How not to start out ( following LFS advice)

[Pvtdgrif]

Thanks for that. I'll ditch the cold water and run warm water tomorrow add the conditioner and ph buffer (see earlier posts re ph buffer) and do a 30% PWC. I've also read that with warm water you should allow the water to fall in from a high of around 2" to remove gas bubbles.

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[adeebm]

Bubbles are fine, they don't harm the fish. Just match the temperature of the tank and pour it in (with a dechlorinator). I would ditch the ph buffer, and let your water return to normal. You will probably either end up with harder water, precipitates, or a pH crash if you continue to use it.

--Adeeb

 

[Pvtdgrif]

Bubbles are fine, they don't harm the fish. Just match the temperature of the tank and pour it in (with a dechlorinator). I would ditch the ph buffer, and let your water return to normal. You will probably either end up with harder water, precipitates, or a pH crash if you continue to use it.

--Adeeb

Hi adeeb,
Please read the earlier posts regarding ph buffer. I'm stuck using buffer until the cycle is complete, then I'm hoping to do a 100% water change and drip acclimatise the fish to my base ph (8.0) and then I can throw the buffer in the bin and stop listening to advice from my LFS! 

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[Pvtdgrif]

For those interested here is a photo or two of my aquarium and a couple of the TBs

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[XimeD]

Very nice!!!

I see common TBs and albinos and is that a green TB too? It's cool how they all school together. You'll see that once they settle in, their colors will start coming out. Mine got a lot more orange on their fins once they settled.

 

[Pvtdgrif]

Very nice!!!

I see common TBs and albinos and is that a green TB too? It's cool how they all school together. You'll see that once they settle in, their colors will start coming out. Mine got a lot more orange on their fins once they settled.

Thanks.

Yeah two of each ( until cycled). One of the greens (the smallest of all my fish) spends all day chasing most of the others, he never stops all day. He chases one then as that one passes another target he swaps and chases that one instead. I know they sort out a pecking order but he has been chasing the others for 3 days now and I'm a little concerned he is stressing the other fish.

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[Coleallensmom]

He may calm down if you buy more greens. Aggression in TBs is common but usually their aggressiveness lessens with more numbers.

 

[Pvtdgrif]

He may calm down if you buy more greens. Aggression in TBs is common but usually their aggressiveness lessens with more numbers.

Oh, I thought that the aggression would lower with total TBs of all varieties? If that's not the case would I need 6ish of each? My tank is only a 30g high and would be overstocked with 18 TBs wouldn't it?

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[Coleallensmom]

Fish are funny..sometimes they will school together nicely with similar fish and other times not. I would definitely at least try to add a few more greens since you have the one who is being stinker. Nice tank, btw!

 

[Pvtdgrif]

Fish are funny..sometimes they will school together nicely with similar fish and other times not. I would definitely at least try to add a few more greens since you have the one who is being stinker. Nice tank, btw!

Thanks, let's hope I can keep it that way!
In which case after the cycle is complete I'm planning on 2 more greens 1 more albino and 3 more standards...

Oh yeah a few weeks later I'll be adding a bristlenose

Do you think that sounds ok for?

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[Pvtdgrif]

So I've done the first PWC, here are the figures for this morning (10 hrs before the PWC) and 2 hour after the PWC:

10 AM
NH3 0.25 - 0.5
NO2 0
NO3 15

8 PM
PWC 35%

11 PM
NH3 0.25
NO2 0
NO3 10

I'll post the morning figures and hopefully someone / some people will advise if the 35% is enough as I'm only going to be able to do 1 PWC a day wed, thurs and fri due to work. If required I can do more at the weekend.

Also what are the signs of stressed fish or more specifically tiger barbs.

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[Pvtdgrif]

As per my last post here are this mornings figures:

7AM
NH3 0.5
NO2 0
PH 7.2

Didn't bother doing an NO3 test as I have finished the course of "cycle" so I guess it can only go up when NO2 spikes first.

