paytertot
Aquarium Advice Addict
I would highly suggest not adding any bottled bacteria, as it can cause crashes in bacteria later on, along with other problems
Fishman4u said:First off, you did not cycle the tank first, you could expidite cycling by adding stress zyme to a new tank, its not really for stress, its bacteria that helps establish a healthy aqurium with the healthy bacteria a new tank needs to be safe for fish keeping. We all must remember, a fish tank of any size is not a lake of water, in a tank, it is comes complete with its challenges. Water needs to be replaced 1/3 every week, i do mine every weekend. Oscars get large and your going to require a 29 gallon for those guys, they get huge, like up to 12 complete inches at maturity.
You must keep the ph at 7.0. a water temp of no lower then 78. to keep ammonia at bay I use aqurium salt, one tablespoon for every ten gallons of water, this keeps your fishes gills lubricated when subjected to high levels of ammonia. I fed my oscars frozen krill, blood worms not freeze dried anything, takes all the nutients away. Buy a gravel vac, and do not ever strip clean a filtration device where you have grown healthy bacteria or you will have to wait all over again for it to regrow and this is not a good thing.
Fishman4u said:First off, you did not cycle the tank first, you could expidite cycling by adding stress zyme to a new tank, its not really for stress, its bacteria that helps establish a healthy aqurium with the healthy bacteria a new tank needs to be safe for fish keeping. We all must remember, a fish tank of any size is not a lake of water, in a tank, it is comes complete with its challenges. Water needs to be replaced 1/3 every week, i do mine every weekend. Oscars get large and your going to require a 29 gallon for those guys, they get huge, like up to 12 complete inches at maturity.
You must keep the ph at 7.0. a water temp of no lower then 78. to keep ammonia at bay I use aqurium salt, one tablespoon for every ten gallons of water, this keeps your fishes gills lubricated when subjected to high levels of ammonia. I fed my oscars frozen krill, blood worms not freeze dried anything, takes all the nutients away. Buy a gravel vac, and do not ever strip clean a filtration device where you have grown healthy bacteria or you will have to wait all over again for it to regrow and this is not a good thing.
xigtc said:The only toxin jumping or spiking is the ammonia. But 2 days in a row it's reading between .0-.25 once it was above and I (we) stayed on top of the tank and changed the water. I'm honestly surprised my fish have survived this long, just because it's really new to me.
Ah man that really sucks! I am so sorryWell I was just getting in bed, said goodnight to the fish and didn't see the Bristle nose. Looked around found it on its back behind the fern.
Checked the water levels and all checked out within reason. So I'm bummed. It was a pretty active fish loved sitting on the rock.
xigtc said:Well a small update. I have 4 tetras and 2 ghost shrimp for now until I get some more shrimp tomorrow. I checked my levels today. PH 6.0, ammonia was a 1.0, nitrite & nitrate were 0. So for the ammonia I did a small water change.
Also added some blue LEDs I wired up for an hr or 2 at night before bed.
aaronjohn20 said:If your ammonia was 1ppm a 50% pwc would bring it down to .5ppm. I'm not sure how big of a water changer you done since you said a small water change. Just some food for thought
xigtc said:That's not my issue. My issue is the fungus that took over my filter box and starting in my tank.