Freshwater Aquarium Help

[takesomeadvil]

Okay then your temperature should be fine. I wouldn't worry about that then at this moment. However if you do have the extra money to get one, I would. This will help keep your temperature constant no matter what, (unless there is an electricity outtage).

So if it is possible I would try to take some water from your fiance's moms tank, (if she lets you) and add it to your tank with the next water change. This might help you with your tank cycling. Hopefully that 50gallon she has is already cycled.

alrighty, I just did a 50% water change tonight, so when would you recommend another?

and she's had the 50g for awhile (about 20 years) so lets hope it has cycled by now. lol.

 

[*Fishkies*]

and she's had the 50g for awhile (about 20 years) so lets hope it has cycled by now. lol.

yeah i hope so too! LOL, so no doubt about that there then.

alrighty, I just did a 50% water change tonight, so when would you recommend another?

Well I would try to buy a liquid test kit from your local pet store. As this would give you insight as to what exactly "chemilcally" is happening with your tank!! Depending on your test results would depend on your water changes!

 

[Tolak]

Tank water holds little, if any nitrifying bacteria. If you could get some cycled filter media, or gravel from the established tank this would help much more.

Nitrifying bacteria double in around 24 hours in a mature filter. If you took about 1/4 of the cycled media this would help more than any water would. Just make sure to keep the media wet while transporting from one location to another.



Oops, totally forgot this one, how rude of me.

Welcome to TFF!

 

[takesomeadvil]

well i'll buy a test kid tomorrow then, and i'll see if my fiance's mom would like to hand over some bacteria-filled gravel (yum).. and whenever i test the water, i'll be sure to write everything down

the last of the mick was just swimming around , and now she's hanging out on the bottom again under a rock. maybe she's sad that her family died

do you think purchasing a live aquatic plant would help matters any?


and thanks for the welcome. my name is samantha, but everyone i've known since i was 2 has called me sam, so go ahead and do the same

 

[Tolak]

Mature gravel will help, Get an old nylon or something like that which will allow the water to flow through, and place it near the filter flow. I wouldn't go with the plant, it's just one more thing that could go wrong. Start with getting the tank cycled first.

 

[takesomeadvil]

How much gravel do you think would make a difference? like a hand ful, or a bowl full or a couple of pieces? (sorry i keep askin a gazillion questions. lol.)

 

[Tolak]

Something around the size of a tennis ball or baseball works well. Don't worry about asking questions, that's why we're here.

 

[takesomeadvil]

Something around the size of a tennis ball or baseball works well. Don't worry about asking questions, that's why we're here.

alrighty. i'm sure the suckerfish is gonna love me after tomorrow, lol.

 

[FishRfine]

I certainly hope ur "sucker fish" isnt a common pleco, because they get 18 inches long

 

[PufferFishRule]

what kinda sucker is it?..if i were you id get me a tiny otocynclus...hes perfect for a 10 and is also a algae eating power house


also for begginer 10 id go with neons..or smaller tetra and maybe a few corys...or maybe even smaller barbs...also you could try some bio-spira it works sometimes ..pretty heavy on the wallet though

 

[takesomeadvil]

I certainly hope ur "sucker fish" isnt a common pleco, because they get 18 inches long

ohh no, it doesn't look like any of those. it's a little black sucker with brownish spots.. his mouth looks like a siphon. lol. he's very cute. his name is charlie. lol.

 

[takesomeadvil]

i wound up taking my water to the store and the guy said my ammonia was a 3.0 and the nitrite was a 4.0 and the nitrate was very low.. i forgot which number he said (i should have written it down).. i don't really know what those numbers mean or if they're right but.. he said he's kind of amazed that anything is living in the tank right now

anywayy i put a tank buddy in there that's supposed to eliminate ammonia and I bought an areator today and set up a couple of rock bubble things.. it's kind of amazing how much better it makes the tank look..

and i think the dwarf frog is afraid of the bubbles..he's literally hiding behind the rock and peeking over it to see whats up with the bubbles.. it's cute

oh and I also got some gravel from the 50g tank

 

[vinylman]

What have you put in the tank that eliminates ammonia?. I can't think of anything that does that. You need several more fast-growing plants like Hygrophila or Wisteria. Not wishing to alarm you, but I can't think of many fish that will survive an ammonia level of 3 without at least suffering permanent gill damage - ammonia burns.

 

[takesomeadvil]

What have you put in the tank that eliminates ammonia?. I can't think of anything that does that. You need several more fast-growing plants like Hygrophila or Wisteria. Not wishing to alarm you, but I can't think of many fish that will survive an ammonia level of 3 without at least suffering permanent gill damage - ammonia burns.

they are called "ammonia clear" and they sort of look like alka-seltzer..and act like it too.. it recommends a 25% water change, add the tank buddy, and use strong areation for a min of an hour.. and it says for high levels of ammonia to double the dosage.. but i just put one in to be on the safe side since i did a 50% water change last night

i guess i just put too many fish in there at once..and they all pooped too much because i think my fiance and i were feeding them too much some days (i'd feed them, go to work, and then he'd feed them an hour later without knowing)

the pet guy said to bring the water back in a couple of days

 

[Tolak]

The ammonia & nitrite levels are way up there. Get a product called Ammo-Lock, it converts ammonia to ammonium, a substance harmless to fish but still able to be used just he same by your nitrifying bacteria.

For the nitrite you should be doing daily 50% water changes, this will cut the nitrite, as well as the ammonia level in half. Increasing aeration will also help with the nitrite level, nitrites inhibit a fish's ability to process O2.

Sounds like you are about half way through cycling.