New Fish Person Learning Curve

[Mebbid]

As far as pads go, you can wash them/clean them by swishing them gently in old tank water (not in the tank, but water that you took out of the tank from a water change, perhaps). If you do that once a month or so, your pads could last for 6 months, easy.

+1 nailed it

 

[Fishperson]

+1 nailed it

Thanks!

 

[ColoFishGuy]

Mebbid and Fishperson you have been awesome with your advice and help...just finished the 3rd 50% water change....fish are happier than i have seen them in awhile. I think my arms are about to fall off though....those 5 gallon buckets get rough after awhile.

Going to check my chemicals then crash for the night....depending on where things read might do one more change in the morning....

Thanks again!

 

[Mebbid]

I am definitely glad to help out, and don't worry; I was at the same exact place in the recent past

I know exactly how you feel about the water changes. I have 2 55g. 30g, 20g, and 3 10g tanks to change out tonight. I am NOT looking forward to it at all.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

Ok...final water change was done this morning and the ammonia level with the API test is now reading .25ppm.

1) what should be my plan going forward? How often should I test the water? What actions do I take based on the levels I may read?

2) how long would you suggest waiting before introducing more fish? Right now there are 2 gold gouramis, 2 red dwarf gouramis, 3 blackveil tetras, 1 sunburst mickey mouse platy, and 1 plecostomus(the only survivor from the original fish when i set tank up).

3) regarding filter pads...is it your suggestion to rinse pad monthly in water extracted from tank and then reinstall?

Any more guidelines that I need to be aware of???

 

[Mebbid]

Ok...final water change was done this morning and the ammonia level with the API test is now reading .25ppm.

1) what should be my plan going forward? How often should I test the water? What actions do I take based on the levels I may read?

2) how long would you suggest waiting before introducing more fish? Right now there are 2 gold gouramis, 2 red dwarf gouramis, 3 blackveil tetras, 1 sunburst mickey mouse platy, and 1 plecostomus(the only survivor from the original fish when i set tank up).

3) regarding filter pads...is it your suggestion to rinse pad monthly in water extracted from tank and then reinstall?

Any more guidelines that I need to be aware of???

1 - I would test the water every couple days for a while. After time your tank will get more and more stable with parameters and you will have to test it less and less.

2 - I would wait to add more fish until your tank is cycled. Adding more fish now will only complicate things and make it harder to keep water parameters in check.

3 - yes

 

[ColoFishGuy]

how will i know....

How will I know when my tank is cycled?

 

[Mebbid]

When you are no longer getting any readings for either ammonia or nitrite then your tank is considered cycled. At that point fish can slowly be added every week or so until your tank has reached the stocking level you want.

 

[Fishperson]

Ok...final water change was done this morning and the ammonia level with the API test is now reading .25ppm.

1) what should be my plan going forward? How often should I test the water? What actions do I take based on the levels I may read?

2) how long would you suggest waiting before introducing more fish? Right now there are 2 gold gouramis, 2 red dwarf gouramis, 3 blackveil tetras, 1 sunburst mickey mouse platy, and 1 plecostomus(the only survivor from the original fish when i set tank up).

3) regarding filter pads...is it your suggestion to rinse pad monthly in water extracted from tank and then reinstall?

Any more guidelines that I need to be aware of???

1. Test the water daily or once every 2 days, basically what mebbid said.

2. I would wait until it's cycled, and you get no nitrites or ammonia for about a week straight without the need for water changes (for that week). So again, what mebbid said.

3. Yes. You just swish them around a bit, to get the gunk off.

Other guidelines:

Do a water change when ammo/trItes are over .25ppm.
Don't add fish until cycled
Add less than 5 inches of fish at a time, unless the fish need to be introduced together or have very low bioloads, both of which are unlikely, especially the first.
Feed once a day to every 2 days, and if you feed once a day having a fast day (a day without food) is good, one or 2 a week.
Test levels once a week after the tank is cycled (at least once a week, I mean)
Set your lights on a timer, if possible (it's much easier, but not necessary).

