NonstickRon
Fish Crazy
My friends have a 55 gal thas in bad shape. No algae, they have a pleco, flourescent tube light is on 24/7 (serves as a nightlight in their dining room) but seems somehow rather dim. Besides the pleco (about 5 inches long atm) the tank is inhabited by two wild caught killifish, 1 full grown emerald cory, and 1 full grown fancy goldfish.
I tested his water last time I was at their house, levels are as follows:
ph 8.4
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate ? Somewhere between 60 and 180. That is kinda a big gap to guess at.
I'm not sure of the hardness but this being florida, assume pretty damn hard.
Filter hasn't been changed, or even rinsed in months, and that might be a good thing because the biowheel on the filter has long since stopped turning. I nudged it and a load of crap fell down into the tank. Substrate is gravel.
Now, I plan on doing small water changes whenever I go over there to try and help the fish out a little. Probably 2 - 10% water changes whenever I get to his house, one when I get there and hopefully one before I leave. I visit their house between 1 and 3 times a month. I havn't told them about this yet but I'm hoping they won't mind. The husband just lost his very well paying job and the wife hasn't had to work in a long time so they really couldn't care less about the tank right now I think, so I'm going to see what I can do.
Anyway, I was told in the noobling section of this forum that if it were heavily planted, that would really help out the nitrate levels. Which would be the most ideal plant to stick in this tank with the PH being so high and the light being less than ideal, and a big ol goldfish running around in there. Looking for something I can plop a few bunches of down in there and hope for the best.
I tested his water last time I was at their house, levels are as follows:
ph 8.4
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate ? Somewhere between 60 and 180. That is kinda a big gap to guess at.
I'm not sure of the hardness but this being florida, assume pretty damn hard.
Filter hasn't been changed, or even rinsed in months, and that might be a good thing because the biowheel on the filter has long since stopped turning. I nudged it and a load of crap fell down into the tank. Substrate is gravel.
Now, I plan on doing small water changes whenever I go over there to try and help the fish out a little. Probably 2 - 10% water changes whenever I get to his house, one when I get there and hopefully one before I leave. I visit their house between 1 and 3 times a month. I havn't told them about this yet but I'm hoping they won't mind. The husband just lost his very well paying job and the wife hasn't had to work in a long time so they really couldn't care less about the tank right now I think, so I'm going to see what I can do.
Anyway, I was told in the noobling section of this forum that if it were heavily planted, that would really help out the nitrate levels. Which would be the most ideal plant to stick in this tank with the PH being so high and the light being less than ideal, and a big ol goldfish running around in there. Looking for something I can plop a few bunches of down in there and hope for the best.