New with questions :)

[horsedogfish]

BTW, I am able to add water straight from the tap through the python because I have well water with no chlorine or heavy metals or benzine or all the interesting things that sometimes show up in well water.

 

[mastermamo]

Well the water will be treated bc I add prime directly to my tank before adding new water to my tank it doesn't need to sit I have 51 fish in my tank that get a 50% water change ones a week that way including german blue rams, gold rams, khuli loaches, platies, corys, placos and tetras there is no need to let it sit in a bucket you might want to do a little more research

Hi

I am referring to a failsafe WC method. It's common knowledge that certain cities municipalities overdose local water supplies with extra chemicals on weekends. Just adding Prime might work on a day to day basis but u can never predict the spikes in water supplies that might harm your fish. One of my tanks is a discus tank and I will never just throw untreated water in. These sensitive fish WILL die. Other fish types are more hardy and don't need this strict type of WC regimen. If your WC method is working I would say stick with it. I just ensure mine is failsafe

 

[Persephone]

Update: my boys are still happy and healthy, they chase eachother and wiggle at me whenever I come up to the tank. Today's readings:

9 AM:
Ammonia - 1.0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 0 ppm
pH - 7.4
Temp - steady at 78

Did a 25% water change to bring down ammonia (fed them first cuz I figured that was most logical, I fed them brine shrimp in a medicine dropper and only let out 1 or 2 shrimp at a time so there is no waste, they are hilarious when eating!!)

2 PM:
Ammonia - .25
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 0
pH - 7.4
Temp - steady at 78

I'm so happy that my boys are still doing so well, and I can't wait for this cycle to be complete!
Once the cycle is completed and I have had stable readings for at least 2 weeks, I am going to want to add a few more fish to my tank. I will only add one or 2 at a time of course, making sure my BB can adjust to the new bio load, but my question is this: do I get 4 female guppies (worried about adding females in in small groups as my boys are very active and would for sure tire out the girls if they were not kept in a proper 2:1 ratio) do I got a few more boys and just chill out with a male guppy tank, or are there any suggestions from you awesome people on what else would go well in my tank.

 

[mastermamo]

I'm really glad your levels are stabilizing.

Well done

I am afraid I can't comment on guppies as I only kept them as a little boy. I now am into much bigger fish like discus.

I'm sure someone will reply to u on this though.
For now don't add any more fish until u r certain your tank is ABSOLUTELY stable

M

 

[Persephone]

I'm really glad your levels are stabilizing.

Well done

I am afraid I can't comment on guppies as I only kept them as a little boy. I now am into much bigger fish like discus.

I'm sure someone will reply to u on this though.
For now don't add any more fish until u r certain your tank is ABSOLUTELY stable

M

I'm definitely not going to add any more fish until my cycle completes and I have stable test results for a few weeks after the cycle is completed.

I'd love to get into larger fish (I have a thing for puffers, lol) but I will need to wait until I can get a MUCH bigger tank. My husband joked around with me that for every birthday/anniversary/Christmas, he knows to skip the jewelry and just get me a new tank! Haha, I've only been into this hobby for a few weeks and I am already wanting to add more tanks, I'm in trouble!

 

[mastermamo]

When you say "when this cycle" ends what do u mean?

This hobby can become extremely addictive AND very very expensive. I started with a few small fish and now it's become both ridiculously expensive and almost an addiction. Be warned lol

 

[Persephone]

When you say "when this cycle" ends what do u mean?

This hobby can become extremely addictive AND very very expensive. I started with a few small fish and now it's become both ridiculously expensive and almost an addiction. Be warned lol

Sorry, should have been more clear, I meant when I have 0 ammonia and nitrites and nitrates stable and no higher than 20 (everything stabilized)

Thank for the warning! I may have to take over the basement and make it my "fish cave" LOL! Hey, my hubby gets the whole 2 car garage garage as his man cave, it's only fair, right!?

 

[mastermamo]

Thanks for clarifying

Hahaha yeah nothing wrong with taking over the house and making every room a biologic preserve. Take pics along the way to journal your progression and someday u will look back and giggle about how it all began.

Best of luck and plz feel free to ask any advice whenever u need

M

 

[Persephone]

Thanks for clarifying

Hahaha yeah nothing wrong with taking over the house and making every room a biologic preserve. Take pics along the way to journal your progression and someday u will look back and giggle about how it all began.

Best of luck and plz feel free to ask any advice whenever u need

M

Thanks so much mastermamo, I appreciate it
I will definitely be taking lots of pictures along the way, it will be fun to look back at my little 10 gal in a few years when I've knocked down all the walls of my house and replaced them all with fish tanks! Hahahaha

 

[jwh0818]

Well done so far. Welcome to AA btw. Ive read everything and I dont see the need for discussion on how to treat water. You can let it sit over night or you can put prime in the water and add temp safe tap water. Its all the same. I let mine sit in a bucket to get the same temp. I add prime 5 mins before I put it in the water and I havent ever had any problems. When I add water from evaporation loss I just put a few drops in a cup and dump it in the tank. Your fish will be perfectly fine no mater which method you choose. Ive done both no problems. Do you have pics of your setup? Id love to see.

Im also responding to some of the first post. You water changes are fine. There will always be ammonia in your tank (fish poo) and doing every other day to 2 days is great. I stick to 1 time a week cause im lazy. The biggest thing is doing a gravel vac. Make sure you do a gravel vac atleast 1 time every other week. This will help keep nitrates down when they get there and for now itll reduce ammonia to a sustainable level. Keep up your great work btw!

