 2 ponds set up in the store with a small waterfall going into it. They have a nice set up going on

 

[FishCr8zy]

The Petco near me actually has 2 ponds set up in the store with a small waterfall going into it. They have a nice set up going on

No way!!! Why do I always get the worst lfs........
The only things related to ponds at my local petsmart is koi, algae removal, and starter liquid.

 

[giffmastaflex]

Yeah they have decent koi in there and some live plants and all it's just nice to go and look at them, there is another place near me that has a black koi in the inside pond and the gentlemen said that it was a rare fish and they let us feed them for free it's a family own business

 

[FishCr8zy]

Yeah they have decent koi in there and some live plants and all it's just nice to go and look at them, there is another place near me that has a black koi in the inside pond and the gentlemen said that it was a rare fish and they let us feed them for free it's a family own business

Black koi are not rare. They are just more expensive and harder too breed. And most lfs don't sell them. You usually have to buy them online. Family owned/private businesses seem to always have the rarer fish than lfs IMO. But online has the widest variety of fish.

 

[SassyMiss]

Parameters are all good. Ammonia .0, ites 0, ates 10. PH 7.4. Lots of really red shrimp roaming around, and some of the cats hang out with them. Tetras are schooling more. But I saw a pond snail, I think.

 

[Scottyhorse]

Yeah, some people are very keen on keeping everything as low as possible. My ph is usually around 7.5 and I have had no fish die from that before. So plants kinda need that nitrate? My tap is 0 nitrate automatically so would I need to increase the nitrate amount if I'm doing a planted tank?

Yes, the plants need the nitrates. Nitrates are the by-product of the nitrogen cycle, so they should always be there. A normal, stable tank should have about 10-20 PPM nitrates present at all times

 

[FishCr8zy]

Yes, the plants need the nitrates. Nitrates are the by-product of the nitrogen cycle, so they should always be there. A normal, stable tank should have about 10-20 PPM nitrates present at all times

Ok so hopefully once my fish and plants are in, the nitrates will rise a bit. That's strange how someone actually wants the nitrates to rise. Lol

 

[FishCr8zy]

Parameters are all good. Ammonia .0, ites 0, ates 10. PH 7.4. Lots of really red shrimp roaming around, and some of the cats hang out with them. Tetras are schooling more. But I saw a pond snail, I think.

Uh oh. You had better get rid of that pond snail if you don't want more. Are there any other snails in the tank besides the ponds? Looks like your tank is stable.

 

[SassyMiss]

Uh oh. You had better get rid of that pond snail if you don't want more. Are there any other snails in the tank besides the ponds? Looks like your tank is stable.

I already threw out 2, but saw this one about 2AM, so he got a reprieve. I don't have any other snails.

I guess I'll try the baiting-with-zucchini trick and see how many I have to get rid of.

 

[SassyMiss]

Uh oh. You had better get rid of that pond snail if you don't want more. Are there any other snails in the tank besides the ponds? Looks like your tank is stable.

And yes, hooray for a stable tank!!

And...I got a ten gallon waiting to be started and stocked. A friend of a friend was moving and didn't want her fish anymore. Unfortunately the fish died from neglect (before either me or my friend knew about the tank), and my friend received the tank but didn't want it. So I have a used 10g waiting to be cleaned and cycled. .

 

[FishCr8zy]

And yes, hooray for a stable tank!!

And...I got a ten gallon waiting to be started and stocked. A friend of a friend was moving and didn't want her fish anymore. Unfortunately the fish died from neglect (before either me or my friend knew about the tank), and my friend received the tank but didn't want it. So I have a used 10g waiting to be cleaned and cycled. .

Sweet! Your lucky you have a free 10 gal. . But my petco has there $1 a gallon sale starting this Sunday so I'm pretty excited.