If it's from a well, it might not have chlorine in it, Livewire; it's much more common for people to have water from a private well/bore hole in the US than it is over here.
Can you confirm, OP?
Can you confirm, OP?
Greetings, From Kieva.
- Thread starter Kieva
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Kieva
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Exactly, we do have well water. It used to have sulfur problems, but that was gotten rid of. We've had fish for quite a while now, well, two years or so, and at first, quite a few died, but we hadn't had fish in quite a while. Now we have quite a few, and plan on getting more room in the tank once we give certain fish to homes.fluttermoth said:
I can listen to advice, sometimes I take it, sometimes I don't. It depends on what my parents and I think, and overall, I do need to listen to my parents, it says it in the Bible, and they have also been on the earth longer than I.
Thank you though, for your information and advice, if I ever do have to use city water, I'll try to keep that in mind. C:
Although, the ammonia and Nitrate levels, what do they stand for, if i may ask?
Fish produce ammonia all the time; in their pee and poop, but also as a by-product of respiration. Ammonia is toxic, and will poison the fish if it's allowed to build up in the water.
In a 'cycled' tank, there will be a colony of bacteria that live in the filter and that eat the ammonia and turn it into nitrite. Nitrite is also very toxic. Luckily for us fishkeepers, there is another family of bacteria that eat the nitrite and turn it into nitrate, which isn't dangerous to fish at all, unless it builds up to very, very high levels.
There aren't any bacteria that eat nitrate, so you get rid of that with regular, partial water changes.
You should change some of the water in your tank every week; how much depends on how many fish you have. If you just had a few small fish, you could probably change 25% of the water every week. But you have lot of big fish, so you need to be changing more like 50 or 60% of the water
In a 'cycled' tank, there will be a colony of bacteria that live in the filter and that eat the ammonia and turn it into nitrite. Nitrite is also very toxic. Luckily for us fishkeepers, there is another family of bacteria that eat the nitrite and turn it into nitrate, which isn't dangerous to fish at all, unless it builds up to very, very high levels.
There aren't any bacteria that eat nitrate, so you get rid of that with regular, partial water changes.
You should change some of the water in your tank every week; how much depends on how many fish you have. If you just had a few small fish, you could probably change 25% of the water every week. But you have lot of big fish, so you need to be changing more like 50 or 60% of the water
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Kieva
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Alright, thank you very much, I'll try to do that. c: What about a 10gal tank that's overcrowded?fluttermoth said:Fish produce ammonia all the time; in their pee and poop, but also as a by-product of respiration. Ammonia is toxic, and will poison the fish if it's allowed to build up in the water.
In a 'cycled' tank, there will be a colony of bacteria that live in the filter and that eat the ammonia and turn it into nitrite. Nitrite is also very toxic. Luckily for us fishkeepers, there is another family of bacteria that eat the nitrite and turn it into nitrate, which isn't dangerous to fish at all, unless it builds up to very, very high levels.
There aren't any bacteria that eat nitrate, so you get rid of that with regular, partial water changes.
You should change some of the water in your tank every week; how much depends on how many fish you have. If you just had a few small fish, you could probably change 25% of the water every week. But you have lot of big fish, so you need to be changing more like 50 or 60% of the water
Like FLuttermoth said, 50-60%
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Kieva
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Alright, thank you all so very much for all this advice and wisdom! I really do appreciate it, I'll try to do the water once, or even twice a week, a 50% water change for the 10gal, and 25% for the 55gal. %'s are approx. I don't want to measure it! xD Anyways, we lost two male American Black Convicts, two were almost dead, SO...the_lock_man said:
I got out the container we were going to put the babies in, (plastic, washed with white vinegar and hot water, then rinsed, rinsed, rinsed, rinsed, rinsed, rinsed, and oh, rinsed again! Put the log in and a plant from the other tank, (because it already had bacteria and stuff on it.) then put a bubble thing in, and put a lid overtop of it, but not closed all the way. The fish that was almost dying, on it's last 'fins', actually got better! The other one that was almost dying, is better as well!
I think the tank was overcrowded, and before I got the thought, knowledge, and chance, to do a water change in it, the two of them died. Now we have 4 fish in the 10gal, fish in the 55 gal. and two fish in a decent sized place with bubbles. My mom got into contact with a man that is willing to take them, but we'll keep searching for other places as well until we have the chance to take the fish to the desired place.
How long can Chiclids go without a filter? I make sure to change the water about 50% every day, then again, I may change it to every other day. (I filled up the container yesterday, so can't really say I've been doing it a while, since I just started it!)
I was going to put the two fish in the container, into the 55 gal. But the poor things could barely move, and the fish kept trying to bite the one I put in, so I got a seperate thing going. They seem to be getting better though, and aren't just sideways, they're upwards now, and can back up, swim, etc. maybe not as fast as the other fish, but it's only been about a day. c:
Thank you all for your time in reading this, and putting up with me. xD <3
Welcome, what do you have in your 10 gallon tank?
Yes you should respect and listen to your parents, but if they are doing something wrong that will risk the fishes health then you should teach them instead of the right thing to do. On here it is not like the fish shops who are giving advise but are doing it more for the money, here it is a free service of giving and receiving advise.
Yes you should respect and listen to your parents, but if they are doing something wrong that will risk the fishes health then you should teach them instead of the right thing to do. On here it is not like the fish shops who are giving advise but are doing it more for the money, here it is a free service of giving and receiving advise.
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Kieva
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Yes, I do tell them, and they do care about the fish, I apologize for saying that the did not. I get frustrated sometimes, and try to stop myself from over-exaggerating, but sometimes I do fail, but I'm glad that God is a merciful God. x3didz04 said:
I have, in my 10gal tank right now, four Black Convict South American Chiclids, all (Hopefully, please no more babies!) males. c:
I'm glad that people here are kind enough not to just tell me what I'm doing wrong and think I'm a failure, but instead try to help me. I'm very thankful for that. c:
On another note, all of the fish tanks are so, SO clear! It's amazing. The fish can actually see me now! (LOL) Seriously though, it's very clear. For about 2 1/2 years, we couldn't figure out why our tank was so cloudy and dirty, and we got new filters for our 10gal., didn't work, so we got a 20-30 gallon filter, didn't work, took it back, tried to keep cleaning out the filter, thinking that was the problem, used clear water, we didn't know! We changed the water once a MONTH, but now, I've figured out we just needed to change the water more, which I'm sure I can do on my own! I truly am thankful for all of ya'lls' help, really!
Yes its a very good site to get great advise from people and the fact that people are on here is because they care for the fish. So any questions you have feel free to post them on here or more like in the correct sections of the forum e.g. tropical discussions and there is a section for cichlids.
Also at the top of the page on a row there is a link to the chat area where you can talk to people directly to get good quick advise if needed.
Also at the top of the page on a row there is a link to the chat area where you can talk to people directly to get good quick advise if needed.
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Kieva
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I keep wanting to say thank you, over and over, but I know it can get annoying, so I will stop for now. x3 Yes, I'll try to do that. c:
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