55 Gallon, And All My Mistakes

[Squeegeatc]

I struggled with where to place this.  As of now, I have ONE plant.   But since ultimately I hope to make it a fully planted tank, I figured I'd start here.
 
The story----I have 4 kids and a husband (this will come in to play later) and a very busy life in general.  I enjoyed my 10 gallon for at least a year, but have discovered that I wasn't taking care of it properly.   Sadly, this realization came AFTER Id overstocked the tank.  So we bought a 55 with big dreams.  This time I was determined to do it correctly.   Sadly, it wasn't meant to be.
 
Saturday February 15.  Set up the tank, Kids LOVE filling it with water and helping set up the decorations.   I toss in the filter from the 10 gallon and plan on letting it wait.  But over the next few days, the black skirt tetras I recently bought (thus overstocking the tank) turn brutal on each other.  2 are completely stressed, often laying almost flat on the gravel, only coming out for food.
 
Wednesday February 19.   6 long fin black skirt tetras added.  3 old ones and 3 new ones.  I start testing water parameters but didn't write them down.   This is teh main reason I'm now journaling.  I also got talked into a bottle of bacteria at the LFS, but have come to realize that the brand was crap.  (I won't be back to that store----dead fish everywhere, and the smell from the rabbits/chinchillas/birds was horrible.   FishGuru also told me that shrimp lay egg severywhere and the current from my filter will bounce the eggs off the wall and kill them....um...ok)
 
Saturday February 22.   I fight with my husband.   He doesn't understand the cycle and refuses to listen to reason.  One of the "fish" people at PetSmart is a friend.   And for the most part, my ally.   I allow us to take a sample of the water to her, expecting her to agree with me.   She DOES, but someone else says that the ammonia level isn't high, so it's safe.  Level is 0.25.   0 nitrites, 0 nitrates.  Somehow, we come home with 5 neons, a plant (i forget what the devil it is now!) and a bottle of Seachem's bacteria tank starter.
 
Sunday February 23.  So far neons are still tightly schooling, but starting to move about a bit behind the decorations.   Skirts are leaving them alone.  I really don't like how mean they are.   Rehoming isn't an option.....so NOW what do I do?  I'm hoping more fish in the tank will help.   But so far, that theory has been a bust.
 
Today's parameters
PH 8.2
Temp 78
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 10is
 
I'm still using dip strips for most, but have a true vial test for ammonia.

 

[fishwarrior]

There's no such thing as a safe level of Ammonia.  Cycled tank means 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, until you have that, the tank is not cycled yet.  On a cycled tank, you should also have some nitrates as well.

 

[Squeegeatc]

OH I never said it was cycled!!!!  I'm frustrated, for sure.   This is not going the way I want it to.  But I'm fighting my husband about it.   So I'm at the point of doing the best I can, testing at least daily, if not 2x a day, water changes, etc.   The store also managed to sell husband a bottle of stuff that "makes ammonia safe" for when the levels are too high.   She tried to get him to understand that this was not the best solution, but he only heard "makes safe". 

 

[RRaquariums]

I know how it goes when it comes to wanting to set up a tank and get stuff in it right away so no judgment there and it's good you are open to help.
So at this point you got fish that can't go to another tank or home which means to me and I'm sure others will disagree but this is what I would do don't add anymore chemicals as this may do more harm then good at this point don't feed your fish more then once every other day this will help also do lots of water changes like 40% every two days or smaller water changes each day if you can.
Don't get more fish and I know how kids are but put your foot down and tell them about the rather unpleasant death that awaits all the fish if to many are added at once.
If you want to add something start adding plants this will help a lot with using up fish waist.
I hope this helps and wish you luck

 

[Squeegeatc]

The husband is the bigger part of the problem.  i can tell the kids no.   But husband drives right by the petstore on the way home from work.   IF he brings more home, I will return them the very next day. 
 
I am at an advantage because I was able to seed biofilter.  I'm just keeping my fingers crossed.  and testing.   LOTS of testing! 

 

[RRaquariums]

Your best defense from dead fish at this point is tons of water changes like I said if you can do 20% water change each day then it will help off set those few fish and help the cycle complete.

 

[Squeegeatc]

Thank You!   That is the plan!!  

 

[Squeegeatc]

2/24/14
 
parameters unchanged.

 

[Squeegeatc]

2/25   Noticed Ammonia climbing slightly.  No rise in nitrites, and still a trace of nitrates.   temp 78.  PH 8.2   Forgot to add the seachem tank starter
 
2/26  Ammonia at 1.0ppm.  Added Tank starter before the test was done. Will be removing 12 gallons of water today.

 

[Squeegeatc]

I removed 12 gallons of water at 8am and retested the water at 2pm.  Ammonia was back down to 0.25  All other levels are unchanged.
 
I'm thinking of getting another plant this weekend.  The mossballs intrigue me........but husband hates them. 

 

[Squeegeatc]

Tested the tap water today for some reason.   I have tested it in the past for a nitrite and nitrate reading, but never for ammonia.   Well, the API test shows the same amount of ammonia as both the 55 gallon and the 10 gallon.  Interesting.   Since I'm not getting any nitrite levels, and a trace of nitrate, I'm beginning to think I have a cycled tank.  Even with the old media and the seachem tank starter, it seems a tad soon.  Not jumping to conclusions yet, but it sure is interesting.
 
We have lost 2 neons.  Like, LOST.   No body, no sign.  Just gone.  1 was missing yesterday and another is missing today.  Husband swears the Black Fins are eating them.  I'm not sure.  I'm attempting to rehome them, but will likely just stick all 6 back in the 10 gallon. 

 

[Squeegeatc]

Found a neon. Yay! Had the ammonia in my tap water confirmed by the fish store. Yeah horray. Notice the sarcasm??!!

Bought some Prime. It will help, I hope. If not, another darn chemical will be in order.

We also moved 5 of the Black Skirts to the 10 gallon. Couldnt catch the 6th. And moved the red wag platy, red wag platy, guppy, and 3 harlequin rasboras to the 55. Also added 5 more neons. Oh..and a moss ball! Looks like a Tribble! I love it.

Guess I need to redo the signature. Next week I plan on adding 3 more rasboras. Possible a few more platys. I am still afraid of adding too many at once.

 

[Ninjouzata]

*Edit* Nevermind was thinking you had ammonia from the tank & not your tap.

 

[Squeegeatc]

Pretty obvious now that Husband's method doesnt work. We are now down to 7 neons, but will loose another tomorrow. And the Red Wag Platy will be gone in the next few hours. Im pretty mad about the platy.

Parameters havnt changed, except temp. I lowered it to 78. Might go a notch lower. The addition of the Prime didnt seem to make a difference.

 

[Rak9378]

Pretty obvious now that Husband's method doesnt work. We are now down to 7 neons, but will loose another tomorrow. And the Red Wag Platy will be gone in the next few hours. Im pretty mad about the platy.
Parameters havnt changed, except temp. I lowered it to 78. Might go a notch lower. The addition of the Prime didnt seem to make a difference.

At a pH of 8.2, a temp of 78 and a total ammonia reading of .25ppm, the un-ionized ammonia (i.e NH3 which is the toxic component of total ammonia) is just over .02 which won't cause immediate death in most cases (.05 of NH3 is widely believed do be the immediate danger zone although it could be lower for some more sensitive fish) but is high enough to cause longer term damage. The higher the temp and pH the more NH3 will comprise total ammonia. As such don't assume that .25 of total ammonia is low enough that no action is needed.

How often are you dosing the Prime?