Water Test Results & Bubbles

[lizard]

I've been running a daily water test on my 10gal aquarium (the one my fish are in). The levels have been remaining pretty much the same. Here are the levels:
Nitrate ppm: 0
Nitrite ppm: 0
Total hardness (GH) ppm: ~25, maybe a little higher (very soft, according to "key")
Total alkalinity (KH) ppm: ~40
pH Level: ~6.8

Are these levels okay? Do I need to make any adjustments, or are they good if they're staying steady?

Another question - I'm noticing a line of bubbles around the edge of the 10gal tank at the top of the water, and around the filter. This is something I haven't noticed before. Is it normal, not normal? Do I need to do a partial water change?

Thanks!

Pamela
aka Lizard
aka GoatGirl

 

[aquamanis]

Hi Lizard, did you test for ammonia as well? All the other readings are fine provided your tank is cycled. Did your tank cycle? You will know if it did because your ammonia level would have gone up, followed by the nitrite level going up and then the ammonia and nitrite levels should drop and you start getting nitrates. Has this happened yet? The bubbles may be coming from your filter, do you have a powerhead?

PS: Just noticed you got a border collie, awesome dogs eh, does he round your goats up for you?

 

[lizard]

Hi Lizard, did you test for ammonia as well? All the other readings are fine provided your tank is cycled. Did your tank cycle? You will know if it did because your ammonia level would have gone up, followed by the nitrite level going up and then the ammonia and nitrite levels should drop and you start getting nitrates. Has this happened yet? The bubbles may be coming from your filter, do you have a powerhead?

PS: Just noticed you got a border collie, awesome dogs eh, does he round your goats up for you?

No, no test for ammonia. I was going to grab some ammonia test stuff today and forgot. I actually picked up the container and looked at it, too. Darn. I've just started monitoring the water in the last few days, a while after I put the fish in the water. The filter is a Whisper Power Filter (or something like that).

The Border Collie/Aussie mix is a cool dog! I love him, he's great. I only ever had five or seven goats, so didn't really need a herder. Goats don't like to herd...they'd turn around and butt the dog None of that "follower" stuff for them!

Pamela
aka Lizard
aka GoatGirl

 

[Kossy]

Yes make sure you test for ammonia because this appears before nitrite and nitrate

 

[lizard]

Hi Lizard, did you test for ammonia as well? All the other readings are fine provided your tank is cycled. Did your tank cycle? You will know if it did because your ammonia level would have gone up, followed by the nitrite level going up and then the ammonia and nitrite levels should drop and you start getting nitrates. Has this happened yet? The bubbles may be coming from your filter, do you have a powerhead?

PS: Just noticed you got a border collie, awesome dogs eh, does he round your goats up for you?

I went back out and got the ammonia testing "thingys". I also got a different filter for my tank. I thought the filter I had was for tanks between five and fifteen gallons. While looking at the fish supplies at the store tonight, I discovered it was tanks between two and five gallons. Oops. Now my fish have a new filter for five to fifteen gallon tanks I put the old filter cartridge in it though, which hopefully has at least some bacteria growing on it.

I did an ammonia test on my 10 gallon tank. The ammonia level was around 3.0ppm, or slightly less. The strip didn't quite match the color of the 3.0, but was definitely darker than the 0.5 color. I did a partial water change today. They're still getting ich treatment. One of the fish is suspect for ich. All of the platys are doing a lot of sitting/lieing around on the bottom of the tank, one more so than others. One sits there and leans sideways a little (the same one that's suspect for ich; he's a light color so it's hard to see if he does have ich spots or not). I'm assuming this is not normal fish behavior and that it may be due to the ammonia level. Am I correct?

This weekend I think I'm going to set up my five gallon tank and start cycling it. Yay, more fishies!!! (More fishies after the tank is cycled, of course.)

Thanks for all the help. I do appreciate it, and I'm sure my fishies do too!

Pamela
aka Lizard
aka GoatGirl

 

[lizard]

One more thing...is there an ideal place to put the filter? On the end of the tank, somewhere in the middle, or does it even matter?

Thanks!

Pamela
aka Lizard
aka GoatGirl

 

[aquamanis]

The ammonia level was around 3.0ppm, or slightly less. .I'm assuming this is not normal fish behavior and that it may be due to the ammonia level. Am I correct?

