My 30gal Project

[93MSB]

rgr that! im going home at lunch to do another water change. I really dont have anywhere to take the fish except for back to the petstore and im not sure thats a good idea

One thing im concerned with is stressing the fish while doing the large water changes. For example, the red tail shark was doing fine with the smaller more frequent water changes. However, when i pulled the 15gal out all at once last night he stressed and lost a good bit of color. He had calmed down and regained his color by this morning though. The solution would probably be to get a python so that the water going in isnt so turbulent. Its kind of hard to be gentle adding water with a bucket in a tall tank.

edit:
are there any plants i could throw in to help the cycle along? something thats hardy, easy to grow, doesnt require special substrate or a ton of light. maybe some floating plants?

 

[ztigris]

I use a 5 gallon water jug and put my hand under the stream to make it less difficult on the fish. Works great and cost $7 for a used one from culligan or $8 for a cheaper new one from Walmart.

 

[phishfriend]

"are there any plants i could throw in to help the cycle along? something thats hardy, easy to grow, doesnt require special substrate or a ton of light. maybe some floating plants?"

Any live plant should help. Java moss, java fern, water sprite is a good one. Others I'm sure have more ideas. Also, ask for low light plants at your LFS.

 

[Hobgob]

I'm sure the shark is fine. Sometimes I do like 65-75 in all of my tanks which doesn't leave a lot of room for the fishes but the fresh water going in is a lot better then the bad water coming out. Also do you have the light on when you do it? I've noticed that the fish stay calmer when I leave my lights on. Also my fry in the 110g don't get split up from the parents if I have the light on but if it's off they don't stay together and I have to watch them get eaten.

Maybe after some more larger water changes the shark will get use to it also. And putting your hand under the stream is a good idea, it will help distort the water and not stir up your substrate as much.
A python is a good investment but not a must! You can buy all the attachments separately and then just buy some waterline from your hh and you have one. Only thing is you don't get the gravel vac part but you can attach one onto it.

 

[Hobgob]

If you want to seed your cycle try and get some filter media from a healthy established fish tank and just stick it into your filter. Sometimes lfs's will have some you can buy or have from there filters and I believe angelplus or something like that sells seeded filters. The plants won't help the cycle. All they will do is eat ammonia and nitrates which is good because less will be present in the water. But I don't know to much about live plants. I just go bare bottom or a few decor otherwise it's to hard to see my fry

 

[93MSB]

Well i did a 15gal change at lunch, but i didnt have time to do a water test before i had to be back.

I did figure out a great way to refill the tank without disturbing anything(pic attached). The redtail lost just a hint of color this time and he settled down almost immediately when the tank was full. Ill try leaving the light on next time to see if that helps

im going to do some research on those plants phishfriend listed. If they help keep ammo in check then that will definitely help me out

 

[phishfriend]

That is pure ingenuity my friend, lol!!

 

[ztigris]

That is awesome! Lol

 

[librarygirl]

You're doing well with the water changes! Keep that ammonia down. Next comes nitrite which are as toxic to fish so you want to keep those down also when they start to rise. Don't add any more fish. When you upgrade I'd go for the longer tank for the shark; as it grows it'll need a larger one but a 50-60 gal for now should suffice.

Here's a couple of links if you haven't seen them:
I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice
Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

 

[93MSB]

Well not so good news.

I tested my tap water (something i should have done to begin with) and its reading between .25 and .50 on the ammonia (straight from tap).

Ive got my ammo down to the tap water level. Ive read i can do a 50/50 mix with RO water? and add the nutrients lost? any other methods? suggestions?

maybe some good news though, my nitrites appear to be on the rise because its getting harder to keep it down so maybe im getting into the 2nd stage? nitrates have also gone up slightly

current test results:

temp:78
ph: 7.6
ammo: ~.35-~.40ppm
nitrIte: .50ppm (up .25)
nitrAte: ~6ppm (up ~2ppm)

 

[phishfriend]

Nope! Don't sweat the RO unless you really feel you need it. I have the same problem with my tap water. Straight out I'm about .25 to .30 ppm. Once your tank builds the BB to process ammonia. It will clear it NP. You tank will process it to 0 in less then 24hrs after every water change. I almost believe that, that lil bit of ammonia in my tap water makes my system stronger. Because every week it has to process that extra amount.

