First 20 gallon fish tank

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Lilmack07

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Oct 3, 2012
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227
Location
Texas
Hi my boyfriend and I just recently started up a fish 20 gallon tall fish tank. The tank is a week old. Of course we got to the store and got over excited so I've been told I've overstocked. ( 3 big yellow neon fish, 2 black mollies, Dalmation Molly, pale blue gourami, dwarf gourami, catfish, sucker fish, 2 snails, 2 African dwarf frogs, and 2 ghost shrimp. ) I eventually want to upgrade to a 40 gallon because well my fishes will be growing of course ( if I don't screw up too much lol) I have 100 watt heater and a tetra ex20 whisper power filter. I have an extra top fin 20 filter I've been thinking about adding but I don't have the part that holds the actual filter. Not sure if I can buy a replacement. I've been using distilled water and I just looked up and I've read that's bad? So I went out and bought API stress coat for future water changes. I plan on doing a 50% water change tonight. I've been having a bit of a problem with ammonia and I think some of my fish are showing signs of ich.
 

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No it's in the process of cycling at the moment. Will they be ok for now since they are all small to give me time to get a 40 gallon or is it urgent that I get them in something bigger now?
 
There is way too many in there for cycling a tank. Your ammonia is gonna be if not already off the charts and could kill them or cause serious health problems. Have you tested your waters and if so with what? How soon do you plant on upgrading to a bigger tank and to what size?
 
I check my ammonia everyday using one of the liquid test. I've done water changes just about every other day 25%. Yesterday I had a spike in my ammonia to 4 so I did a 50% change. I was just informed that doing water changes back to back is fine in order to get the ammonia level down. So tonight I am Doing another 50% water change and then I'll test the water and go from there.
 
Lilmack07 said:
I check my ammonia everyday using one of the liquid test. I've done water changes just about every other day 25%. Yesterday I had a spike in my ammonia to 4 so I did a 50% change. I was just informed that doing water changes back to back is fine in order to get the ammonia level down. So tonight I am Doing another 50% water change and then I'll test the water and go from there.

Edit- I want to upgrade to a 40 gallon. Prolly when we get a little extra money. I just gotta research what a good price is so I can start looking around.
 
Ammonia testing at 4 is huge, I wouldn't let it get about .25 with fish in there. Keep doing 50% water changes everyday.
 
I added the 2nd filter to it. Only at the moment it doesn't have a carbon filter in it because I don't have the plastic part that holds it in place. I'm going to see if they have a replacement or something at petsmart tomorrow. I did a 50% change this evening. Tomorrow I will do one in the mornin and one the afternoon both 50% and see how that effects the levels.
 
I bought a new heater where I can adjust the heat to where I want it. I also bought a filter cartridge for my second filer so that is all up and running. I did a 50% water change ammonia is at a 1. So in an hour or so I'm going to do another 50% change. It also looks like my Female black Molly is beginning to get white spots. So I'm taking advice on how to treat that at the moment as well. Plan on looking into aquarium salt tomorrow. :)
 
the molly takes more salinity in their water but i dont think all your other inhabitants will like it that much. JMO
 
Yea that's what I've heard. I'll be addin some salt tomorrow prolly to try and get rid of my ich problem. I did 3 50% water changes and got the ammonia down to .50.
 
Thank you for the article! :) I'm getting ready to do a 50% water change. Check the ammonia this morning and it was at .5. So this water change should get it at where I want it. Then I'm going to work my temp up to 84 degrees and add salt that I'm gonna go buy in a min. Lol
 
Ok! Let us know how you make out.

Just make sure to keep a special eye on the
snails and catfish as they don't tolerate high levels of salt. I'm not sure about the shrimp.
My pleco did fine when I treated my tank for ICH. My temp was 86 and it took me 16 days to get rid of. I lost my catfish and 1 platy ( she was severely covered in ICH)
 
Aw I'm sorry to hear that :( but congrats on getting rid of it! I did my water change my ammonia is in between .25 and .50. My temp is 84-85 degrees (kinda hard to tell on the temp strip on my tank) I just added half the dose of salt it asked to add to the tank. Now crossing fingers and hoping all goes well. My black female Molly is the only one I'm a little worried about she is just looking a little rough. All the others seem fine for the time being. ( besides the nasty ich in my tank of course)
 
Lilmack07 said:
Aw I'm sorry to hear that :( but congrats on getting rid of it! I did my water change my ammonia is in between .25 and .50. My temp is 84-85 degrees (kinda hard to tell on the temp strip on my tank) I just added half the dose of salt it asked to add to the tank. Now crossing fingers and hoping all goes well. My black female Molly is the only one I'm a little worried about she is just looking a little rough. All the others seem fine for the time being. ( besides the nasty ich in my tank of course)

Mollies actually need a bit of salt...so she should be okay. :)
 
So it should perk her up. :) But I think she is pretty stressed out because my male wont leave her alone. I had gotten the dalmatian Molly female so he would at least have another to chase around but he doesn't care for her.
 
Lilmack07 said:
So it should perk her up. :) But I think she is pretty stressed out because my male wont leave her alone. I had gotten the dalmatian Molly female so he would at least have another to chase around but he doesn't care for her.

Does she have hiding places?
 
Yea I have quite a few plants and caves. She has tried hiding but most of the time he finds her and chases her out.
 
Blah woke up to the power being off! Besides that I had to leave for my hunter safety course and I didn't known when the power was coming back on. Came home and it was back on thank goodness. Ammonia was at 1 did a 50% change and its down to .50. Added the salt as needed. :) keeping temp around 84-85
 
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