First Tropical Aquarium

[smithyithy]

Is there a 'gentler' way to turn the lights off? I havent got a timer get so I manually turn lights off between 11pm and 7am.. But when I turn the lights off the Tetras seem really alarmed and they were swimming into the glass

Surely it'll be worse with a full tank?

 

[Mcbenthy]

Is there a 'gentler' way to turn the lights off? I havent got a timer get so I manually turn lights off between 11pm and 7am.. But when I turn the lights off the Tetras seem really alarmed and they were swimming into the glass

Surely it'll be worse with a full tank?

All a timer will do is turn them off in the same way, just at the same time. my fish still don't like lights on or off.

I'm considering getting a cheap strip of blue LEDs to line the hood of my tank and having them turn on and off 30 mins either side of my main lights to ease them into it...

 

[mossonthemoon]

When turning off the lights, I usually make sure there is a bright light on in the room when I turn off the tank. I weight until they look more calm and then turn off that light, or sometimes I even change to a dimmer light and then turn that off after a couple minutes. There is probably an easier way, but I don't mind doing it this way.

 

[Steve H.]

I'm sorry, but in this case I really can't help out. Am confused why you have such a high ph in the tank but ok range in tap. Nothing of the things you have should have raised it by this much. Have you double-checked the tank ph after a water change? I hope someone will come round here and can advise as I'm stuck now.

The water coming out of the tap more than likely has more suspended co2, and this is why the pH is testing lower.
You shouldn't test it straight out of the tap. To get an accurate reading fill a cup and let it sit for 24 hours and then test it, or you can stick an airstone in the cup for a couple of hours to "bubble off" the suspended co2.

 

[Steve H.]

Is there a 'gentler' way to turn the lights off? I havent got a timer get so I manually turn lights off between 11pm and 7am.. But when I turn the lights off the Tetras seem really alarmed and they were swimming into the glass

Surely it'll be worse with a full tank?w

Am I reading this right??? 16 hour photo period?

EDIT: I might be wrong, but what I have gathered from reading so far is that you are more than likely on a well system for your water. Just from you pH readings your water is on the hard side with a lot of minerals and silicates.

Now, because you are currently in a "fish-in" cycle, expect Diatoms reletively soon. Ammonia+Silicates+light= Diatoms. But, don't sweat that too much. Every one of us have had to deal with Diatoms Algae at one point or another. It's relatively easy to clean, and goes away as the tank matures.

Other algae....algae is a drag my friend, and some really difficult to eliminate.

Consider lowereing your photo period to the 6 or 7 hour range to help discourage algae growth. I'm not saying that a 6-7 hour range you wont get an algae of some type, but at 16 hours it is almost certian.

 

[Andy Vox]

Is there a 'gentler' way to turn the lights off? I havent got a timer get so I manually turn lights off between 11pm and 7am.. But when I turn the lights off the Tetras seem really alarmed and they were swimming into the glass Surely it'll be worse with a full tank?w

Am I reading this right??? 16 hour photo period?

Are you trying to grow an algae farm???

 

[smithyithy]

That's what the guide that came with my tank recommended

 

[Andy Vox]

That's what the guide that came with my tank recommended

Wow, that will bring you nothing but trouble. I'd look at 6-7hrs max for the first few months then look at increasing it accordingly. Get a timer so it's constant.
It's much easier to start doing things the right way and making slight adjustments until you get to the max light period than starting out with 16hrs light, getting loads of algae and realising that its too late and you need to start over.

Trust me from personal experience once algae takes hold its very very hard to gain control without ripping everything out, dosing with liquid carbon and starting from fresh.

 

[smithyithy]

What hours would recommend keeping the lights on then until I get a timer?

 

[Andy Vox]

6-7 hours max.
Might be difficult if you are juggling work etc. Maybe do 6-11pm, grab a timer over the weekend. They do them at tesco asda etc.

 

[smithyithy]

Will do! Yeah that sounds good

 

[smithyithy]

Well I avoided a bit of a crisis last night (see Emergencies section)...

Water changed, I'll do a test later.

Got 2 nice pieces of Bogwood yesterday too, they're soaking in a bucket out back

 

[Salam]

Hello! I was off on holiday, been wondering how your tank is doing. Everything ok?

 

[snazy]

So, is ammonia still 0.25ppm then? It's better to do a big water change tonight then to bring it to 0 and maybe it stays there.

Tetras are not hardy at all, they drop like flies when parameters are no good, so at the moment it's either still good or you are lucky.

You can get liquid fertilizer if you like. It's the easiest for now as they usually just need to be added weekly rather than daily like liquid carbon.

grrr.. stoopid multi quote didnt work.

Smithyithy: Please can you post the results of your test? ammonia, nitrite, pH etc etc.

I agree with Sal here, a large water change will help (especially if your tap water is pH7.5 vs tank pH of 8.2!) Remember pH isn't a linear scale, it's logaritmic, so each whole number oh a pH scale is 10x more hydrogen (as H+) - simplified, will go into great details about the pH scale and what the values actually mean if you want over PM

Regarding ferts. Go EI. it cost me £3 more to be set up, and with my 20G the ferts will last 5+ years - all for ~£20. All you need is a decent guide, and some weighing scales - it's really that easy! - link

EDIT: Added a link

I bit late but I would not worry about the Ph difference. The Ph of my tap water is 6.6. I have 3 tanks and all read 7.4. I do 50% water changes that doesn't bother the fish one bit. I presume the difference is not in mineral content which is the danger part, but probably oxygen levels or co2 levels. While cycling the tanks, I noticed the ph going up to 8.2 in two of them. Can't explain why, but it all settles back to 7.4


Anyway, how is it going now?

 

[smithyithy]

Going fine guys, been letting the tank pretty much run as it is for a while, with weekly water changes..

Considering a redesign though, see thread in the main section of the forum lol..