Well.. Guess its a fish in cycle now!

[bud29]

Probably, possibly every day, as platys and mollies are pretty messy fish. I don't see any reason to stir up the gravel, it just clouds up the water, just thoroughly clean it with your siphon and you should be good.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Thanks for the reply! I was doing every other day then got to thinking maybe I should be doing everyday. Would 20-30% be sufficient or should I be doing as much as 50%?

 

[bud29]

I would say 50% wouldn't be the worst thing. Because once again, platys and mollies are messy. (Mollies share the name "poop machines" with plecos.)

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I'll be sure and do 50% until my test kit gets here. So far both of my platy's seem very happy, they are both very active and always exploring. I've been testing my pH levels and so far it's holding steady at 7.6.

 

[ocminpin]

I'll be sure and do 50% until my test kit gets here. So far both of my platy's seem very happy, they are both very active and always exploring. I've been testing my pH levels and so far it's holding steady at 7.6.

Your Platies activity shows your PWC's are helping! Good job and it's nice to see your dedication. There are a lot of people out there who have the "it's just a fish" thought process!
I've had my tanks running under advice from AA and have had help along every step of the way. I couldn't think of a better place to be. Congrats on your fish and good luck!

 

[Mrs.h2012]

This is my second go around with fish, last time I had them was nearly if not right at 3 years ago, and at that point I had them for nearly a year, year and a half. Then I had problems with fish dying off, and I just thought it was part of the hobby and fish didn't have that long of a life span and just accepted it and dealt with it. But this time around I did my research before hand and I think my main problems were firstly not having hardly any knowledge at all and had no idea about testing water and all, and I definitely didn't know about proper stocking, I just had the mindset of I'll get whatever fish looks good that i like and eyeball it if I think my tank is to full. My last tank was a 40g that was the length of a 10g but was very very tall. In that tank I had a pleco, a Cory, and a catfish just as bottom dwellers, then I had a few guppies along with a few black skirt tetras, which this time around I've learned I shouldn't have ever had the bottom dwellers or the tetras in my tank, and I should've had another Cory to go along with the one I had. I'm hoping this time around I can keep moving along without losing any fish because of not being informed of what I should/shouldn't be doing and stocking my tank with.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

How bad is it that I'm stalking my package to see when my test kit arrives lol? It's saying estimated
delivery is the 22nd... Hoping that's accurate,
Only one more day!

 

[tamtam]

And another thing, until my kit gets here should
I be doing PWC's everyday or every other day? I have been stirring the gravel up a good bit to get a lot of the junk out, should I give the gravel a break for a little while to let the BB grow or will cleaning it with just a siphon mess the cycle up?

To me it's one of those does more good than harm things. It's said that it does remove some BB but not cleaning the gravel properly can cause ammonia spikes with built up waste which I think is a bigger risk. Most of your bb is in the filter media anyways so I really don't think the damage is that bad when you compare to the hassle of ammo spikes. I'd vac weekly as normal if you really worry maybe switch off and do half the take a week instead of the whole thing.

Water changing is up to you. You have 2 platy in there now right and it's 10gal? personally I'd probably do daily to be on the safe side and go with about 25-30% at a time. If you wanted every other day I'd go bigger than that at like 50 or so. Again just personally what I would do to be on the safe side.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Thanks for your opinion! I would rather go the safe than sorry route and do anything and everything I can to prevent die offs.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Just did another PWC for today. This is the tank after the WC. Im waiting a little while to let the tank run before I test the pH. Keeping the temp between 76-78 (seems to be closer to 78). Fish still seem to be doing well, still very active and exploring a lot! Still hoping things stay doing good until my test kit gets here.

 

[jetajockey]

I like the decor. My EBJD is partial to a little barrel decoration, I despised it but have grown to love it over time because he constantly wants to be in it. It's not that little but still.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I really would like to get a piece of driftwood or some sort of log decoration to put in my tank next, I eventually want to do a live planted tank.

 

[tamtam]

I really would like to get a piece of driftwood or some sort of log decoration to put in my tank next, I eventually want to do a live planted tank.

I'm a big fan of drift wood and natural decor. I've slowly been switching my tank over to something more natural. When I first had it running it just had a few plastic plants and this small stump decor. I still don't have live plants but they are next!

This is it now

I actually picked up the drift wood and slate(rocks in the center) at a local lake.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

That is what I want my tank to look like eventually, all of my plants are all fake. I love my broken barrel decoration so much in not sure I would want to part with it lol!

 

[tamtam]

lol, I have my fake looking stump worked into the back right corner behind the fake plant. My fish love hiding in it but it really stands out from the other stuff so I tucked it back there.