Molly spinning and laying on side

[Byron]

I did read the article and I do understand what it is saying by regular water changes as that’s what I do for both my tanks I do 30/40% weekly. But with the ammonia being elevated in my one tank, should I then wait to do another larger water change at 40%, do two 25% water changes a few days apart, do two 40% water changes a few days apart, or do you have another suggestion?

First, generally, a major water change of 70-80% of the tank volume should be done as soon as ammonia or nitrite show above zero. Generally. These substances are poisonous to all fish and other living creatures, including some non-nitrifying species of bacteria, so it is important to remove as much as possible as soon as possible. Same holds for high nitrate, if it is above the normal lowest level possible.

Having said that, if the ammonia here is due to the chloramine, that is different. It will obviously appear with any water change, but the nitrifying bacteria (or archaea) or even more any fast growing live plants will remove this ammonia in a matter of hours, or should. Sothis is an aspect of chloramine-treated water.

Aside from the ammonia, I cited my article previously because it explains (at least partly)why regular substantial water changes are necessary, and beneficial to fish health. Doing smaller volume changes is significantly less effective than substantial changes. And doing a substantial change once a week is more effective (for healthy fish) than two or three or even daily small changes.

At the first sign of a problem, many of us do a massive water change. I have had this alone solve some problems. Water chemistry is a complicated subject, but we need to keep in mind that in most every tank the more water we change the healthier the system. There are exceptions to every practice, this is again the norm.

 

[Stefan3289]

First, generally, a major water change of 70-80% of the tank volume should be done as soon as ammonia or nitrite show above zero. Generally. These substances are poisonous to all fish and other living creatures, including some non-nitrifying species of bacteria, so it is important to remove as much as possible as soon as possible. Same holds for high nitrate, if it is above the normal lowest level possible.

Having said that, if the ammonia here is due to the chloramine, that is different. It will obviously appear with any water change, but the nitrifying bacteria (or archaea) or even more any fast growing live plants will remove this ammonia in a matter of hours, or should. Sothis is an aspect of chloramine-treated water.

Aside from the ammonia, I cited my article previously because it explains (at least partly)why regular substantial water changes are necessary, and beneficial to fish health. Doing smaller volume changes is significantly less effective than substantial changes. And doing a substantial change once a week is more effective (for healthy fish) than two or three or even daily small changes.

At the first sign of a problem, many of us do a massive water change. I have had this alone solve some problems. Water chemistry is a complicated subject, but we need to keep in mind that in most every tank the more water we change the healthier the system. There are exceptions to every practice, this is again the norm.

I do understand the regular water changes weekly as I do that for my 75g and my 29g that had the small spike in ammonia. I typically do 30-40% (1/3 of the water) every Saturday morning and my 75g is always 0 ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. My 29 gallon with the mollies did have the small spike.

From what I understand, you say I should do a large water change (70-80%) and look into getting some fast growing plants for the chloramine? The only thing that I do not get then is my 75 gallon never has issues with ammonia, but it has also been running for over 3 years compared to my 29 gallon which has only been running for a couple months.

Apologies if I am not entirely understanding your point I am trying my hardest and want to do the best for my fish.

 

[Byron]

I do understand the regular water changes weekly as I do that for my 75g and my 29g that had the small spike in ammonia. I typically do 30-40% (1/3 of the water) every Saturday morning and my 75g is always 0 ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. My 29 gallon with the mollies did have the small spike.

From what I understand, you say I should do a large water change (70-80%) and look into getting some fast growing plants for the chloramine? The only thing that I do not get then is my 75 gallon never has issues with ammonia, but it has also been running for over 3 years compared to my 29 gallon which has only been running for a couple months.

Apologies if I am not entirely understanding your point I am trying my hardest and want to do the best for my fish.

No apology necessary. And nothing wrong with asking questions. We all had to learn what we know, and this is a continual process, even after 30 years of fish keeping.

The 75g probably has a well-established bacteria colony, especially if there are no live plants. Fast-growing plants (and floating are the best here)are faster at assimilating ammonia, they out-compete the nitrifying bacteria. But without plants, the nitrifiers are most likely dealing with the chloramine ammonia. It takes a few months for any aquarium to become established, which is very different from just being cycled. Floating plants however will do this from the moment they enter the tank.

 

[Stefan3289]

No apology necessary. And nothing wrong with asking questions. We all had to learn what we know, and this is a continual process, even after 30 years of fish keeping.

The 75g probably has a well-established bacteria colony, especially if there are no live plants. Fast-growing plants (and floating are the best here)are faster at assimilating ammonia, they out-compete the nitrifying bacteria. But without plants, the nitrifiers are most likely dealing with the chloramine ammonia. It takes a few months for any aquarium to become established, which is very different from just being cycled. Floating plants however will do this from the moment they enter the tank.

What kind of floating plants would you recommend? And when I was cycling the tank I added a bunch of food and put one bag from my filter in this one recently to try to help the bacteria colony.

