missmountain
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2014
- Messages
- 6
Hey helpful fish people!
I need some advice on how to proceed with my 2.5 week old aquarium.
Basically, over the past few weeks, I have been regularly freaking out and doing a ton of unnecessary things to my water (there is a lot of conflicting information out there in the fish world which has definitely confused me a little). I am going to admit everything I have done (please don't judge me), and now that I am in a calmer place with everything and have accepted that this isn't all going to happen overnight, am wanting to know how to move forward here.
Okay, here we go:
The tank is 25 gallons with a Penguin 200 HOB filter. I have gravel, artificial plants, and 2 small oranda goldfish (will be upgrading when they get too big, don't worry!).
I had the tank up and running with dechlorinated water (Prime) and the filter for about a week before adding fish.
Day 1: I went to get some hardy starter fish for the cycle, but instead walked out with 2 orandas and a bottle of Tetra SafeStart, which I hadn't heard of previously. I added the entire bottle and the fish.
Day 2: I freaked out and thought the fish had Ick. I purchased some QuickCure, and added it to the tank. Oh, I also misunderstood the fish shop guy's instructions when he said to "remove the carbon." Being a newbie, I assumed that by "carbon", he meant the whole filter cartridge. So I did. *facepalm*
Day 4: Realized the fish didn't have ick after all (it was just normal wen growth, which there is surprisingly little information about online). Also realized at this time that the fish shop guy meant to actually remove ONLY the carbon but leave the filter cartridge (oh my god). Put it back in immediately, also added aquarium salt and a new bottle of Tetra SafeStart.
Day 8: Ammonia at 1.0ppm. Added Prime, which I now know may or may not have a negative effect on the TSS. (I did not do a water change because my understanding was to not do one while using TSS unless ammonia gets super high)
Day 13: Ammonia still hovering around 1.0. Did a 25% water change (with Prime as the dechlorinator, used only in the new water) and added MicrobeLift Night Out II good bacteria, according to the directions.
Day 14: Ammonia at 0.5 ppm.
Day 14-17: Continued use of Night Out II until my bottle ran out. Ammonia steady at 0.5. Nitrites at 0 and I saw trace amounts of Nitrate.
Day 18: Added another bottle of TSS, since I was out of Night Out II and the store convenient to me at the time didn't carry that brand. And I know you can't really overdose TSS, so...
Day 19: Today! Ammonia at 0.5, Nitrites at 0, Nitrates at about 10 (but tap water comes up at 5...the tank water is just a touch darker than the tap with the Nitrate test)
Sooo...that's all I have up until this point. Why is my ammonia stuck at 0.5? I am hesitant to do water changes with the TSS, because I know the directions say to try and avoid it if possible, but now that I've added a total of 3 bottles so far, I guess I'm not sure where I stand as far as time frame...
What should I do now? Just sit back and wait, and watch? The fish are doing well and show no signs of stress (I have been feeding them very sparingly)...one's tail was all torn up when I got him, and it has been growing back rapidly.
I'm trying to shake my impatience and realize that all of this does take time. I just want my tank to cycle so I can start feeding them veggies and making food for them and begin to really watch them thrive!
Any ideas??
I need some advice on how to proceed with my 2.5 week old aquarium.
Basically, over the past few weeks, I have been regularly freaking out and doing a ton of unnecessary things to my water (there is a lot of conflicting information out there in the fish world which has definitely confused me a little). I am going to admit everything I have done (please don't judge me), and now that I am in a calmer place with everything and have accepted that this isn't all going to happen overnight, am wanting to know how to move forward here.
Okay, here we go:
The tank is 25 gallons with a Penguin 200 HOB filter. I have gravel, artificial plants, and 2 small oranda goldfish (will be upgrading when they get too big, don't worry!).
I had the tank up and running with dechlorinated water (Prime) and the filter for about a week before adding fish.
Day 1: I went to get some hardy starter fish for the cycle, but instead walked out with 2 orandas and a bottle of Tetra SafeStart, which I hadn't heard of previously. I added the entire bottle and the fish.
Day 2: I freaked out and thought the fish had Ick. I purchased some QuickCure, and added it to the tank. Oh, I also misunderstood the fish shop guy's instructions when he said to "remove the carbon." Being a newbie, I assumed that by "carbon", he meant the whole filter cartridge. So I did. *facepalm*
Day 4: Realized the fish didn't have ick after all (it was just normal wen growth, which there is surprisingly little information about online). Also realized at this time that the fish shop guy meant to actually remove ONLY the carbon but leave the filter cartridge (oh my god). Put it back in immediately, also added aquarium salt and a new bottle of Tetra SafeStart.
Day 8: Ammonia at 1.0ppm. Added Prime, which I now know may or may not have a negative effect on the TSS. (I did not do a water change because my understanding was to not do one while using TSS unless ammonia gets super high)
Day 13: Ammonia still hovering around 1.0. Did a 25% water change (with Prime as the dechlorinator, used only in the new water) and added MicrobeLift Night Out II good bacteria, according to the directions.
Day 14: Ammonia at 0.5 ppm.
Day 14-17: Continued use of Night Out II until my bottle ran out. Ammonia steady at 0.5. Nitrites at 0 and I saw trace amounts of Nitrate.
Day 18: Added another bottle of TSS, since I was out of Night Out II and the store convenient to me at the time didn't carry that brand. And I know you can't really overdose TSS, so...
Day 19: Today! Ammonia at 0.5, Nitrites at 0, Nitrates at about 10 (but tap water comes up at 5...the tank water is just a touch darker than the tap with the Nitrate test)
Sooo...that's all I have up until this point. Why is my ammonia stuck at 0.5? I am hesitant to do water changes with the TSS, because I know the directions say to try and avoid it if possible, but now that I've added a total of 3 bottles so far, I guess I'm not sure where I stand as far as time frame...
What should I do now? Just sit back and wait, and watch? The fish are doing well and show no signs of stress (I have been feeding them very sparingly)...one's tail was all torn up when I got him, and it has been growing back rapidly.
I'm trying to shake my impatience and realize that all of this does take time. I just want my tank to cycle so I can start feeding them veggies and making food for them and begin to really watch them thrive!
Any ideas??