Hi Lizard, [/QUOTE]
Ok, it sounds like your tank is in the first stages of cycling. Your ammonia level is high because this is the first stage but also the most harmfull to the fish. You should read Alien Annas pinned article on new tank syndrome if you haven,t done so yet. You will get an idea of what is happening and what will happen next. Because this tank has not cycled yet, it is actually just starting, you will have about 2-4 weeks roughly before you will get nitrates and your ammonia and nitrite levels are 0. I would get your other tank setup straight away and transfer some of the fish there so you lighten the bio load on the tank. It will help it to cycle faster then you can move the fish back again when it finishes cycling. The smaller tank should be halfway through its cycle then. A platy lying on the bottom is not a good sign and I would say they are probably feeling the effects of the ammonia, unfortunately the next stage of nitrites is just as posionous to them. Remember not to feed to much while cycling too. With reguards to the filter placement, I like to have mine at one end of the tank (rectangle tank) in the middle turned on a forty five degree angle facing towards the front. I did this for several reasons. When I had it in the corner, fish were getting trapped between the filter and glass. Having it in the middle and on a forty five degree angle allows all four sides to filter so water is drawn in either side of the filter. The oulet points up the tank tilted towards the front . Tropical asian fish like the water current and love to swim against it. This placement gives the longest space in the tank for the fish to swim in the current and also the water is circulated throughout the entire tank and I don,t have any dead spots where debri settles, its all pushed back to the filter.

 

[lizard]

Hello.

Ok, it sounds like your tank is in the first stages of cycling. Your ammonia level is high because this is the first stage but also the most harmfull to the fish.

I would get your other tank setup straight away and transfer some of the fish there so you lighten the bio load on the tank. It will help it to cycle faster then you can move the fish back again when it finishes cycling.

Thanks for the info. I'll set up my other tank today and put a few of the fish in there. My understanding of cycling a tank without fish is that you do so by adding ammonia and watching levels, etc. Correct? By adding fish to the currently empty tank, it will be adding ammonia. Also correct? So, it will be cycling with the fish in it (which I now know is not the best way to do it ).

A platy lying on the bottom is not a good sign and I would say they are probably feeling the effects of the ammonia, unfortunately the next stage of nitrites is just as posionous to them. Remember not to feed to much while cycling too.

I figured the platys on the bottom wasn't a good thing. Their gills look kind of red, although I don't know if they're unusually red or not. I've decreased the amount they've been getting fed by quite a bit. My pleco seems to be doing alright, or is at least not acting any different than he's acted any other time.

With reguards to the filter placement, I like to have mine at one end of the tank (rectangle tank) in the middle turned on a forty five degree angle facing towards the front.

I don't think my filter can be placed at a 45 degree angle. It hooks over the side of the aquarium. I'll have a look at it though.

Thanks for the info. I'm off to do a little reading (about cycling and such) and then I'll get the second tank going and add a few fish to it. My poor fishies

Pamela
aka Lizard
aka GoatGirl

 

[Alien Anna]

Pamela,
you are correct that you are now cycling the second tank with fish. This is not ideal but as I mention in my article, it is the traditional way to do it. It's just a lot more work and more anxiety-provoking than the new method of fishless cycling.

If you can mature a filter in the 10 gallon, which should cycle first, for transfering to the 5 gallon later, this should speed up the whole process. Getting gravel, plants or filter innards from the college should help even more.

 

[aquamanis]

My understanding of cycling a tank without fish is that you do so by adding ammonia and watching levels, etc. Correct? By adding fish to the currently empty tank, it will be adding ammonia. Also correct? So, it will be cycling with the fish in it (which I now know is not the best way to do it ).




I don't think my filter can be placed at a 45 degree angle. It hooks over the side of the aquarium. I'll have a look at it though.

Hi Lizard, hope things are going well for you and your fish. Youre absolutely right what you said. I suggested moving some fish because the tank they are in now is not cycled, moving some fish will give them a better chance of survival. Fishless cycling is probably the most prefered method but not the only one that works. Provided the fishload is not too much to start with you can safely cycle with fish. However the numbers you have in there will almost certainly be too much and you will have casualties unless you lighten the bioload to let the bacteria catch up. With your filter I didnt suggest you do anything beacuse I didn,t know which filter type you had so I could only explain what I did with mine which is an internal sponge type different from yours. Someone using the same type as you will be able to suggest where to put it better than me.