I'm new to the fish keeping hobby, but so far I love it! I've had my aquarium for around 3 months (got it in February) and I got the National Geographic 23 gallon fish tank on sale (it's a tall tank). The tank came with everything, including an internal power filter, lights, and a heater, and so far I have had no technical problems with it!
When I first began cycling the tank I got 3 dalmatian mollies and these little guys are super hardy!
Unfortunately, two of the little guys died from a random spike in nitrite levels when I went on vacation! Anyways, I had one molly in the cycling tank for about a month before I began to notice these white dust like particles floating in the water. They seemed harmless to the fish but boy did they really bother me!
This last month someone gave me an angelfish for my fish tank. I know angelfish are supposed to be kept in a tank with 30+ gallons, but I couldn't resist the beautiful fish (I think the tallness of the tank partially makes up for the small size)!!
Anyways, I was super nervous about the angelfish being in a tank that wasn't fully cycled yet, but I monitored the water levels every day with my API master test kit and performed 45-50% water changes every 3-4 days to keep the nitrites down. When I added the fish my ammonia levels were 0, my nitrate levels were low, and my nitrite levels were declining.
Guilty to say, but adding the angelfish sent me on a fish spree and I slowly added more fish to my tank despite it never being completely fully cycled...I monitor the water chemicals daily and usually perform 50% water change every 5 days! I now have:
1 oto (I would love to add more but LFS has been out)
1 bristlenose pleco
4 glofish tetras
1 angelfish
1 dalmation molly
5 neon tetras
Ideally, I would like to add a few more small fish like the neon tetras and otos.
Anyways, back to the problem (hahaha sorry for the digression! --get me started talking about my fish and I'll go on for days!). Even before adding all of the fish to the tank (back to the days when I had 1 dalmatian molly), there were these annoying white dust particles floating around in the tank! I have been adding API Proper pH 7.0 to the fish tank and originally I thought this was the culprit. However, when I first began using it there were no white particles until I was almost done with the first bottle. I tried everything with this stuff to get rid of the white particles (dissolving it before adding it, etc.), but alas they remained. I don't think it is the API formula anymore...usually completely dissolved before I add it and I've never had this problem before. **On another note, I LOVE this stuff and you have to try it! My water pH is fairly alkaline (pushing 8.0!) and this stuff keeps the pH in my tank at 7.0!**
What could these particles possibly be?? The fish don't seem to notice them at all!
When I first began cycling the tank I got 3 dalmatian mollies and these little guys are super hardy!
Unfortunately, two of the little guys died from a random spike in nitrite levels when I went on vacation! Anyways, I had one molly in the cycling tank for about a month before I began to notice these white dust like particles floating in the water. They seemed harmless to the fish but boy did they really bother me! This last month someone gave me an angelfish for my fish tank. I know angelfish are supposed to be kept in a tank with 30+ gallons, but I couldn't resist the beautiful fish (I think the tallness of the tank partially makes up for the small size)!!
Anyways, I was super nervous about the angelfish being in a tank that wasn't fully cycled yet, but I monitored the water levels every day with my API master test kit and performed 45-50% water changes every 3-4 days to keep the nitrites down. When I added the fish my ammonia levels were 0, my nitrate levels were low, and my nitrite levels were declining. Guilty to say, but adding the angelfish sent me on a fish spree and I slowly added more fish to my tank despite it never being completely fully cycled...I monitor the water chemicals daily and usually perform 50% water change every 5 days! I now have:
1 oto (I would love to add more but LFS has been out)
1 bristlenose pleco
4 glofish tetras
1 angelfish
1 dalmation molly
5 neon tetras
Ideally, I would like to add a few more small fish like the neon tetras and otos.
Anyways, back to the problem (hahaha sorry for the digression! --get me started talking about my fish and I'll go on for days!). Even before adding all of the fish to the tank (back to the days when I had 1 dalmatian molly), there were these annoying white dust particles floating around in the tank! I have been adding API Proper pH 7.0 to the fish tank and originally I thought this was the culprit. However, when I first began using it there were no white particles until I was almost done with the first bottle. I tried everything with this stuff to get rid of the white particles (dissolving it before adding it, etc.), but alas they remained. I don't think it is the API formula anymore...usually completely dissolved before I add it and I've never had this problem before. **On another note, I LOVE this stuff and you have to try it! My water pH is fairly alkaline (pushing 8.0!) and this stuff keeps the pH in my tank at 7.0!
**What could these particles possibly be?? The fish don't seem to notice them at all!
