therealnickster
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hello. I am fairly new to aquariums and I need some help. Here is my honest story.
I have a 40 gallon pentagon tank that I have had running for 2 weeks. My father had found the tank in an abandoned apartment and brought it home knowing that I have always wanted one. The previous owners had left to die a goldfish and a cory catfish. Upon the tank arriving (not knowing anything about aquariums), I removed the two fish and thoroughly cleaned the tank, gravel, filter, and decorations. I put the two fish back into their aquarium with unconditioned water. Then I went to the pet store and purchased new filter cartridges, food, more plant decorations, water conditioner, and a TON of new fish. Back at home I set up the new tank with all the things I bought including all the fish. The following day I check the tank and all is good. I then went back to the pet store to purchase more things for the new tank. I came across the API test strips and purchased the 5 in 1 strips and the strips to detect ammonia. I come home, check the water and surprisingly everything is fine. The next few days, everything is going great. I go back to the pet store and purchase even MORE fish.
After that first week, only 2 fish did not make it. After the death of those two neon tetras I FINALLY began to browse the internet on what caused their death. That is when I realized what I had done. I became obsessed with researching what I could do to help and save my beloved fish. I learned all about the nitrogen cycle and tried to inform myself as much as possible about aquariums.
Now before I became aware of the nitrogen cycle I had been cleaning my filter cartridge everyday with the hose and interchanging with a second filter. Ignorantly I thought that changing and cleaning the filters everyday (sometimes twice a day), I would keep my tank cleaner and my fish healthier. Sadly, the last time I cleaned my filter was only 6 days ago.
The second week of my tank up and running improved little by little. I continued doing a lot of research and started a routine. Since 5 days ago, every morning I check the water parameters, perform a 25% water change, and write down all my results in a notebook that also contains everything that goes on in the tank. If the filter was too dirty, I just swished it in the removed tank water. Then with the new fresh water I added aquarium salt and Prime water conditioner. Till now there has never been any drastic change or spikes in the water parameters except for low pH. The nitrate has never passed 20 ppm, nitrite never passed 0.5 ppm, and ammonia never passed 0.25 ppm. I tested the water constantly throughout the day and whenever the test strips detected any sign of nitrate, nitrite, or ammonia, I performed a water change of at least 25% followed with Prime and aquarium salt. I know now that the test strips are not very reliable which is why yesterday I purchased an API Master Test Kit. Since starting the tank, aside from the two neon tetras that died, only a few fish had seemed to have fallen ill. The first one is a GloFish Tetra which I will post in another thread with a picture after this one. The other fish were my dalmatian mollies. What I discovered was that I filled my tank to close to the top which caused my filter to not disrupt the surface of the water leading to low oxygen levels. I then took out some water and bought an air pump. With the two airstones currently in my tank, my fish (especially my dalmatians) could not be happier. Since all my recent purchases of better quality foods, Seachem products, test kits and frequent daily water changes my fish are thriving.
If you have made it this far reading, I thank you. So my question is, since I have not seen any high spikes in ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate, how do I know if my tank has began to cycle? Am I changing the water to frequently? Should I purchase Tetra Safe Start Plus and add it to my tank? Any information will be helpful and very much appreciated. Also I have realized my ignorant mistakes and please ask you to be kind. Thank you!
I have a 40 gallon pentagon tank that I have had running for 2 weeks. My father had found the tank in an abandoned apartment and brought it home knowing that I have always wanted one. The previous owners had left to die a goldfish and a cory catfish. Upon the tank arriving (not knowing anything about aquariums), I removed the two fish and thoroughly cleaned the tank, gravel, filter, and decorations. I put the two fish back into their aquarium with unconditioned water. Then I went to the pet store and purchased new filter cartridges, food, more plant decorations, water conditioner, and a TON of new fish. Back at home I set up the new tank with all the things I bought including all the fish. The following day I check the tank and all is good. I then went back to the pet store to purchase more things for the new tank. I came across the API test strips and purchased the 5 in 1 strips and the strips to detect ammonia. I come home, check the water and surprisingly everything is fine. The next few days, everything is going great. I go back to the pet store and purchase even MORE fish.
After that first week, only 2 fish did not make it. After the death of those two neon tetras I FINALLY began to browse the internet on what caused their death. That is when I realized what I had done. I became obsessed with researching what I could do to help and save my beloved fish. I learned all about the nitrogen cycle and tried to inform myself as much as possible about aquariums.
Now before I became aware of the nitrogen cycle I had been cleaning my filter cartridge everyday with the hose and interchanging with a second filter. Ignorantly I thought that changing and cleaning the filters everyday (sometimes twice a day), I would keep my tank cleaner and my fish healthier. Sadly, the last time I cleaned my filter was only 6 days ago.
The second week of my tank up and running improved little by little. I continued doing a lot of research and started a routine. Since 5 days ago, every morning I check the water parameters, perform a 25% water change, and write down all my results in a notebook that also contains everything that goes on in the tank. If the filter was too dirty, I just swished it in the removed tank water. Then with the new fresh water I added aquarium salt and Prime water conditioner. Till now there has never been any drastic change or spikes in the water parameters except for low pH. The nitrate has never passed 20 ppm, nitrite never passed 0.5 ppm, and ammonia never passed 0.25 ppm. I tested the water constantly throughout the day and whenever the test strips detected any sign of nitrate, nitrite, or ammonia, I performed a water change of at least 25% followed with Prime and aquarium salt. I know now that the test strips are not very reliable which is why yesterday I purchased an API Master Test Kit. Since starting the tank, aside from the two neon tetras that died, only a few fish had seemed to have fallen ill. The first one is a GloFish Tetra which I will post in another thread with a picture after this one. The other fish were my dalmatian mollies. What I discovered was that I filled my tank to close to the top which caused my filter to not disrupt the surface of the water leading to low oxygen levels. I then took out some water and bought an air pump. With the two airstones currently in my tank, my fish (especially my dalmatians) could not be happier. Since all my recent purchases of better quality foods, Seachem products, test kits and frequent daily water changes my fish are thriving.
If you have made it this far reading, I thank you. So my question is, since I have not seen any high spikes in ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate, how do I know if my tank has began to cycle? Am I changing the water to frequently? Should I purchase Tetra Safe Start Plus and add it to my tank? Any information will be helpful and very much appreciated. Also I have realized my ignorant mistakes and please ask you to be kind. Thank you!
