New Planted Tank....

[irodri25]

So I recently set up a 55 gallon tank in my room. I used to use it for my turtles but changed my mind and decided to get fish. I cleaned the tank out really good . Bought a new filter  it is the marineland penguin meant for a 90 gallon. Which also means better cleaning that extra umphhh. Anyway my substrate is a mixture of Floramax and white sand and also some fine gravel. I've added about 30 rrot tabs for the plants I have in the tank. Which is 2 amazon swords, 1 anubias, 1 pennywort, and 3 other ones that I can't remember the name of. Anyway at first I let the water and filter run for a week with a little bit of fish food to start the cycle. After a week I tested the water and everything looked great so I added fish. My mistake was waiting so little. Anyway I added about five fish at first tested the water again everything was fine and so were the fish.  days later I get 5 more fish and test the water the next day and ammonia and everything after seemes ok. I did a water change before I added fish and everything was ok when I finally stocked on all the fish I wanted evrything seemed fine for a about a week . I kept testing the water everyday. But recently I tested the water and the ammonia and nitrites were high I thought my fish tank was ok and had cycled but I guess not and I've had some losses my 2 african Dwarf frogs died and one of my blue rams. I did a water change the very same day the test diidn't seem so good so I can lower the ammonia. So I've been doing water  changes and now two days later my ammonia is higher and nitrites are the same but now I have nitrates too and PH is high. What does this mean? The fish that are still in the tank are all doing ok no heavy brething normal swimming and eating too. Saw my rosy barbs actually  doing their mating ritual lol and going in the plants and dropping there eggs. Anyway how can I improve my water quality should I ust keep doing water changes?

 

[irodri25]

this is my tank now
http/s1225.photobucket.com/user/dark_angel_itsel/media/VID00099.mp4.html

 

[Lunar Jetman]

You haven't let the tank cycle properly before adding the fish so you need t go here http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/ and read up on cycling. Note there are both fish-in and fishes cycles so if you decide to rehome the fish whilst you cycle you know what to do.

The first thing I would do after reading this is change 40-50% of the water today and then do this daily to make sure the levels of Ammonia and Nitrite are as low as possible to try and protect your fish.

Good luck!

 

[the_lock_man]

The situation you find yourself in is expected for a fish-in cycle. Just adding a bit of fish food will start the cycle going, but won't quickly complete it, so you find yourself part-way through.
 
In the link that Lunar Jetman provided, there will be another link called "Fish-In Cycling" - you can also find it by clicking the green link in my signature area. The long and the short of it is that you need to be testing your water everyday, and whenever you see a reading for either ammonia or nitrite, you need to do a water change. Initially, I would suggest doing something really big, like 80%. I know that's not ideal given that you have 55 gallons of water in there, but ammonia and nitrite are highly poisonous.
 
As time goes on, you will find that the need to carry out water changes decreases. This is because the bacterial colonies are growing, and effectively doing the water changes for you. When you can go for a week without seeing a reading for either ammonia or nitrite, then you can consider your filter cycled (for its current bioload) and can then assume a regime of weekly water change of about 25-40%. However, when you add further fish, you will need to test daily, and be prepared to do more water changes, whilst the bacterial colonies increase to cope with the extra work.
 
If you've got any more questions, fire away!

 

[irodri25]

Ok a 50% water change has just been done.....noticed ich on some of my fish would it be ok to treat with kordons ich attack? I have live plants too so is it safe for them?


I removed some with ich and quarantined them but my quarantine is running out of space

 

[This Old Spouse]

Also, the green and white striped plants you have at the front on either side of the tank are not aquatic. Pull them out and plant them in a pot and put on your windowsill. They will start to decompose in your water and give you even more ammonia headaches.

 

[irodri25]

yeah I figured that out this week I was going to give them to my mother in law  because she loves plants I just haven't got around to it I think I'll do it now thatnk you

By any chance would anybody know where I can get driftwood for a good price?

 

[This Old Spouse]

 

[irodri25]

Ok guys i am so stumped on these results im getting!!! I do water changes everyday but my readings are all over the place. My PH is 8.0 my Ammonia is at .50 ppm  Nitrites are at 5.0 ppm and nitrates are at 80 ppm today I even siphoned the bottom and  trimmed my plants because there were some dieing leaves just to make sure there was nothing dirty in the tank. No fish have died all seem happy and eating well no diseases or gasping. Ive put the excel plant food and the co2 booster in the water for the plants. I've even put some stress zyme hoping that that would help but nothing works. What am I doing wrong?

 

[cowboy507]

Stop adding stuff to your tank. The more chemicals you add the more difficult it can become to solve any problems. The best thing to do is DAILY water changes. And monitor your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. They will go down, you are at the peak of cycling. If you notice any decomposing plants then they probably are not aquatic plants, remove them. Ph only matters if it changes constantly, but your ph is fine at 8. It really is a waiting game.

 

[irodri25]

Thank you so much my PH has gone down and so has ammonia, ammonia is at .25ppm and PH is between 7.2 and 7.4 as for nitrites they are still high and nitrates higher. Also I think my PH went down because of the piece of driftwood I just placed in the tank

 

[the_lock_man]

Good morning, Iris
 
 

Ok a 50% water change has just been done.....noticed ich on some of my fish would it be ok to treat with kordons ich attack? I have live plants too so is it safe for them?


I removed some with ich and quarantined them but my quarantine is running out of space

 
The problem with any parasitic infection is that the whole tank needs to be treated, because the you don't know whether there are any parasites left in the original tank. Now you don't know whether there are any parasites in the quarantine tank.
 
You need to treat both tanks, and follow the instructions on the bottle to the letter, including where it says to keep treating after the spots have disappeared. The reason for this is that the parasites are impervious to the treatment whilst they are within the white spots on the body.
 
 

Thank you so much my PH has gone down and so has ammonia, ammonia is at .25ppm and PH is between 7.2 and 7.4 as for nitrites they are still high and nitrates higher. Also I think my PH went down because of the piece of driftwood I just placed in the tank

 
Yes, that would certainly do it.
 
Did you read the link about fish-in cycling. I would suggest that if your nitrites are still high after doing a water change, then you need to be doing bigger water changes.

 

[irodri25]

I have been doing big water changes a little tired of it now but my nitrites are finally at zero and my ammonia too my PH is good also but yes I noticed a lot of my fish getting ich now so I decided to use ich attack on my whole tank. What a pain in the a** this tank has proven to be and to top it off I have little feather like spots on the walls of my tank and idk what they could be I've been reading and it says it could be hydra or copepods or possibly an algae bloom ughhhhhhhhhhh I guess I have to deal with it now..