Newbie General Questions (55 gal)

[rg07]

A couple of quick questions

1. Should my heater be on the opposite side of the tank as my filter?
2. Does it matter if the output to my canister filter (HOT Magnum) is pointing along the back of the wall, instead of straight ahead towards the front of the tank?
3. I have 5 fish, currently, 3 are platy's and the platy's are staying in the top area of the tank, they are eating well, but keep returning to between the heater and the in/out of the filter (currently in the same corner). I think it is because there is no current there? Could this be a correct assumption?
4. All levels are good in the tank, including pH, and ammonia, etc. etc. but it has a white cloud to it. The store gave me a bottle called "Cycle" to put in it, it seems to have gotten worse, is this normal?

 

[jimenezlee]

More than the filter and heater placement, put your thermometer on the opposite side of the heater. The canister outlet doesn't beet to face fwd, mine also points along the back of the tank.

Water currents are not as important in fw, other than you don't want to have an obvious dead spot where water just doesn't move, like a deep cave or something. A canister usually will create enough flow if sized properly.

As far as cloudiness, I read it over and over, chemicals just make the matter worse. How long has your tank been cycling for? If you keep parameters constant (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph) you don't get an excess of direct sunlight on the tank to create an algae problem and don't have anything else obvious, like the canister constantly stirring the substrate, this problem will go away on it's own. My tank went through the same and the cloudiness just disappeared one day, about 6 weeks into the cycling process.

Good luck!

 

[librarygirl]

Is your tank cycled? In that I mean are your ammonia levels 0, nitrite 0, and nitrAte <20ppm? If not then you're in for a lot of water testing and a lot of water changes to keep those fish alive and it could take a long while. Also if you don't have an air stone you might try one, it will add some extra oxygen to the tank. Good luck.

 

[doublenerds]

Hi there, rg -

From the research I have done, it seems that it is better to keep the heater close to the filter to ensure more even distribution of heat throughout the tank.

I keep my thermometer as far away from the heater as I can so I know what the "coldest" part of the tank reads.

 

[rg07]

Thank you all. My tank is not completely cycled yet. I only got it up and running on Sat. And all levels have been good since.

Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0 - 0.3 (only raised since I added the bottle of cycle the aquarium store guy recommended to speed up the cycle)
Hardness 150
Chlorine 0
KH 120 - 160
Ammonia 0

I tried the test strips at first but gave up on those and got the TetraPlus testing kit with the drops. It seems much more accurate.

 

[jimenezlee]

Keep a daily or every other day check on ammonia. Your tank hasn't even begun cycling yet.

 

[rg07]

For reference, here is a photo. Not sure why they are hanging out in the upper corner. They do come out every so often and swim around, as well as they are seeming to eat. That is why my concern was that the HOT Magnum was creating too much current, it seems that is the only area in the tank, that doesn't have very much current. But does that matter. The fish, often rotate through the corner dwelling too, it is not always the same ones up there.

 

[Durvish]

Bud if you just set your tank up this last Saturday you are in for a world of massive DAILY partial water changes in 55 gal tank. If you have 5 fish in a 55 gal you should be getting Ammonia readings by now and they are gonna climb fast. I would suggest you think about getting a python because your daily 50% water changes with buckets are going to suck! lol

You need to read up on cycling with fish. There is a link in my signature.

 

[eco23]

Bud if you just set your tank up this last Saturday you are in for a world of massive DAILY partial water changes in 55 gal tank. If you have 5 fish in a 55 gal you should be getting Ammonia readings by now and they are gonna climb fast. I would suggest you think about getting a python because your daily 50% water changes with buckets are going to suck! lol

You need to read up on cycling with fish. There is a link in my signature.

+1
The cycling with fish article (second one down in his signature) is going to literally be a life saver if you've already got fish in there. I strongly suggest you look into re-homing the fish with a friend or returning them to the store and doing a fishless cycle. It is much easier on you and especially the fish. Check out the article in my signature to see what's involved and answer some questions you might have. We'll be happy to help. Welcome to AA.

 

[Durvish]

I would imagine they are hanging out there to try and get some oxygen from the surface and the out take of the filter. If they are doing that than you have a massive (for the fish) amount of Ammonia in your tank that is beginning to burn their gills and not allowing them to breath. If it was me I would do a 50% pwc right now. And make sure you are treating the tank and the whole tank with Prime after every pwc! I would even think about another pwc early tonight! And start doing them everyday until your tank is cycled. Do you have any friends that may have a healthy cycled tank that can give you some seeded filter material?

 

[rg07]

What????? How can I have a massive amount of ammonia, if my tests are showing I don't have any NH3, NH4+ Ammonia, in the tank? Attached is another photo. I have a 4" bubble stick going, and there is a lot of surface movement. Temp in the tank average 80F consistently. I appreciate all the help so far.

 

[Durvish]

5 days with 5 fish in an uncycled tank -- you got Ammonia -- with feeding and fish digestion -- you got Ammonia it's the natural process -- check check and re-check! Read about cycling with fish as much as possible. You are going to Ammonia spike and soon and you need to be ready to do alot of PWC's.

 

[Durvish]

Surface movement and bubbles have no effect on Ammonia. You might try lowering the temp to about 76 or 78 in my opinion -- around there is where I have my best results.

 

[rg07]

Surface movement and bubbles have no effect on Ammonia..

Sorry, that was in reference to the "low oxygen" possiblity

You might try lowering the temp to about 76 or 78 in my opinion -- around there is where I have my best results.

I will try that. I had it at about 80, per the Aquarium Dude's recommendation.

 

[jimenezlee]

Well, it would be expected to see ammonia readings in a new tank, and the warnings should be a sign to you that there is something to be on the lookout for; but it's not impossible to manage.

Just keep up your testing and be ready for water changes. How are you testing by the way? Do you have a liquid master test kit or are you using stripes. If you are unfamiliar with testing, you can post pics of your tests as well and ppl can help you make sure you're reading them correctly. I know I had a bit of trouble reading my test results and getting familiar with the different color shadings. If you do post liquid tests, put a white paper sheet behind them to make them easier to read.

You'll get your tank cycled soon.

 

[Homedog98]

The heat could be causing the gasping... But I'm not sure why they'd be by the heater.

 

[rg07]

Jimenezlee: I am using the Tetra Laborette master testing kit.

 

[rg07]

Here are tonights readings:

NO3 (ppm) - 10 (starting to rise)
NO2 (ppm) - 0.3 (starting to rise)
GH - 15
KH - 8
pH - 7.5 (holding steady)
NH3/NH4+ (ppm) - 0.25 (starting to rise)

 

[Durvish]

Don't worry about testing for Nitrates until you get your Nitrite spike. You'll just be getting false readings and wasting the Nitrate test liquid. Also not sure how the Tetra works but with the API kit you must,must,must shake the Nitrate bottles to move the activators up from the bottom -- check the directions for the tetra tests. Hardness I wouldn't check every time either, unless you do something to change the water chemistry it shouldn't swing to much.

On a side note -- if you are using tap water it's a good idea to run at least one fully battery of tests just to know your base line for what your starting out with.

 

[Durvish]

Remember 0.5 of Ammonia is a no no for fish. With 0.25 I would start getting my arms used to moving buckets and do a PWC. When your done cycling you want to keep it at 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, and below 50ppm Nitrates.