First 20 gallon fish tank

[Lilmack07]

Yea I've started putting half the dose it says on the box in my tank and trying to keep my temp around 84-86. Which can be a little tough with all the water changes. But I heard water changes should help with getting rid of the ich as well. I haven't heard of that but I will look into it for sure. Thank you.

 

[KevinM]

Ive had very good luck with raising the temp to 85 and leaving it for a week. I got lucky this last time and it cleared up in 24 hours but I still have the temp up a week later, will start turning it back down tomorrow.


Watch what meds you use. A lot of Snails, Shrimp, Scaleless Fish(catfish others) will not take to it and can kill them. I never added salt to treat it the 2cd time(I did the 1st time and my poor snails took a beating but lived).

 

[Lilmack07]

Yea I've been keeping my temp up 85-86ish. I haven't tried any meds, only been using the salt, high temp and water changes. Ich is still in the tank. No one else has died...yet. I'm kinda surprised my last Molly is still alive she is a trooper. I want to add some more live plants. I have one that I bought to float on top for the baby fish but something ate them all. But it started growing roots so I stuck it in my sand, my sure if it will grow with just the sand but I just gotta take the time to research it.

 

[Lilmack07]

Thought this was a cool pic i caught of my fish at feeding time. Dalmatian molly seems to being doing better with her swim bladder problem. I had given up hope on her but she is kinda proving me wrong now. xDD

-sigh- I'm leaving for a week starting friday morning for a hunting trip. I don't know how well my tank will fair because i do a WC if not more everyday. I might be able to get my bfs cousin to do one WC for me, but he said no more then that. xP

 

[Lilmack07]

I'm back from my hunting trip and I think my tank finally got rid of its ich problem. When I got home my 2nd filter wasn't working at first I thought it had been unplugged ( girl we had taking care of the house tried to tell me the reason I was having problems with my tank is because I had too much filtration LOL) but I gave it a good cleaning and got it back to working. Very happy about that. My ammonia level was close to a 4 when I got home thou. They may have done one water change while we were gone. I did one 50% change last night but it was too late to do another one. Going to work like crazy today to get it back down to a normal level. But other Ben that my fish look great. lowered my temp down to 81-82 since the ich seems to be gone!

 

[librarygirl]

So are you still using distilled water? Are you replacing it with minerals? If not, you need to. Distilled water has zero nutrients for the fish, so you'll need to use something like Kent's RO Rite or Seachem replenish. The bacteria you are trying to grow will need minerals too; I"m not sure your tank will cycle without them. Why aren't you using your tap water? What's the PH of the tank?

You already know but you are overstocked for a cycling tank, which is why ammonia levels are rising so fast and high. If the fish feel overcrowded you could have other issues down the road as well (illnesses, aggression); I suspect the Ich is already a manifestation of this. I'd try to upgrade the tank ASAP or return some of the fish.

Keep up with the water changes, you're doing a good job there. When you run out of the dechlorinator you're using, try some Prime instead; it's more concentrated so you'll use less. Most of us on here use it.

 

[Lilmack07]

I stopped using distilled water as soon as I found out it was no good. Lol literally too clean for the fish. so yes I am using tap water now. I just ran out of my API stress coat conditioner last week so I bought some prime before I went out of town. The ich is out of my tank now. I just have to get my ammonia back under control since I've been gone but that won't be a problem. I do my water changes every day if not more times a day. I already plan upgrading to a 55 gallon when we can.

 

[Lilmack07]

Did one more 50% change and got the ammonia down to .25 I was really impressed it dropped so fast. I cleaned out my other filter as well since its stream was starting to slow down. ( not actually replacing the carbon filter just cleaned the actual filter parts)

 

[callisto9]

I think you're doing a great job. I kinda got into this hobby backwards, too. You're learning and that's always a good thing!

 

[Lilmack07]

I think you're doing a great job. I kinda got into this hobby backwards, too. You're learning and that's always a good thing!

Thank you so much and I couldn't agree more! )

 

[Lilmack07]

Ammonia was at .50 today so I did a 50% change like normal and it dropped to .25. It seems to be getting easier for me to get the ammonia levels down before I was fighting and never really getting it to a true .25 but now it's no problem. I added a big rock and the water got a tiny bit cloudy. I had hot water soaked it quite a few times. I'm gonna watch it, if the water doesn't clear soon I may just take it back out.

 

[Annakhil]

Did you test the rock to make sure it doesn't have anything that will effect the water? If you drop some vinegar on it and it bubbles then don't use it

 

[Lilmack07]

Yea I did the test and no bubbling happened so I assumed it was good to go.

 

[Annakhil]

Cool deal! Just wanted to give you a heads up but seems like you got this!

 

[Lilmack07]

Cool deal! Just wanted to give you a heads up but seems like you got this!

I appreciate the lookin out!

 

[Lilmack07]

Did a 50% change ammonia is at .25 now. The tank seems to be doing awesome. Found out I was using a little too much prime but once again I've corrected my mistake. XD gotta love the learning process. it's getting easier to tank care of the tank now thou. I think I'm getting it closer to being cycled

 

[Lilmack07]

Left for the weekend came back and tested my water the ammonia was at zero I believe. I'm going to test it again. I'm guessing its either close to being cycled or cycled?

 

[Annakhil]

i say test all params and if its zero then your cycled! Congrats!

 

[Lilmack07]

I'm out of strips ( hated those things) haven't bought the API master kit yet. But will do so soon! Thank you!

 

[Lilmack07]

Have one live plant and the branches keep coming off. I'm not sure if its dying or if the fish are pecking at it. I want to get ahold of some driftwood fer sure!