But what it means to you is that you don't need to change a thing!

 

[93MSB]

funny, that was going to be my next question! about if it would be a problem once the bb was established

i guess what i need to do is in the morning do an ammo test before a water change and if its the same or lower then i wont bother with the RO. If it spikes again then ill probably consider it heavily.

 

[librarygirl]

It's going to get a bit tricky once ammonia stays at 0 and the nitrites rise though. The nitrite phase is the longest and they tend to spike fast and they are as toxic to fish as ammonia. So even if ammonia is 0 or less than your tap and nitrites are >.5, I'd do the water change to keep nitrites down. Also I didn't realize at first that your tank is a column; oddly shaped tanks like that are a bit hard to stock as it limits the horizontal swimming room that most fish need.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Well not so good news.

I tested my tap water (something i should have done to begin with) and its reading between .25 and .50 on the ammonia (straight from tap).

Ive got my ammo down to the tap water level. Ive read i can do a 50/50 mix with RO water? and add the nutrients lost? any other methods? suggestions?

maybe some good news though, my nitrites appear to be on the rise because its getting harder to keep it down so maybe im getting into the 2nd stage? nitrates have also gone up slightly

current test results:

temp:78
ph: 7.6
ammo: ~.35-~.40ppm
nitrIte: .50ppm (up .25)
nitrAte: ~6ppm (up ~2ppm)

Are you using prime? That will help neutralize ammonia (only temporarily), it should get it down enough to make levels safe for your fish and still feed the BB. Once your tank cycles it should take care of ammonia on its own.

 

[93MSB]

yes I am using prime, I'm doing a 30gal dose every time I pull 15+ gal.

I did ammo and nitrate test this morning before I did a water change.

ammo was up ~.25 from the reading last night so I'm not going to worry about mixing the RO water, as it appears I have a somewhat decent colony of ammo eating bb.

the nitrite was up 1ppm from last nights reading so it does appear to be spiking now. so that's what I'm really keeping my eye on now and changing water as needed

also, is it safe to do a 75% water change if my levels get out if hand?

 

[Mrs.h2012]

yes I am using prime, I'm doing a 30gal dose every time I pull 15+ gal.

I did ammo and nitrate test this morning before I did a water change.

ammo was up ~.25 from the reading last night so I'm not going to worry about mixing the RO water, as it appears I have a somewhat decent colony of ammo eating bb.

the nitrite was up 1ppm from last nights reading so it does appear to be spiking now. so that's what I'm really keeping my eye on now and changing water as needed

also, is it safe to do a 75% water change if my levels get out if hand?

Yes it is, a water change won't do any harm at all. That's about the only way to get levels back under control is by water change.

 

[93MSB]

well its been a little while since ive updated this thread, but i think im finally cycled!!

the past two days ive had:
ammo: 0-.25ppm
nitrites: 0ppm
nitrates:10-20ppm

I have .25-.50ppm ammo from the tap and ive been changing 5-10gal daily so that would explain the slight amount of ammo seen during water tests.

How much longer should i wait before adding a few more fish? (4 black neon tetra to be specific)

current stock is
1-black neon tetra
2- glofish (black skirt tetra)
2- harelquin raspbora

 

[ztigris]

I'd let it lie a week. Do another wayer change. Test the next day and if everything is good...do some shopping.

 

[93MSB]

sounds good i will do that. so is 4 black neon tetra the max I should add? could I possibly throw in 3 more harlequin rasbora?

 

[ztigris]

You have a decent filter on there right? On the smaller less expensive fish I'd keep to 3-4 at a time. On a tank like my 55 I would only add 5-7 on small baby fish like neons. And on the expensive more sensitive fish 3 or less. That way the filter/bacteria has an easy time adjusting to added bio load.
After adding the new fish I'd try to be patient and wait a full two weeks before getting more. Usually I buy fish the day after pay day so it's east to track how long and when okay to pick up more.
patience is key. You can use aqadvisor com to help plan your final numbers. Since they err on the side of caution it's a good base line to start off with.
Stocking levels will depend on the fish bio loads and long term needs as well as good maintenance and filtration. So fine tunning what will work in your tank vs joe down the street will partially be judgement calls.