ellen_aaron
Aquarium Advice Newbie
I just got a second new tank yesterday, a 5-gallon Eclipse kit with the bio-wheel filter and 15-watt incandescent light in the hood. My first tank is a 20-gallon, only a few weeks old, with 3 dwarf gouramis, 6 black neon tetras, and 2 small cories. I got the 5 gallon so I could put a few guppies in there, since I was scared to put them in with my gouramis.
I set the small tank up yesterday, put Bio-spira in it and the good news is it appears to have fully cycled already after only one day, since the ammonia and nitrites are at 0 and the nitrates are at 20. (I can't say the same thing about my larger tank - after 2 weeks it still has some nitrite. I think the off-brand water conditioner I used in there may have interfered with the bio-spira.)
The bad news is that the female guppy and 2 fry I put in there last night (she had babies on the way home from the store) are dead as of this morning. The female appeared to have a string of something hanging off her last night, and I'm not sure if that was a parasite or something to do with the fact that she was giving birth yesterday.
Then, today I transferred my male guppy into the small tank, and he started acting weird - barely moving, resting at the bottom. When I moved him to the larger tank, he perked up again.
This seems weird in a way, because the larger tank is the one with the nitrites, whereas the ammonia and nitrites are both at 0 in the small tank. You would think he would be happier in the small tank.
BUT - I've been having trouble keeping the temperature down in the small tank. It appears that probably the incandescent light is putting off too much heat. I've been trying to find a fluorescent bulb today but I can't find one in that tiny size. The temperature has been hovering about 81 degrees (it was 82 before I turned the light off.) Could that be the source of the problem? Does a few degrees make such a difference? The larger tank is at about 78 degrees. (If anyone has any comments or suggestions regarding the incandescent bulb/heat issue, I'd appreciate help with that too!)
Also, I realized today that I forgot to rinse out the inside of the small tank before I filled it up. Could that cause a problem, possibly some residue from when the tank was manufactured?
~Ellen
I set the small tank up yesterday, put Bio-spira in it and the good news is it appears to have fully cycled already after only one day, since the ammonia and nitrites are at 0 and the nitrates are at 20. (I can't say the same thing about my larger tank - after 2 weeks it still has some nitrite. I think the off-brand water conditioner I used in there may have interfered with the bio-spira.)
The bad news is that the female guppy and 2 fry I put in there last night (she had babies on the way home from the store) are dead as of this morning. The female appeared to have a string of something hanging off her last night, and I'm not sure if that was a parasite or something to do with the fact that she was giving birth yesterday.
Then, today I transferred my male guppy into the small tank, and he started acting weird - barely moving, resting at the bottom. When I moved him to the larger tank, he perked up again.
This seems weird in a way, because the larger tank is the one with the nitrites, whereas the ammonia and nitrites are both at 0 in the small tank. You would think he would be happier in the small tank.
BUT - I've been having trouble keeping the temperature down in the small tank. It appears that probably the incandescent light is putting off too much heat. I've been trying to find a fluorescent bulb today but I can't find one in that tiny size. The temperature has been hovering about 81 degrees (it was 82 before I turned the light off.) Could that be the source of the problem? Does a few degrees make such a difference? The larger tank is at about 78 degrees. (If anyone has any comments or suggestions regarding the incandescent bulb/heat issue, I'd appreciate help with that too!)
Also, I realized today that I forgot to rinse out the inside of the small tank before I filled it up. Could that cause a problem, possibly some residue from when the tank was manufactured?
~Ellen