My one month roller coaster ride need advice

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Johnny C

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
May 8, 2016
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4
So this will be my first post on this site for the past month to moth and a half I've been bouncing around different forums gathering info.
I had a tank about 4 years ago and now that my daughter is 3 I decided to set up A tank again not for just me but for her too.the particulars as far as equipment goes is not overly important for this question but I will give some particulars anyway.

Size:65 gallon fw 3'version
filter: aquatop cf400-uv
substrate:black sand
live plants:none(maybe in future not at this time)

So now that I have the particulars let me start by saying I know I have done A couple of things wrong over the past month first and foremost is not doing a fishless cycle and going ahead with A fishin cycle so I've created a dated chart going back to 4/9 that is when I first set-up my tank to help anyone trying to give me advice or answser my questions just so you know what transpired over the last month.

4/9 set-up my tank added water(dosed whole tank with prime),put in sand décor,heater and started filter.

4/13 test ph of my water to see what kind of ph I will be working with it reads 7.3-7.4 this is acceptable as I will be housing barbs and maybe tetras so this should be fine.

4/15 drop a bottle of fritzme 7 bacteria into tank

4/16 pick up 9 black ruby barbs from lfs

4/17 test water my water reads 0ammonia 0 nitrite 30-40ppm NITRATE using api kit this cant be let me re-test same readings so I test tap this is where my high nitrate is coming from I let the tap water sit for 24 hours and re-test the next day with same result

4/18 call my water company to come test my water my tests are still 0 ammonia 0 nitrite 30-40 nitrate

4/19 my water company tests my water all seems good as water is measured for gas nitrate as a whole even though for aquariums it is reading 40ppm the way the water company tests it tests for nitrogen gas and I am well under 10 so I ask a couple of lfs's about my high nitrates and they tell me there is no need for concern that is how our water is in our are but yet on the forums I belong to they all seem to think it needs to be addressed and i'm being told to do live plants(which I am not ready to do yet)or go with an r/o unit which I have no issue doing I really don't want to mess with my water chemistry however having to add minerals back in so now I have something to think about.

4/20 I test my water again as now that I have an ammonia reading I will need to test evderday my ammonia has not moved bur now I have a new problem my fish have come down with ich so I immediately start raising the temps in my tank

4/21 my temps are at 88 depending how my fish handle the high temps is going to determine if I keep it there and treat with just heat and salt they seem to be doing fine so I raise the spray bar to give them more oxygen with the higher temps I also am told that prime neutralizes ammonia/nitrite/nitrate for up to 48 hours but it is recommended to only do 1/2 doses daily because it willeffect oxygen in the tank so for the next two weeks I keep my tank at 88 doing wc's and adding salt with 1/2 doses of prime.

5/5 my ich is gone so time to do a major water change I am now getting nitrite readings so IK go up to my lfs again to get another bottle of fritzyme 7 as I feel the ich episode slowed my cycle they are out but Iget tims one and only instead I am told to do absolutely no water changes for at least a week I scratch my head but say ok I will just keep adding prime to neutralize the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate even with wc's I would only be eliminating the first two as nitrate is coming from my tap.so I do A big water change before adding 1/2 bottle of one and only the bottle I have treats 120 gallons

5/6 contact dr tims about how long this process should take I am told about a week but not to do water changes unless the readings get up to 2ppm which is crazy I would never want them anywhere near 1ppm nevermind 2ppm on top of that they tell me not to vacuum the sand for 4 weeks (this kind of makes sense) then lastly they tell me prime should not be used with the one and only as it could slow my cycle.this I really don't care about at this point first and foremost I need to keep my fish as healthy as possible till my tank is cycled so if it is advised not to do water changes I would need to at least keep the water less toxic.

5/7 my nitrites and ammonia are now starting to climb so I stop by my lfs and ask them for advice I bring up the nitrates again and once again they tell me its nothing to be concerned about but they stress not to do water changes and to add the rest of the bottle of one and only which I did last night.

5/8 tested my water this morning looks like my ammonia has dropped back down to .25 and my nitrite looks like it dropped about .25

so this is where I am at I need some advice do I stay away from the prime(for the well being of my fish I think it is best to keep dosing with prime even if it extends my cycle by a couple of days)

nest up after my tank is fully cycled is dealing with my nitrates coming out of my tap I am being told from some that it is not an issue while others say it is.I would like to have as little out of balance as possible,I really would rather not add plants right now.If I were to get an r/o unit I worry I would upset the balance of my water by having to add minerals back in I am at 7.3/7.4 ph now I am afraid of any big ph swings by adding ro water with minerals added back in.

