Beginner looking for the right way after being terribly misled

[Pehcao]

Hello everyone,
finally decided to register and post here because I finally had it with being misled by my local fish stores with almost disastrous consequences for my new tank, and I was hoping to be enlightened regarding a couple of issues.

First of all I honestly didn't read up enough before setting up the tank, I didn't imagine the complexity involved, which was a very pleasant surprise but one for which I was not at all ready. Wouldn't want to go over the whole story because it's kind of long and frustrating, but finally after being advised to treat algae with H2O2 under the impression that "it's not harmful for fish" (and not triple checking first) and watching ALL my fish glass surf for 1 straight hour until I decided to do a massive water change, I'm hoping I can straighten my course and do as best as I can for my tank in the future.

I currently have a 15 Gal tank with inert substrate, it's heavily planted with a lot of valisneria, 2 amazon swords, some java moss, a single anubia on a piece of driftwood, and a couple other species I don't really know. As for fish I got 11 rasboras, 3 kuhli loaches, and 3 otocinclus. I setup the tank on November 13th, and I didn't really cycle it properly (now I know after researching more on the topic), and I do regular water changes of 20%-30% 2 times a week. I have a HOB filter with ceramic rings which I started gradually replacing with Seachem Matrix last week, my plan is to replace a few every week until Matrix is all that's left. As to not make this any longer the things that concern me are the following:

1. I've been struggling with algae growing on my plants, ranging from green hair to red algae in some cases, I've been told it's to be expected as the tank cycles but these are the same people that told me to treat with H2O2 and nearly killing all my fish. Any advice on dealing with it would be greatly appreciated.

2. Around 4-5 snails suddenly showed up, and I thought it was cool and that they'd help control algae, but this week i've found around 6-7 snail egg baggies (I removed them maually) and a lot more snails are starting to show up. Should I be concerned or should I just let them eat out all the decomposing matter and algae they can and die off naturally?

3. I've been keeping tabs on my water parameters using a 2 different test strips, the first are some 6 in 1 Test strips from Zhance, and the second are JBL Pro Scan. I started testing about a month ago and the parameters were inconsistent but "normal" especially PH, the first strips showed ~7.3, and the JBL Pro scan showed ~6.8. Finally I decided it's time to stop wasting money and getting the appropriate equipment and got an API Master test kit, but now I'm really alarmed because it shows a pH of ~8.3. I then tested my tap water and it showed ~7.5. Should I be alarmed? If so, what can I do to improve my water conditions?

4. Finally, I was wondering if adding a single apistogramma to this tank would be a bad idea, I absolutely love how they look and I'd like to add one to my tank, but if it's not gonna be healthy and happy I'd rather just keep it the way it is.

I'm sorry if this is a long post, I really appreciate the time you take in reading it, surely there must be other issues that i'm not seeing, but any knowledge you guys could share would be greatly appreciated.

Attached please find an image of my current setup, the rasboras love hanging in the back unde the plant with the big leaves (I don't really know what species it is)

 

[Goldfishexxpert]

The snails happened to me too! The eggs come from plants that are real that you put in your tank, I got moss and snail eggs started to appear, make sure you wash your plants beforehand to try and prevent this

 

[Caliban07]

I haven’t read anything in your post that makes me concerned. Perhaps the stocking is questionable in terms of compatibility and requirements but this isn’t really my area.

1. Algae needs to be viewed differently. Sure it looks ugly but it isn’t anything that would raise alarm and it doesn’t need to be ‘treated’. If anything it is helping to oxygenate the water column and provide grazing areas for your fish. Algae tends to subside as the tank stabilises and plants begin to gain a foothold. Plants like the ones we use (with a few exceptions) don’t like being placed underwater so they will attract algae as they die off and grow new leaves more suited to the tank. Patience is key here.

2. I’ve just ordered 20 Malaysian trumpet snails and 20 bladder snails. Snails are excellent for an underwater ecosystem. They help to break down organic matter which eventually becomes nutrients for plants. If you don’t like the look of snails thats ok but just know that they are exceptional tank cleaners. Just don’t overfeed. You don’t want them to be cleaning all the excess you put in, you want then to be hungry and they love eating algae and grazing biofilms.

On the subject of biofilms, these are imperative for normal ecosystem function. The microbes found in these biofilms also reduce waste. This waste is eventually turned in to new plant mass. The biofilms are everywhere in your tank, some visible and some invisible. They are not as robust as we are led to believe. Every time something goes in to your tank (H2o2, chlorine, meds) that has the potential to harm the biofilms you may be setting your tank back a step. Biofilms require good oxygen level. The more food you put in and the more fish you have the more oxygen is required. Make sure you have good surface agitation.

3. Don’t worry about chasing values. That is not what this hobby is about. You look inside the tank and watch. If the fish are happy then call it good. The more you watch the better you will become at telling when something is off. The good news is that almost every tank ailment in terms of fish health can be sorted by replacing some of the water or adding an airstone. Seriously, this is the best advice I can offer a fellow enthusiast.

4. I wouldn’t, they have specific requirements that don’t go well with a community tank.

Good luck.

 

[HopeGR]

Though I started this hobby end of last summer, I still consider myself a beginner. Maybe you should have started with artificial plants until you acquired enough experience/knowledge on how to keep the fish as well as the plants. You are right as to the lack of knowledge of the sales associates at the pet store. Especially the chain stores like Petco and Petsmart. Their goal is to sell and make money. The sales associates are to know the very basics and that's it - just enough to convince you to buy. I was once browsing not too long ago for fish and this one guy came up to help me, and I said not today since I didn't bring a sample water and he says, oh that's okay Or the other time, some other guy checks my water, told me i had high ph, which I thought was odd, told me to lower the ph, then it was too low, then I had to bring it up. Long story short, he had no idea what he was doing.

Live plants look nice and very 'ocean-like,' but sound just as complicated to keep alive. I guess if I made the effort to learn it wouldn't be a problem, but I chose to just enjoy the hobby as stress free as possible, without it becoming a problem. After all, it is an investment and you want to get the most out of it while enjoying it for as long as you can.