High Ammonia in 1.5 Gallon

[jessibell]

I have a 1.5 gallon little desktop job that I thought would be perfect for raising guppy fry in - until they are big enough to swim with the big ones in the 10 gallon. It has been set up for about three months now, but I am aware I have not done verything properly after doing some research

When I first set up this aquarium I used water from my established tank that was already well cycled, so I figured I could just go ahead and put fish in it! My ten gallon filter as a chunk of biofulter media that remains in the system while the filter pads are changed monthly (the type that has carbon already in them) but the small filter that came with this little tank does not have a biofilter, only little cartidges. I suppose that was mistake number one. About a week ago I took out the cartidge (which is also changed monthly) and replaced it with a couple teaspoons of loose activated carbon pellets, folowed by a chuck of large-pore natural sponge, and topped off with a fine-pore artificial aquarium sponge. I rubbed the sponges on the biofilter of the established tank first, hoping bacteria would culture there. i also have a sponge on the end of the water intake so the fry don't get sucked up. The filter is one of those that used an air pump to lift the water thru a tube and into an in-tank reservoir, it came with a kit.

I have been replacing about three cups of water every day with water from the established aquarium, and testing the ammonia every day. Immediately after a small water change it goes down a little, but the next day it is back up to normal.

Of the original batch of fry I put in there about three months ago, about a third have survived, which figure is pretty good. When the ammonia levels get high, some clampt their fins and look sick. Some die, some recover but their fins are damaged Should I get a breeder net and move these fry back into the ten gallon? It would seem safer. I have a little plastic fry holder thing, but the fry fall through the slits in the bottom and its not big enough to hold them all. I was thinking of a larger nylon net thing.

Any suggestions about how to lower the ammonia? Or do i have to let this little tank cycle some more? Will it ever be stable enough to keep fry in or am I wasting my time with a tank so small? Would a five gallon be better? I don't have enough room in my small room for another ten gal at the moment (I am a student)

Thanks for any and all suggestions. I am eager to learn how to do this right!

 

[sieski]

I have a 1.5 gallon little desktop job that I thought would be perfect for raising guppy fry in - until they are big enough to swim with the big ones in the 10 gallon. It has been set up for about three months now, but I am aware I have not done verything properly after doing some research

When I first set up this aquarium I used water from my established tank that was already well cycled, so I figured I could just go ahead and put fish in it! My ten gallon filter as a chunk of biofulter media that remains in the system while the filter pads are changed monthly (the type that has carbon already in them) but the small filter that came with this little tank does not have a biofilter, only little cartidges. I suppose that was mistake number one. About a week ago I took out the cartidge (which is also changed monthly) and replaced it with a couple teaspoons of loose activated carbon pellets, folowed by a chuck of large-pore natural sponge, and topped off with a fine-pore artificial aquarium sponge. I rubbed the sponges on the biofilter of the established tank first, hoping bacteria would culture there. i also have a sponge on the end of the water intake so the fry don't get sucked up. The filter is one of those that used an air pump to lift the water thru a tube and into an in-tank reservoir, it came with a kit.

I have been replacing about three cups of water every day with water from the established aquarium, and testing the ammonia every day. Immediately after a small water change it goes down a little, but the next day it is back up to normal.

Of the original batch of fry I put in there about three months ago, about a third have survived, which figure is pretty good. When the ammonia levels get high, some clampt their fins and look sick. Some die, some recover but their fins are damaged Should I get a breeder net and move these fry back into the ten gallon? It would seem safer. I have a little plastic fry holder thing, but the fry fall through the slits in the bottom and its not big enough to hold them all. I was thinking of a larger nylon net thing.

Any suggestions about how to lower the ammonia? Or do i have to let this little tank cycle some more? Will it ever be stable enough to keep fry in or am I wasting my time with a tank so small? Would a five gallon be better? I don't have enough room in my small room for another ten gal at the moment (I am a student)

Thanks for any and all suggestions. I am eager to learn how to do this right!

I used fry to cycle my tank, but I changed 50% of the water daily for about 3 weeks. Don't keep changing the sponge. THAT is where the bacteria live. Adding water from the established tank will have little effect. Hardly any bacteria live in the water.

look here to understand cycling Tips for Cycling Your New Aquarium - The First Tank Guide - Getting Your Fish Tank Up and Running with Minimal Headaches

A five gallon would be brilliant. Thats what I use to raise guppy fry and it works fine. But either way a cycle tank/filter is essential. Putting some gravel from your established tank inside your filter in a netted bag type thingy will speed it up. Just rinse your filter sponge monthly in old tank water with a couple of old squeezes after its cycled. Many on here will use the sponge till it falls apart. Hope that helps

 

[jessibell]

Thanks, that is my plan - to keep the original sponges in there and just replace the carbon every month. In the meantime, I will just have to wait for the tank to cycle properly and keep up the daily water changes.

I also checked our tap water, both right out of the tap and after dechlorination for ammonia, and there is zilch. I have not yet done any pH testing but that is next on my list. Apparently guppies do well with a pH from 7 up to 8ish?

I was wondering if adding some live plants would help? My lab teacher at the college here raises guppies in several 20 gal tanks and he has live plants including duckweed that float on top. I think the duckweed is super attractive anyway so I'm going to ask him if I can have a netfull. Apparently it reproduces like crazy and often has to be scooped out and discarded?

 

[sieski]

Haven't a clue about duckweed sorry. As for ph mine has dropped to 6 before due to water company changing to soft water and the guppies carried opn as normal. Before that it sat at 7.2ish and with some buffer salt it sits at 7.5. I think guppies are less reliant on ph than other fish species.