 

[Byron]

What kind of floating plants would you recommend? And when I was cycling the tank I added a bunch of food and put one bag from my filter in this one recently to try to help the bacteria colony.

If the tank has live plants and some of these are fast growing species, floating plants and most stem plants do this, you can forget "cycling" as such. It will occur in the background so to speak. Having said that, no problem being cautious with existing filter media, etc.

As for floating plants, substantial plants like Water Sprite, Water Lettuce, Frogbit, some of the stem plants left floating, are preferable to the tiny floaters like duckweed. Salvinia is a nice floater, though small. The "substantial" floaters being larger do a great job of sucking up ammonia rapidly, plus they provide shade which almost all forest fish prefer.

 

[Stefan3289]

If the tank has live plants and some of these are fast growing species, floating plants and most stem plants do this, you can forget "cycling" as such. It will occur in the background so to speak. Having said that, no problem being cautious with existing filter media, etc.

As for floating plants, substantial plants like Water Sprite, Water Lettuce, Frogbit, some of the stem plants left floating, are preferable to the tiny floaters like duckweed. Salvinia is a nice floater, though small. The "substantial" floaters being larger do a great job of sucking up ammonia rapidly, plus they provide shade which almost all forest fish prefer.

Thank you for all your input! I’ll do a large water change today and then head to my LFS to see which of those plants they have. Is there anything else I would need to do such as specific timing for lighting, some kind of water conditioner? I have never kept live plants in my aquarium.

 

[Byron]

Thank you for all your input! I’ll do a large water change today and then head to my LFS to see which of those plants they have. Is there anything else I would need to do such as specific timing for lighting, some kind of water conditioner? I have never kept live plants in my aquarium.

Presumably you are already using a good conditioner, so no change. Are you using any fertilizers? Might need something. And remind me what plants you have.

As for the light, the spectrum is important. Do you know the Kelvin rating, a 4-digit number with a "K" suffix? Might be on the light, or if not check the website of the manufacturer.

As for duration, six hours is about as minimal as you want to be; 7-8 hours is usually adequate. Too much and algae may become an issue. Use a timer so it is consistent. The "daylight" which is the tank light on can beany period you like, provided it is consistent not broken up.

 

[Stefan3289]

Presumably you are already using a good conditioner, so no change. Are you using any fertilizers? Might need something. And remind me what plants you have.

As for the light, the spectrum is important. Do you know the Kelvin rating, a 4-digit number with a "K" suffix? Might be on the light, or if not check the website of the manufacturer.

As for duration, six hours is about as minimal as you want to be; 7-8 hours is usually adequate. Too much and algae may become an issue. Use a timer so it is consistent. The "daylight" which is the tank light on can beany period you like, provided it is consistent not broken up.

I have never had plants before so this will be my first time. I use Prime as my water conditioner. I am not sure what fertilizer you mean as well. As for the K of the light I could not find it on my light nor in the Amazon description where I got it from but it’s an Aqueon optibright LED. Timing wise I can definitely get a timer but usually it is on for 8 hours.

 

[Byron]

I have never had plants before so this will be my first time. I use Prime as my water conditioner. I am not sure what fertilizer you mean as well. As for the K of the light I could not find it on my light nor in the Amazon description where I got it from but it’s an Aqueon optibright LED. Timing wise I can definitely get a timer but usually it is on for 8 hours.

For the moment let's assume the light is OK.

Plants need light of sufficient intensity to drive photosynthesis; this varies according to species, with faster growing plants needing more intense light than slower-growing. Floating plants are right under the light so they tend to do well, more than lower plants if the light happens to be less intense. Nutrients are crucial too. While the light drives photosynthesis, plants need 17 nutrients in order to photosynthesize. Plants will photosynthesize full out, i.e., as rapidly as possible given the light--but only if all necessary nutrients are available. The first thing to be insufficient, be it light or one or more nutrients, will slow photosynthesis and may even stop it, depending.

The key is balance of light (intensity and duration each factor in) and available nutrients. So long as this balance is maintained and is sufficient for the plants (species and numbers), the plants will use the light and nutrients and algae will be thwarted. If the balance is off though, "problem" algae is likely to appear. I always used "problem algae" as my guide for the light duration. I had say moderate to low intensity, I chose plants that did well with this, and I added fertilizer but minimally because of my soft water fish. Over a period of a couple years, I got this balance nailed down to 7 hours with no problem algae again, for seven years now.

As for fertilizer. If you have substrate-rooted plants like sword plants, substrate tab fertilizer works very well. The GH of your water also factors in, as this is the primary source of calcium and magnesium. Upper plants and floaters gain no benefit from substrate tab, so liquid is used. This too can promote algae if too much, or too little, it works both ways just as it does with light. If fertilizer is needed, it must be a comprehensive supplement. We are dealing with a low-tech or natural method planted tank, and the fish must come first. Quality comprehensive fertilizers have the nutrients in balance with each other, and this is important because too much of "x" can cause plants to cease assimilation of "y." And here again, algae is waiting to take advantage.

Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium is superb. As is Brightwell Aquatics' FlorinMulti. There are probably others, but I know these two, they work in this sort of tank with no real problems.

Re the timer, this is more beneficial for the fish than the plants, though they are affected. More data in my article on light:

Contact Support

 

[Stefan3289]

For the moment let's assume the light is OK.

Plants need light of sufficient intensity to drive photosynthesis; this varies according to species, with faster growing plants needing more intense light than slower-growing. Floating plants are right under the light so they tend to do well, more than lower plants if the light happens to be less intense. Nutrients are crucial too. While the light drives photosynthesis, plants need 17 nutrients in order to photosynthesize. Plants will photosynthesize full out, i.e., as rapidly as possible given the light--but only if all necessary nutrients are available. The first thing to be insufficient, be it light or one or more nutrients, will slow photosynthesis and may even stop it, depending.

The key is balance of light (intensity and duration each factor in) and available nutrients. So long as this balance is maintained and is sufficient for the plants (species and numbers), the plants will use the light and nutrients and algae will be thwarted. If the balance is off though, "problem" algae is likely to appear. I always used "problem algae" as my guide for the light duration. I had say moderate to low intensity, I chose plants that did well with this, and I added fertilizer but minimally because of my soft water fish. Over a period of a couple years, I got this balance nailed down to 7 hours with no problem algae again, for seven years now.

As for fertilizer. If you have substrate-rooted plants like sword plants, substrate tab fertilizer works very well. The GH of your water also factors in, as this is the primary source of calcium and magnesium. Upper plants and floaters gain no benefit from substrate tab, so liquid is used. This too can promote algae if too much, or too little, it works both ways just as it does with light. If fertilizer is needed, it must be a comprehensive supplement. We are dealing with a low-tech or natural method planted tank, and the fish must come first. Quality comprehensive fertilizers have the nutrients in balance with each other, and this is important because too much of "x" can cause plants to cease assimilation of "y." And here again, algae is waiting to take advantage.

Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium is superb. As is Brightwell Aquatics' FlorinMulti. There are probably others, but I know these two, they work in this sort of tank with no real problems.

Re the timer, this is more beneficial for the fish than the plants, though they are affected. More data in my article on light:

Contact Support

That’s a really interesting article I never thought that fish were that drastically affected by light. With both my tanks, they are close to windows so first the sun comes up before I turn on my fish lights and later at night when I do then turn off my fish lights theres usually another light near by so it does not go quickly dark at once too. However, that was mainly just habit but I am glad to know that they lighting is also a large factor and I think I will look into getting a timer for both of my tanks just to be safe. I have never had an algae problem for the most part except a few times a had a little on the glass to clean in my 75g.

As for the plants, I would definitely try first the one that are on the water surface as like you said they are closer to the light and also I could add nutrients just through liquid if needed than the tabs for the substrate ones and it would also allow for me to then keep my substrate. Also my Gh from what I remember last time is moderately soft around 160-180.

Also, I did a 80% water change today and I just tested the water, my ammonia reading is still stagnant at around .10: would this be then because of the chloramines from my tap? My Ph is still steady at 7.6, nitrites and nitrates are also still 0. I think adding the plants would definitely help but I first want to make sure I have everything so the plants will do good.

Thank you for all your advice again so far I really appreciate it

 

[Byron]

I just tested the water, my ammonia reading is still stagnant at around .10: would this be then because of the chloramines from my tap?

Yes, this is very common according to several threads from different members over the past few months. Should not be a problem, esp once you get plants.

I would not let direct sun hit an aquarium. External light including ambient daylight, room light and obviously sun light direct can mess with the balance. I had this for two years, could not understand why brush algae increased in the summer months, then worked out it was the brighter and longer daylight even though the windows had blinds closed. Being a dedicated fish room, it was easy to completely block the windows, and for six years no more algae.

 

[Stefan3289]

Yes, this is very common according to several threads from different members over the past few months. Should not be a problem, esp once you get plants.

I would not let direct sun hit an aquarium. External light including ambient daylight, room light and obviously sun light direct can mess with the balance. I had this for two years, could not understand why brush algae increased in the summer months, then worked out it was the brighter and longer daylight even though the windows had blinds closed. Being a dedicated fish room, it was easy to completely block the windows, and for six years no more algae.

There is no direct sunlight but there is natural light in the room that will slowly light up the room around is what I meant. I’ll then try to get some of those surface plants and see how that works. Which one do you think would be the easiest to care for out of the few you listed.

 

[Byron]

There is no direct sunlight but there is natural light in the room that will slowly light up the room around is what I meant. I’ll then try to get some of those surface plants and see how that works. Which one do you think would be the easiest to care for out of the few you listed.

Care is the same. I prefer Water Sprite; I bought one plant back in 1997 or 1998 and by saving the adventitious plants that appear on alternate fronds (leaves) regularly, had this plant as the surface plant in several tanks right up to the present.