 

[Persephone]

Well done so far. Welcome to AA btw. Ive read everything and I dont see the need for discussion on how to treat water. You can let it sit over night or you can put prime in the water and add temp safe tap water. Its all the same. I let mine sit in a bucket to get the same temp. I add prime 5 mins before I put it in the water and I havent ever had any problems. When I add water from evaporation loss I just put a few drops in a cup and dump it in the tank. Your fish will be perfectly fine no mater which method you choose. Ive done both no problems. Do you have pics of your setup? Id love to see.

Im also responding to some of the first post. You water changes are fine. There will always be ammonia in your tank (fish poo) and doing every other day to 2 days is great. I stick to 1 time a week cause im lazy. The biggest thing is doing a gravel vac. Make sure you do a gravel vac atleast 1 time every other week. This will help keep nitrates down when they get there and for now itll reduce ammonia to a sustainable level. Keep up your great work btw!

Thanks for your tips, they are appreciated
I vacuum the gravel with a siphon every other time I change the water (which equals out to be every other day right now since I am doing daily PWC's to keep the ammonia down)
Here is a pic from a few days ago (when I still had my girls)
Note: I really need to get a background because I hate how the yellow wall looks behind the tank, lol

 

[jwh0818]

Very nice! I like it. Someone told me the other day on here to get posterboard and tape it with double sided tape to the tank. I did and it looks great. You should try it

 

[Persephone]

Very nice! I like it. Someone told me the other day on here to get posterboard and tape it with double sided tape to the tank. I did and it looks great. You should try it

Good idea!

 

[mastermamo]

Here's a quick pic of my guys

 

[mastermamo]

Thanks for your tips, they are appreciated
I vacuum the gravel with a siphon every other time I change the water (which equals out to be every other day right now since I am doing daily PWC's to keep the ammonia down)
Here is a pic from a few days ago (when I still had my girls)
Note: I really need to get a background because I hate how the yellow wall looks behind the tank, lol

Persephone

It is far from normal to have to do daily WC's due to such huge ammonia spikes. A tank should be relatively maintenance free with a weekly vac siphon. If I can do this in a discus tank which normally needs frequent WC's it should be easy on this tank we are discussing. You also don't know her pH and kH out the tap so it's always a good idea to treat the water for at least a few hours before adding to the tank. This is by far the safest route to keeping her tank maintenance to a minimum. Prime is great but it's not a miracle fluid.

Well all I can do is offer my advice from years of experience with both a previous marine tank and now a few freshwater.

M

 

[jwh0818]

Persephone

It is far from normal to have to do daily WC's due to such huge ammonia spikes. A tank should be relatively maintenance free with a weekly vac siphon. If I can do this in a discus tank which normally needs frequent WC's it should be easy on this tank we are discussing. You also don't know her pH and kH out the tap so it's always a good idea to treat the water for at least a few hours before adding to the tank. This is by far the safest route to keeping her tank maintenance to a minimum. Prime is great but it's not a miracle fluid.

Well all I can do is offer my advice from years of experience with both a previous marine tank and now a few freshwater.

M

Umm if she is having huge ammo spikes then she MUST do frequent water changes. Or all fish can die.

 

[mastermamo]

Umm if she is having huge ammo spikes then she MUST do frequent water changes. Or all fish can die.

Yes I know this but Im trying to help her NOT have these spikes by managing / changing:

Feeding
Filtration
WC's

There's a root problem that needs to be addressed. Treating it won't make it go away. It's a temporary fix. Lets look at WHY the ammonia is spiking. If she changes her feeding regimen, together with better filtration and good treated WC's she should be on the road to an enjoyable tank experience and not a tank that's giving her sleepless nights.

 

[ZCNY]

Yes I know this but Im trying to help her NOT have these spikes by managing / changing:

Feeding
Filtration
WC's

There's a root problem that needs to be addressed. Treating it won't make it go away. It's a temporary fix. Lets look at WHY the ammonia is spiking. If she changes her feeding regimen, together with better filtration and good treated WC's she should be on the road to an enjoyable tank experience and not a tank that's giving her sleepless nights.

The only problem there is, is that she is cycling at this moment she sounds like she is doing everything right, keep up the water changes and keep the ammonia down and "the Boys " be fine you doing great

 

[jwh0818]

The only problem there is, is that she is cycling at this moment she sounds like she is doing everything right, keep up the water changes and keep the ammonia down and "the Boys " be fine you doing great

Thank you! Im glad im not the only one realizing this. Yes she is cycling so DO the water changes like your doing and continue to DO the vacs.

 

[Persephone]

Thanks so much everyone, your advice is really helping.

Mastermamo - your fish a awesome!

Here is hoping this cycle completes soon

Off to do my 2nd test of the day, lol, this morning I had 1.0 ppm of ammonia so I did a change again and got it down to .25.
I fed "the boys" (actually named Asmodeus a.k.a. Duece and Leviathan a.k.a. Levi) before I changed the water.
Is there something different I should be doing when I feed them? I take a bit of tank water in a small glass bowl and I put the frozen food (either brine shrimp or blood worms depending in the day) and I suck it up in a small medicine dropper I bought and put it in the tank and gently squeeze and they eat right out of the dropper it's hilarious to watch, but that way I get to make sure that they are both eating well (not competing over free floating food) and I take the dropper out when they stop eating. I know it seems excessive to go through that process, but I started feeding that way when I started loosing fish and I wanted makes urge the remaining fish were all eating enough while cutting back on the wasted food at the bottom. I have continued with it because they actually seem to enjoy it, LOL