Newbie with some questions

[djarchngl]

I recently got into freshwater fish about 6 months ago. I started with a 10 gallon tank (because it fit inside my old-school tv OH SO WELL). Guppies and neon tetras were the name of the game, and I did fairly well.

I made a move about 3 months ago, and had to transport all of my fish. 2 didn't make it, but I managed to keep my 5 neon tetras, 4 male guppies, 2 female guppies, 3 golden tetras, a butterfly loach and 2 amano shrimp!

I had to invest in a new tank due to my female guppies having baby fry. So I went with a (quite larger) 30 gallon. My 10 gallon is now nicely populated with fry (2 batches thus far), my 2 amano shrimp, my butterfly loach- and has plenty of plant life to accent it. I have never had any problems with this tank so far.

My 30 gallon has all of my adult fish in it (that I mentioned earlier) as well as 10 ghost shrimp. It is also well planted, but I am having issues with some green clouding. I've been doing 20% water changes daily and cut my lighting in half to try to counteract the clouding, but have noticed minimal effects thusfar. I don't want to add chemicals to my tank, but was wondering what this (CO2) thing is that people keep referencing on here. What does it do, how is it beneficial, and how much are we looking at spending?

Thanks in advance, and I'll try to get you pics of my setups soon!
(I just discovered this site today, so you'll have to give me some time!)

 

[rich311k]

Welcome to AA!!! How much light do you have on your tank? Do you add any kind of fertilizers? What kind and how many plants do you have?

 

[LandGhoti]

Welcome to AA! You will find everyone on here to be very helpful. I've learned loads since I joined.

I have a planted tank too, but have yet to do the CO2 thing, so unfortunately I cannot be one of the aforementioned helpful people about that, but plenty of people here use CO2 and will chime in.

 

[djarchngl]

I have 2 48" "aquarium & plantlife" florescent tubes for lighting that I got at a hardware store.
I have no fertilizers. Should I?
I have about 80% of my aquarium floor covered in plantlife. Types? dunno. The only one's I know the name of are my swords... and my javamoss.. but that's not really a plant anyway.

 

[donk1667]

newbie here to how ya doing? these guys are helpful have some fun bigger is allways fun to get going

 

[rich311k]

How many watts are the bulbs it should say right on them? Doesn't sound like you need CO2 though. How long are they on, any direct sunlight?

 

[SeanMurphy]

48" tubes on a 30g? I think you might want to measure them again, unless it's an awfully long and skinny tank, or the tubes overhang the tank by a foot on either end .

CO2 is Carbon dioxide. The same thing that normal land plants need to breathe and create oxygen and new cells. It can be added by dissolving CO2 gas from a yeast reaction or from a pressurized canister in your tank water, or in a liquid form, such as Excel fertilizers.

Unless you have more than 2 watts per gallon of water (or so, not a hard and fast rule), you don't need to worry about CO2. CO2 helps make sure that the plants can use all the nutrients supplied, either from fish food / fish waste that's broken down, or from fertilizers added. If the plants run out of carbon dioxide available in the water, then they will slow down growth and O2 production, and algae will take over, because algae doesn't need CO2, but they'll greedily use all those nutrients that aren't being used by plants.

If you have decent plant grow lights, you've probably got a good light spectrum (light temperature) and decent wattage. You'll do fine with low to medium light plants, and most likely won't need to worry about Carbon Dioxide, unless you get higher wattage lights.

Also, keep an eye on that loach, as they tend to get big quick and you may be looking for a new home.

 

[djarchngl]

I'll check the watts when I get home!
and yes, the tubes DEFINATELY hang over the edge... I had my reasons at the time.

Thanks for all the advise!

And suprisingly, my loach is very nocturnal, and hasn't grown a bit, altho everything else has!

 

[PITT]

Welcome!

These people are fantastic help so I'm sure things will clear up but I know someone is going to ask you for your test results.

If you can post these you'll get help faster.
Ammonia=
Nitrite=
Nitrate=
Phosphate=
PH=
KH=
GH=


While waiting for help I advise reading the stickys. I learned so much there too. It is has great explanations...I was lost in my tank research until I came here.

I recently had green water caused by high Amonia/me messing w/ the substrate.

http://aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=92429&highlight=

Hope that helps.

 

[djarchngl]

My lights:
light output: 1900 lumens
energy used: 40 watts


Small tank overview

Closeup of small tank (right side)

Large tank (right side)

Large tank (left side)

Large tank (overall)

Oh, and I have no idea on how to test/alter PH.

I know I should. But I never had any problems with my first tank, and I since I over-filter and do constant water changes... I kind of ...um... never did it.

So if anyone can give me a run-down of how and what I'm supposed to do in that category... that'd be fantastic.

 

[rich311k]

How long are the lights on? Have you moved stuff around recently? You probably need to blackout the tank.

 

[rkilling1]

How long ago was the tank setup?

 

[djarchngl]

Lights are on from 9:00am till 12:00 pm

I haven't moved anything really. The new tank is only about 1.5 months old.
I HAVE been siphoning the gravel when I do my daily 10-20% water-changes.

 

[rich311k]

cut the lights too 8 to 10 hours.

 

[donk1667]

i only do the gravel once a month but water changes weekly not alot of plants in my tank yet though

 

[djarchngl]

It's all cleared up!
Consistant 20% water cvhanges daily, and leaving the lights off for an extended amount of time helped, and my lfs got me some "accu-clear" and a sponge filter. All seems to be good!

 

[Spanishearl]

That is a handsome tank!

Now that it's cleared up, I bet that you fishes are so happy!

What do you feed them all?