New 5 Us Gallon Tank Journal

[Fishy friend2]

Nice

 

[QuantumOptician]

Done some more thinking and getting very excited about keeping a group of Endler's Livebearer (1 male and 2 females or roughly 5 males still haven't decided) and roughly 5 cherry shrimp and letting them produce offspring as often as they want. Below is a picture of the current plan with regards to planting the tank.

Where 1 = Vallisneria spiralis, 2 = Hygrophila difformis (wisteria), 3 = Anubias barteri var.'nana', 4 = Java moss attached to bogwood, 5 = heater, 6 = filter.
Any comments/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[QuantumOptician]

Updated again: tested pH to ensure that nothing had crashed. pH at least 7.6. Things are chugging along...I think. Not much change in the last five days, but I am patient (just hope I haven't messed up along the way)!

 

[Fishy friend2]

 

[XeroTolerance]

Don't worry it will get there!

 

[Fishy friend2]

Don't worry it will get there!

+1

 

[Seed_Lord]

Wouldnt go for the live bearers and a betta as population control, bettas are greedy little things i remember putting one in a tank id just moved some cory fry out from which where still quite small i didnt get them all and he looked like he was going to pop after about 5 mins (had like 3 batches of cory fry in there so moved as many as i could didnt set the tank up properly really had gravel in there) Id say a male betta with some shrimps and snails would be good, shrimps and snails wont make much waste i dont think. Would need a special filter (sponge or one with minimal flow) or something to stop the flow for the betta. bettas deffo one of the more interesting fish to keep

 

[QuantumOptician]

I appreciate all the advice. The current plan is to have ~5 Endler's Livebearer and 5 or so cherry shrimp. Today showed a small drop in ammonia! Hopefully see it drop below 1 ppm by Tuesday. Getting some algae growth in the tank, mainly on the bogwood and some on the acrylic (i think there are some scratches in the acrylic that harbor the algae). I have covered the tank with a dark towel for the last few days, which has messed with the temperature. It has hovered around 90 degrees F even when the heater is set to 80 degrees F. Not quite sure what is going on there. Potentially one of the thermometers if off, I will attempt to verify in the future. Which is worse the hair-like white algae or having a temp creeping into the 90's?

 

[QuantumOptician]

More movement today! Nitrite up to .50, ammonia down to 1.0-2.0! Getting even more algae growth on the bogwood. Not too worried about it, but should I be? It has been covered except for water tests for at least 5 days now, but it is still growing!

 

[QuantumOptician]

Nitrite skyrocketed last night. Ammonia is still in between 1 and 2. Hopefully will be able to redose tomorrow.

 

[QuantumOptician]

Redosed for the first time!

 

[QuantumOptician]

Processing ~5.5 ppm in 24 hours.

Edit: ppm of ammonia

 

[QuantumOptician]

Movement on nitrite!

 

[QuantumOptician]

Quick question: Should I be concerned that the nitrate is not increasing even though I know that I am processing nitrite? I am familiar with certain validity errors with the API nitrate test, however, I follow the directions doubling the time they quote to mix the bottle and the test tube. I am also positive that the kit is not old as I just purchased it ~3 months ago.

 

[QuantumOptician]

Cannot edit original post...

Day 24: 09/02: Ammonia 0.0 : Nitrite <.25 : Nitrate(ppm) NT :Redosed to 4-5 ppm
Day 25: 09/03: Ammonia 0.0 : Nitrite <.25 : Nitrate(ppm) NT :Redosed to 4 ppm (Nitrite is barely present, test is not quite sky blue).
Day 26: 09/04: Ammonia 0.0 : Nitrite <.25 : Nitrate(ppm) NT :Redosed to 4 ppm
Day 26.5: 09/04: Ammonia 0.25 : Nitrite >5 : Nitrate(ppm) NT :12 hour test
Day 27: 09/05: Ammonia 0.0 : Nitrite >5 : Nitrate(ppm) 5 :Redosed to 4 ppm
Day 28: 09/06: Ammonia NT : Nitrite >5 : Nitrate(ppm) NT :Redosed to 4 ppm
Day 29: 09/07: Ammonia NT : Nitrite NT : Nitrate(ppm) 5.0 :Redosed to 4 ppm
Day 30: 09/08: Ammonia NT : Nitrite >5.0 : Nitrate(ppm) NT :Redosed to 4 ppm
Day 31: 09/09: Ammonia NT : Nitrite >5.0 : Nitrate(ppm) NT :Redosed to 4 ppm
09/09 Dosed to ~8 ppm because I left for the weekend.
Day 33: 09/11 Ammonia 0.0 : Nitrite 0.0! : Nitrate(ppm) 5.0 H : >7.6 Redosed to 4 ppm
12 hour: Ammonia 0.0 : Nitrite 0.0
Day 34: 09/12 Ammonia 0.0 : Nitrite 0.0 : Nitrate(ppm) 5.0 :Redosed to 4 ppm
12 hour: Ammonia 0.0 : Nitrite 0.0
Day 35: 09/13 Ammonia NT : Nitrite 0.0 : Nitrate(ppm) NT :Redosed to 4 ppm
12 hour: Ammonia 0.0 : Nitrite 0.0
Day 36: 09/14 Ammonia 0.0 : Nitrite 0.0 : Nitrate(ppm) NT :Redosed to 4 ppm
12 hour: Ammonia 0.0 : Nitrite 0.0
Day 37: 09/15 Ammonia NT : Nitrite 0.0 : Nitrate(ppm) NT :Redosed to 4 ppm
12 hour: Ammonia 0.0 : Nitrite 0.0
Day 38: 09/16 Ammonia NT : Nitrite 0.0 : Nitrate(ppm) NT :Redosed to 4 ppm
12 hour: Ammonia 0.0 : Nitrite 0.0
Day 39: 09/17 Ammonia NT : Nitrite 0.0 : Nitrate(ppm) NT :Redosed to 4 ppm
12 hour: Ammonia 0.0 : Nitrite 0.0
Day 40: 09/18 Ammonia NT : Nitrite 0.0 : Nitrate(ppm) NT :Redosed to 4 ppm