 

[dkpate]

You don't need carbon, unless you are taking meds out. Your fish will adjust to the pH. Change the water every day to get the ammonia and nitrites to 0, that is why your fish are growing funny. I would recommend the bigger tank ASAP. Duckweed is good, is it the small stuff? Sometimes it gets sucked up into the filter intake so you have to watch that so it doesn't plug it up. I have never had to remove my duckweed.
IMO, that 1.5 gallon tank is too small for any fish.

 

[sieski]

You don't need carbon, unless you are taking meds out. Your fish will adjust to the pH. Change the water every day to get the ammonia and nitrites to 0, that is why your fish are growing funny. I would recommend the bigger tank ASAP. Duckweed is good, is it the small stuff? Sometimes it gets sucked up into the filter intake so you have to watch that so it doesn't plug it up. I have never had to remove my duckweed.
IMO, that 1.5 gallon tank is too small for any fish.

she has a point about the tank. You might never have completely brilliant water conditions due to the fact there is so little water to dilute all the bad stuff down. Imagine a lake's content.......

 

[dkpate]

<----not a he LOL

 

[sieski]

<----not a he LOL

what you on about? lol

 

[dkpate]

Bah! HAHA! You edited it. ROFL

 

[sieski]

Bah! HAHA! You edited it. ROFL

Hasn't a clue what you are going on about

 

[dkpate]

Ah geez....LOL. Where are you from? You say "going on about."

 

[sieski]

Ah geez....LOL. Where are you from? You say "going on about."

England, where English is still correct.

 

[Aquarium1]

Burn lol

 

[jessibell]

LOL actually I use that phrase all the time... but I'm Canadian as opposed to American and I watch too much BBC so that probably has someething to do with it

Yeah... gonna see if I can upgrade to a 5 gallon.

 

[dkpate]

I noticed that the English doesn't have slang like we do. Well, they do, but it's different. I just knew by the way you talked you were from somewhere else.

Good for you Jessi! Glad you are going to upgrade. I live 20 miles from BC, so I know how you guys and gals talk too.

 

[jessibell]

We'll see about the five gallon... I would do it in a heartbeat but while I am still living at home with the folks till September (I've been going to community college in town this year as opposed to University) I have to live with my mother's wrath every time I bring more "junk" or "bloody animals" into the house. For some reason fish really tick her off. Once I had 10 dwarf hamsters and she didn't seem to mind that. Or the quails. And at one point my ten gallon had mice in it, not fish. Those she could handle. But fish? For some reason it drives her nuts. I love her but man I can hardly wait to have a place of my own! The only reason I got into fish was because that was all I was allowed to have in my dorm. Now I'm addicted to it.

Maybe I'll do it on Saturday when she isn't home.

 

[dkpate]

Hahaha! I know how you feel! My husband is the same way. "Are you kidding me? ANOTHER tank???" Yeah, well I have managed to get 4 more into the house when he wasn't home. LOL! He is alright with them now though, just gets mad at how much time and money I have spent on them. But the fish are my relaxing escape, and now he understands that.

 

[7Enigma]

A 5 gallon would be preferrable but not necessary if you keep water conditions under control. Duckweed is a great nitrogen sponge if you don't mind it. Since you have a sponge on the filter intake you shouldn't have an issue with it clogging anything.

As mentioned you need to get your water conditions significantly lower. Fry need pristine water quality to develop properly. A 1.5 gallon tank should have 1 gallon of water replaced each day with NEW tap water that has been dechlorinated prior to adding to the tank and is the same temperature (this is critical in such a small tank and with fry).

What I would do is get a 1 gallon water bottle and use that for water changes. Fill it up with tap water, check the temp, if right add a couple drops of dechlor, cap and shake/mix. Drain the 1.5 (highly recommend you do gravel vacs just don't suck up the fry), then refill with the new water. That shouldn't take more than 5 minutes and should keep your water quality acceptable until the biofilter takes over.

And don't replace anything from the filter ever (until it falls apart). I've had a filter since I started and only once had to replace a part and that was a plastic mesh bag that the biomedia was in. The sponges are original (going on 5 years). Makes for upkeep costs of $0.

 

[jessibell]

Thanks for the advice everyone,

I figure I will go for the five gallon and set it up, cycle it, and in the mean time do the water changes daily as advised. I've been using a plastic milk jug for water changes (4 L) and yesterday I changed 1/3 of the water in the morning and 1/3 at night again, and this morning the ammonia is significantly lower! The pH kit I bought only measures up to 7.6 and the water is that at the least. The water in the bigger tank looks like it's 7.6 exactly.

When I transfer fish from one tank to the other (when they get bigger) how do I condition them to the new water?

 

[sieski]

Thanks for the advice everyone,

I figure I will go for the five gallon and set it up, cycle it, and in the mean time do the water changes daily as advised. I've been using a plastic milk jug for water changes (4 L) and yesterday I changed 1/3 of the water in the morning and 1/3 at night again, and this morning the ammonia is significantly lower! The pH kit I bought only measures up to 7.6 and the water is that at the least. The water in the bigger tank looks like it's 7.6 exactly.

When I transfer fish from one tank to the other (when they get bigger) how do I condition them to the new water?

Well if your water conditions are the same ph and temp I would bag them up float the bag for 10 mins and add a few spoon fulls of water from "the new tank" just to change any variances in conditions slowly then drop them in lights off for a big I usually leave them off for 12 hours. Thats what I do with my fry not one lost yet. If temperatures are different 20-30 mins floating to be sure