I have thought about doing 1/2 & 1/2 which will at least drop the nitrates down to about 20ppm while still keeping my essential minerals in the water would this work.I will purchase an empty garbage can to store my ro water till its ready to use.

again some say 40ppm nitrates is nothing to worry about and yes that may be true now but once my tank is cycled the nitrite will be being converted to nitrate thus already starting with 40ppm from my tap is this something to be concerned about as I essedntially will be replacing very high nitrate water with just high nitrate water.

I know this is quite long but I'm hoping someone could basically chime in about the prime & nitrates I just wanted to give anyone willing to answer my questions a good solid background on what I have done with my tank for the past month,I know I have done some things wrong and I'm still learning along the way I am sure I will more mistakes but the trick is to learn along the way.I've learned so much over the past two months stuff I never knew a few years ago.

if anyone could help me out it would be much appreciated thank-you
 
Drift wood helps with pH it will lower it a little. But u have to keep and eye on it. Have u tested the water for ammonia? If the ammonia lvl is high do a water change. Also since u have sand not gravel I would get some bottom feeders they will help with eating left overs and helps keep tank cleaner. Also do u have algae in ur tank.

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I'm really not concerned with my ph right now as it is a solid 7.3/7.4 I'm still cycling with fish so I just added bacteria so my question is I am being told not to do water changes or use prime until the tank cycles but I need to do one or the other to make the water less toxic so even if I delay the cycle a couple days I want yo use prime to make the tank less toxic for the fish until it cycles even by doing water changes I have 40 ppm nitrate coming from my tap which I've gotten mixed opinions on.
As far as bottom feeders go that's would be a big mistake I think if I put corys in right now they would not fair well as my tank is not cycled I need to add corys to a well cycled tank my black rubys went through ich and though fish in cycle was not the best choice I'm trying to work through my mistake.
I will deal with my nitrate issue once I know my tank is cycled.I don't have algae I think my tank is too new for it to grow yet I could be wrong I don't have the tank on for too long about 7 hours a day it comes on at 3 and shuts off at 10:00.
I have put some thought into getting plants but would they consume enough nitrate being its coming from the tap am I over thinking the nitrates?
 
ok I found some answers for u. I found this on a web site.


Nitrate has to be controlled through water changes. Most fish can tolerate 40 ppm fairly well, but I try to keep mine under 20, usually closer to 10. I used distilled water until I could afford an RO unit, and it brought the levels right down. BTW I performed two 25% water changes three days apart, then continued with 10% weekly after that. I also change my filter cartridges weekly until lvls were between 20 and 10 but closer to 10. hope this helps. it worked for me.
 
I am wondering why you don't want alive plants in the aquarium? The plants will help with keeping water levels in control. But you have sand. Sand compacts the roots so they might not grow well for you. Floating plants will help with water problems. A good pet shop have them always. What kind of lights do you have? I might have missed it in your question. That plays a good part in plant growth. If you only have 9 fish in a 55 gal tank that may not be enough to cycle the tank. The good idea is to put the bacteria in the tank. Was it in a fridge when you bought it? That is the live bacteria. The ones off the shelf help bring bacteria to the tank. I hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the replys and the research Lieggi the only problem with changing water without it being RO or distilled is with it having nitrates at 40ppm is I am basically replacing very high nitrate water with 40ppm water I am not against plants but unless I get a few of them I don't think they will do a whole lot for my nitrates as it is coming from the tap so with each water change I will be dumping nitrates back into the water unless I find a way to remove them before they go in my water.
As far as my tank goes it is a 65 gallon and the dr times one and only was refrigerated.I just tested my water again and the ammonia &I nitrite are both hanging around .50 ppm so I will check again before I go to bed if it's the same I may dose the tank with prime as I will not be able to monitor it tomorrow as I will be working.
I will deal with the nitrates after my tank is fully cycled I am tossing up feeding my fish tonight as I know they can go a couple of days without.I just want them healthy as I cycle my tank I will judge later if I don't feed tonight I will probably have to feed them tomorrow as I don't want them going too many days without food
 
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