eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
Soooo... I’ve officially given up on a fresh water aquarium in our new home 
Started several months ago buying a rimless 20 long. The plan was a Betta in a heavily planted tank with driftwood and eco complete substrate.
Our pH is sky high, around 8.2 (even after sitting out overnight) and GH is off the charts.
I noticed ammonia AND nitrite out of the tap were high... .5ppm ammonia and .25 nitrite. Nitrate was around 30ppm.
Tampa, FL tap water.
Figured no huge deal, a healthy bio-filter along with constant small water changes took care of ammo and nitrite, and a forest of plants would keep the nitrates in check. And a Betta could easily adapt to the pH.
I purchased the Angels Plus active sponge filters, chopped them up, placed them into the new Eheim canister filter and fishless cycled the tank (which only took a few days thanks to the seeded filters).
* Angels Plus active filters apparently also include a &!@% ton of algae and detritus worms, so I now recommend against them *
Everything was okay for several months. Was getting pissed at algae and the normal routines of owning an aquarium, and our Betta was cool, but never had the strong personalities others we’ve owned had (and he cost a fortune on eBay).
A couple weeks ago we realized our Betta’s fins weren’t as long and flowing as before, and within a couple days saw he had fin rot. Started treating with BettaFix (best option we had) but within a few days he was gone.
Should have tested earlier, but knowing I was doing everything right (small pwc’s 2x per week, keeping tank pristine, not overfeeding, etc.) ...I hadn’t really been using the ol’ API master test kit much.
I left the tank sitting empty a while, and did some testing today since my wife wants a new Betta.
OUT OF THE TAP- Ammonia was .5, nitrIte was almost 2ppm (TWO!!!) and nitrate was around 60ppm.
Inside the tank I was 0/0/30. Guess the plants and B.B. were slowly doing their job, but the steady doses of toxin probably took their toll, and I realized I had done a pretty large pwc about a week prior to the fish taking a turn.
I’m not up for doing the RO/DI + Equilibrium + Buffer thing, so I guess I’ll break it all down and throw it in the closet. Or maybe catch one of the anoles outside and let him ride out the winter indoors ? :-/
Started several months ago buying a rimless 20 long. The plan was a Betta in a heavily planted tank with driftwood and eco complete substrate.
Our pH is sky high, around 8.2 (even after sitting out overnight) and GH is off the charts.
I noticed ammonia AND nitrite out of the tap were high... .5ppm ammonia and .25 nitrite. Nitrate was around 30ppm.
Tampa, FL tap water.
Figured no huge deal, a healthy bio-filter along with constant small water changes took care of ammo and nitrite, and a forest of plants would keep the nitrates in check. And a Betta could easily adapt to the pH.
I purchased the Angels Plus active sponge filters, chopped them up, placed them into the new Eheim canister filter and fishless cycled the tank (which only took a few days thanks to the seeded filters).
* Angels Plus active filters apparently also include a &!@% ton of algae and detritus worms, so I now recommend against them *
Everything was okay for several months. Was getting pissed at algae and the normal routines of owning an aquarium, and our Betta was cool, but never had the strong personalities others we’ve owned had (and he cost a fortune on eBay).
A couple weeks ago we realized our Betta’s fins weren’t as long and flowing as before, and within a couple days saw he had fin rot. Started treating with BettaFix (best option we had) but within a few days he was gone.
Should have tested earlier, but knowing I was doing everything right (small pwc’s 2x per week, keeping tank pristine, not overfeeding, etc.) ...I hadn’t really been using the ol’ API master test kit much.
I left the tank sitting empty a while, and did some testing today since my wife wants a new Betta.
OUT OF THE TAP- Ammonia was .5, nitrIte was almost 2ppm (TWO!!!) and nitrate was around 60ppm.
Inside the tank I was 0/0/30. Guess the plants and B.B. were slowly doing their job, but the steady doses of toxin probably took their toll, and I realized I had done a pretty large pwc about a week prior to the fish taking a turn.
I’m not up for doing the RO/DI + Equilibrium + Buffer thing, so I guess I’ll break it all down and throw it in the closet. Or maybe catch one of the anoles outside and let him ride out the winter indoors ? :-/
