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Hello Grafx and welcome to AA! You are actually in good shape. Keep in mind, nitrites declining and leveling out at 0 is the final stage of the cycle. This normally takes 3-6 weeks. You are lucky to start with seeded material! You want to keep dosing ammonia and do a water change if nitrites...

Welcome to AA, Laura. I think your biggest problem is the shark. It gets more aggressive with age and that is a rather small tank for it. The rest is certainly on the heavy side of stocking for a 24 gallon, but if you keep up on water changes you will be fine.

It does get easier, and if you really think the gravel vac is not for you (since it sounds like that's where your problems started) you could try a python.

This is a magic time-travelling thread!

I like my snails too! Sometimes they're my favorite inhabitants. Here is my horned Nerite, I figured a true snail lover would appreciate it. It has gotten a lot bigger, but I haven't taken any pictures lately.

Right. This advice was meant for a tank where the cycle needed to catch up. I should edit the original. I agree that a 6 month old tank should be cycled (0 ammonia and nitrite), and perhaps, as you mentioned, residual ammonia from ammo-lock is the problem. I just wanted to be thorough with...

Yes, 15 days is good. I wait 2 weeks (14 full days).

If a store wants to compensate you for the Oscar, it will most likely be store credit. The Pleco is less likely to be compensated for, but it really depends on demand in your area. Anyway, I would ask for store credit and be prepared to get nothing in return. Just my opinion.

Good luck. MTS are cute and fun. You may eventually want to try an exotic snail like a horned nerite. Snails are pretty easy to take care of so enjoy them!

Yay! For future reference, sprinkle some fish food about a week before you plant to be out of town. That will release some ammonia and limp your cycle along.

I also don't know what would happen with a massive prime overdose. I know that prime reduces the amount of dissolved oxygen, so it could cause a problem there, but any chemical in a closed system can cause problems. Yes, one capful is fine for 60 gallons. Osage, where did I lose you? Do you...

Well, the often-posted standard is generally 0.25 ppm of ammonia or nitrite is the maximum reading we aim for. Your biofilter still has a bit of growing to do, but you are close. The shortcut is, just do water changes if ammonia or nitrite get above 0.25 ppm until both remain at 0. If a 0 ppm...

When you put untreated water directly in the tank, Prime's instructions mention to treat for the volume of the whole tank. This is a bit of a safety measure, to increase the concentration of prime to react with untreated water. Prime also neutralizes ammonia. The ammonia from dechlorination...

Like BigJim, I also drain, then add prime and re-fill the tank. Keep in mind that you have to dose for entire aquarium volume, not just the amount of water you're adding. Also, yes, your pH is fine for goldies.

I think your pH is 8.2. The regular pH test will read as high as it can, but the High Range will accurately read the higher level. I had the same problem once, with a pH of 8.4! Yes, PWC and retest sometime the second day after changing (ie change on 28th, test on 30th). This way you won't get...

It seems like your tank is extremely close to a full cycle. If it has been a long time and ammonia/nitrite levels are that low, you are in great shape. Probably within a couple of weeks, you will have undetectable levels (ie, fully cycled). Yes, nitrates we generally recommend to keep below 40...

Here's an answer to that question I posted earlier: I am updating again because for the past 4 days, 2 of my striped Tiger Barbs have been staying near the surface. This was after about a week or more of not being able to eat (immediately spitting out food), and they were emaciated with sunken...

I don't see what's wrong with it if the fish are kept in humane conditions (not starving, fish-friendly water). Fish get food, and a safe, clean home. People get clean feet :lol: and more connected with other creatures. In fact, I think we as a society need to look for more mutually beneficial...

Yep. With the exception of assassins, snails don't really seem to interact with each other. They just sorta chill and move along.

I'm no ramshorn expert, but it looks exactly like my ramshorns. They leave my plants alone.

Fiddler crabs are super cool, but FYI they require brackish (inbetween fresh and salt water) conditions, as well as dry land to stand and burrow in. I know, nothing is as simple as it seems :lol: If you want to see how to keep fiddlers, check out Adeebm's crabitat threads.

Hello lilvenom, and welcome to AA. Sorry you had to enter the hobby through the death of a friend - but when you look and see your peaceful aquatic community, you can remember him fondly. On to the nitty gritties ;) When you have a new tank, you may find yourself needing to do a water change...

Angels do like to be around other Angels, but they're aggressive enough to do okay on their own. I wouldn't keep a lone tetra in a community tank, because it would be too scared to come out. However, an Angel doesn't have that problem. The sidthimunkis do eat snails, but since they're small...

I haven't seen any comparison in accuracy... nor used the Nutrafin kit, so I can't comment on its ease of use. I would say it is mostly a matter of preference. The Nutrafin one has 3 more tests and is double the cost, but those tests are mostly important in a planted tank scenario. If you're not...

Hey Dunbarr. Welcome, great to see a member from Ireland (I'm fourth generation Irish American). In addition to NO2 (nitrite) and NO3 (nitrate) you also need to test for NH3 (ammonia). When your tank is healthy, ammonia and nitrite will always be 0, and nitrate will be at a low value...