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[Fishperson]

Mebbid and Fishperson you have been awesome with your advice and help...just finished the 3rd 50% water change....fish are happier than i have seen them in awhile. I think my arms are about to fall off though....those 5 gallon buckets get rough after awhile.

Going to check my chemicals then crash for the night....depending on where things read might do one more change in the morning....

Thanks again!

Yeah, I'm lucky because my dad carries all of the buckets for me!

But I could carry them, he just tells me I'm going to break my back at a young age if I do!

 

[ColoFishGuy]

your brought up a question on lights

is there a recommendatoin on how long lights are left on??? I have two fluorescent hoods...will they work on a timer? Fluorescent vs. led...pros and cons? I have heard of day lights and night lights... huh?

On the water changes....If i see the ammonia go above .25ppm....do i do 50% changes until it is below? Once "stable" is it recommended to do 10-15% weekly?

Will i ever run out of questions???

 

[Jak]

is there a recommendatoin on how long lights are left on??? :

I leave mine on about 10 hours a day they're also fluorescent.

 

[Fishperson]

No you will not run out of questions but don't worry we're here for a reason!

To answer your other questions:
Leds are generally more expensive upfront, but cost less long term because they use much less watts.

Without plants, 8-10 hours is good. If you get algae problems, then decrease that to 6-8.

Day lights and night lights refer to a level of kelvins. Lower, like 4000, is reddish, but higher, like 10000+, is bluish. So day lights are like 6000-7000, but night lights are dark blue, like well over 12000. Night lights aren't useful to plants, but are to algae, so they shouldn't be used except for aesthetic purposes, but then again, what is a fish tank for if not for aesthetic appeal...

Water change schedule depends on your stock. For an average stocked tank, with a target of 30 ppm of nitrates (pretty average), than around a 30% water change weekly. Here's a formula I use:

To find your water change schedule first predict how many nitrates your tank will produce in a week. The average is like 8-10, IMO. We'll say 10. Then pick your target nitrate level. We'll say 30ppm. You need to figure out what weekly water change will take out exactly (or roughly) 10ppm of nitrates. If you already have 30ppm, then a 33% water change will take out 10 ppm of nitrates, but 10 are being added weekly so that amounts to 30 at the end of each week.

 

[Fishperson]

Night Lights

Here's a picture of the night lights on my 10 gallon. It doesn't have water in it, but it still shows what they look like. By the way, most fixtures that have them have both day and night lights, with separate switches.

 

[Jak]

Here's a picture of the night lights on my 10 gallon. It doesn't have water in it, but it still shows what they look like. By the way, most fixtures that have them have both day and night lights, with separate switches.

Those are freakin cool haha

 

[Fishperson]

Those are freakin cool haha

Yeah, they're awesome! It reminds me of outer space for some reason.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

nitrates in relation to water change

Fishperson...as you have seen in this thread I did several 50% water changes to get my ammonia level down to .25ppm where it has remained for the second day now. My Nitrite and Nitrate levels are sitting at 0ppm. What will allow the nitrate level to increase? I am assuming based on your earlier post that Nitrates are a good thing.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

What about Seachem Stability

We've discussed Seachem Prime during this discussion. Would introducing Seachem Stability help my cycling issue?

 

[Mebbid]

Fishperson...as you have seen in this thread I did several 50% water changes to get my ammonia level down to .25ppm where it has remained for the second day now. My Nitrite and Nitrate levels are sitting at 0ppm. What will allow the nitrate level to increase? I am assuming based on your earlier post that Nitrates are a good thing.

The only thing that will allow nitrates to start rising is a well established biological filter (Beneficial Bacteria) and the only way to get that well established is time.

We've discussed Seachem Prime during this discussion. Would introducing Seachem Stability help my cycling issue?

Seachem stability might help you out but there's no guarantees. I never had much luck with bottled bacteria so I stopped trying but others have had different results.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

latest readings

ammonia had gone up to .50ppm so i did a 50% change. I added some seachem stability just to see if it has any effect on things. Will test water in about 30 minutes or so to see where its settle after the change.

Are you sure i am eventually going to have a stable tank????