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[Coleallensmom]

Your tank is not fully cycled until both your ammonia and nitrites consistantly read 0ppm. Your nitrite is definitely at a more acceptable level but .50ppm is still high enough to cause stress. I'd still be doing daily 50% changes at this point. You are correct about the Nitrates...they will start rising and you should then see a drop in your nitrites. 15ppm Nitrates is perfectly acceptable.

 

[Pvtdgrif]

Your tank is not fully cycled until both your ammonia and nitrites consistantly read 0ppm. Your nitrite is definitely at a more acceptable level but .50ppm is still high enough to cause stress. I'd still be doing daily 50% changes at this point. You are correct about the Nitrates...they will start rising and you should then see a drop in your nitrites. 15ppm Nitrates is perfectly acceptable.

Hi Alisha

Just for clarity .... By "finished course of 'cycle'" I meant Nutrafin Cycle, which I believed was processing some of the NH3 and NO2. I have a very long way to go before the tank is cycled

I want to say thanks again to all that have helped me so far. Without this site I would have taken the LFS' advice as gospel and I would probably have sick or dead fish by now.
People trust them to give the correct information for the well-being of the animals. They make me so angry

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[Coleallensmom]

Ok, I admit that I was confused! Idk that you have a long way to go...Since you used the Bacteria supplement and you already have a NitrAte reading, it's very possible that you will not see a NitrIte spike. My first tank was a 37 gal. I began cycling and then added the SafeStart brand bacteria midcycle. With a couple of hours of adding the product, I had 0 Nitrites. The Nitrites stayed at 0 from then on out. After a week, ammonia had also dropped to 0 and my cycling was complete. I haven't had an ammonia or nitrite reading on that tank since, so bacterial supplements can sometimes help and when you use them, the cycle doesn't alway follow normal course i.e Nitrites rising, ammonia dropping. Then Nitrates rising, nitrites dropping. It's possible for your nitrites to drop before your ammonia...I think it just depends on what bacteria was strongest in the bottle. Hopefully you don't have too much longer to go...you're doing a good job!

 

[Pvtdgrif]

Quick question...

I'm doing the PWC for today and ive just looked in the top of the filter box and the White pad you change weekly is brown and full of c**p. As it's only been cycling 6 days and I'm stuck on a fished cycle should I change it or wait until it's cycled?

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[Coleallensmom]

What type of filter are you using?

You should rarely have to change filter materials. When you do, you're losing all the good bacteria that lives in your filter. Keep using your filter material until it falls a part. If it needs cleaning, just take some old tank water and rinse the materials in a bucket then put them back into your filter.

 

[Pvtdgrif]

What type of filter are you using?

You should rarely have to change filter materials. When you do, you're losing all the good bacteria that lives in your filter. Keep using your filter material until it falls a part. If it needs cleaning, just take some old tank water and rinse the materials in a bucket then put them back into your filter.

Thanks for that.

Its a juwel bioflow 3 with 7 different types of media. I've already changed my mind and put it back. It was nothing like falling apart.

I've finished refilling the tank and it ended up 2.F warmer so that wasn't too bad. I was really careful to fill using the siphon into the heater housing (which is a partition within the filter housing - check out the Juwel Lido 120 to see what I mean).

4 or 5 of them lost some colour but they've all got their colour back within 30 mins.

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[Pvtdgrif]

Just done the tests for tonight so here are all the tests for today:

Tests day 5

AM
NH3 0.5
NO2 0
NO3 n/a

9pm PWC 40%

PM
NH3 0.15 - 0.2
NO2 0
NO3 2.5


So I'm happy with that. 40% water changes once a day until the cycle is finnished!

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[Coleallensmom]

Good Job!

Some fish can change color quickly depending on their mood. PWC's are sure fire way to get my black skirts to school together...it's just a reaction to me interrupting their day. As long as the temp is as close as you can get it and you're remembering to use water conditioner, the PWC won't hurt them.