Pescador22
Aquarium Advice Newbie
I want to first thank everyone who helped me with my first post three weeks ago. I incorporated everyone's suggestions and as you'll see from my signature, I now have what I'm pretty sure is a happy and healthy community tank up and running. I did have some problems, however, so I have some follow up questions.
First, for the sake of background: I inherited a 55 gal tank with three plecos in it. While the tank was clearly cycled, it was badly out of maintenance. With your help, I got the water quality to fairly ideal levels (with daily pwc's and using a new and more accurate test kit), waited a week, gave away two of the plecos, and then got my group of fish.
Out of a total of 12 new fish, one of the neon tetras and one of the clown loaches did pass away (the neon the next morning after I got the group and the loach after a week, just before I was planning a weekly 25% pwc). Every other fish has survived and as far as I can tell, is actually thriving.
Was buying 12 fish probably too much at one time? Assuming water quality was within reason (but see below), would this fact alone be problematic, and why?
The guy at the lfs said the lost fish didn't look diseased, and after testing my water with his kits, told me the water quality was generally good but there were very small levels of ammonia still in the tank. I told him I was using the Aquarium pharmacuticals (AP) master test kit and it consistently showed prior to the deaths that I had no detectible levels of ammonia (I also tested the water on each day of the fish deaths - the results were always 0 ammonia. BTW, the other parameters he tested were consistent with mine: 0 nitrite, about 20 ppm nitrate, and about 7.2 pH). I asked about his test kit later over the phone, and we think he was using an AP nessler-based test for ammonia (he wasn't positive because he sometimes use another type, which is a Tetra brand, he says). My ammonia test is an AP salicate-based type.
Does the different test-type account for the difference in our readings, even though the tests are made by the same company?
I'd like to get some more natural decorations for the tank, some rocks and driftwood (I now have various plastic plants and one 12" long driftwood piece over multi-colored but natural-toned gravel). I've read about the tannin and ph-lowering effect of driftwood, and think both of these effects wouldn't be bad for my group of fish. I do have a concern though. My carbonate hardness is pretty low, from 2-3 degrees (based on my Red Sea tritration test*) (I haven't gotten my GH test kit in the mail yet). From what I understand, with such low KH, my pH could swing quite a bit. Could new driftwood cause this? Would it be a big, quick and detrimental change in pH? Or a small, gradual and ok change? Or something in between?
* Regarding the tritration test - should I account for any change in color from one drop to the next, or am I actually trying to match the color on the card? I ask because after 2-3 drops my color changes, but it isn't the exact shade on the card (which is a darker shade of red).
Lastly, what should I know, if anything, about getting rocks? I'm thinking about a group of three or so grayish tennis ball sized pieces.
As always, thanks in advance!
First, for the sake of background: I inherited a 55 gal tank with three plecos in it. While the tank was clearly cycled, it was badly out of maintenance. With your help, I got the water quality to fairly ideal levels (with daily pwc's and using a new and more accurate test kit), waited a week, gave away two of the plecos, and then got my group of fish.
Out of a total of 12 new fish, one of the neon tetras and one of the clown loaches did pass away (the neon the next morning after I got the group and the loach after a week, just before I was planning a weekly 25% pwc). Every other fish has survived and as far as I can tell, is actually thriving.
Was buying 12 fish probably too much at one time? Assuming water quality was within reason (but see below), would this fact alone be problematic, and why?
The guy at the lfs said the lost fish didn't look diseased, and after testing my water with his kits, told me the water quality was generally good but there were very small levels of ammonia still in the tank. I told him I was using the Aquarium pharmacuticals (AP) master test kit and it consistently showed prior to the deaths that I had no detectible levels of ammonia (I also tested the water on each day of the fish deaths - the results were always 0 ammonia. BTW, the other parameters he tested were consistent with mine: 0 nitrite, about 20 ppm nitrate, and about 7.2 pH). I asked about his test kit later over the phone, and we think he was using an AP nessler-based test for ammonia (he wasn't positive because he sometimes use another type, which is a Tetra brand, he says). My ammonia test is an AP salicate-based type.
Does the different test-type account for the difference in our readings, even though the tests are made by the same company?
I'd like to get some more natural decorations for the tank, some rocks and driftwood (I now have various plastic plants and one 12" long driftwood piece over multi-colored but natural-toned gravel). I've read about the tannin and ph-lowering effect of driftwood, and think both of these effects wouldn't be bad for my group of fish. I do have a concern though. My carbonate hardness is pretty low, from 2-3 degrees (based on my Red Sea tritration test*) (I haven't gotten my GH test kit in the mail yet). From what I understand, with such low KH, my pH could swing quite a bit. Could new driftwood cause this? Would it be a big, quick and detrimental change in pH? Or a small, gradual and ok change? Or something in between?
* Regarding the tritration test - should I account for any change in color from one drop to the next, or am I actually trying to match the color on the card? I ask because after 2-3 drops my color changes, but it isn't the exact shade on the card (which is a darker shade of red).
Lastly, what should I know, if anything, about getting rocks? I'm thinking about a group of three or so grayish tennis ball sized pieces.
As always, thanks in advance!