Why do I stay in this hobby????

[gotham01]

New to this forum. Hi all.

This is my set-up. 36G bow. All plants are real except the orange one, Red lava rocks. My big boy(?) Chocolate Cichlid, plus 4 Red Dwarf Jewels, 2m 2f. Everyone seems happy. Hershey Bar has some company now. They don't fuss with him and he just watches the circus.

Water is hard. PH is roughly 7. Heres what I'm not getting. According to my API Test Kit, ammonia is 4.0, nitrites 0, nitrates 5.0 PPM. I use Prime and Stability acted. Filter has 2 ammonia scrubbers, ceramic rings, and a cartridge that's about 2 plus months old. is it "normal" to have high ammonia, no nitrites, and trace nitrates? I do a 30% water change every 2-3 days as ammonia is high. I feed the kids every 2 days.

This is my first shot at a planted tank, as I hoped it would help stabilize the parameters, plus looks better to me. Im also thinking of investing in a bottle of Thrive, Grrrrrrrrrr.

 

[Lcc86]

Any time you have ammonia do a large water change - 80% or more. Even if that means daily changes for a bit while things settle down. How long has the tank been set up?

 

[gwand]

Sounds like you are not cycled.

 

[gotham01]

Any time you have ammonia do a large water change - 80% or more. Even if that means daily changes for a bit while things settle down. How long has the tank been set up?

About 2 months. My last one sprung a leak, and Hershey has in a bucket for about a month while I tried to cycle it properly. Unfortunately I felt so bad about him being in that bucket, not eating, that I put him in this tanks. He’s eating like a champ again, looks so much healthier, I don’t regret putting him in earlier than I originally wanted to put any fish in. He looked miserable in that bucket.

 

[gotham01]

Sounds like you are not cycled.

Any suggestions at this point? More plants? Media? Just add Prime till it cycles?

 

[MaloK]

Your big boy looks like a (Hypselecara Temporalis) Chocolate Cichlid and will grow to half the length of this aquarium.

If your aquarium is not cycled at the moment. You are in for a lots of water changes. You would need to try to keep it under 1 ppm.

Seriously it's the ideal time to change your current filter for a much bigger one, or add a second one. Find a product that does not rely on cartridges and provide the largest media housing possible.

There's a lots of fish in there.

 

[gwand]

Any suggestions at this point? More plants? Media? Just add Prime till it cycles?

I think Tetra Safe Start works better than Prime.

 

[gotham01]

Your big boy looks like a (Hypselecara Temporalis) Chocolate Cichlid and will grow to half the length of this aquarium.

If your aquarium is not cycled at the moment. You are in for a lots of water changes. You would need to try to keep it under 1 ppm.

Seriously it's the ideal time to change your current filter for a much bigger one, or add a second one. Find a product that does not rely on cartridges and provide the largest media housing possible.

There's a lots of fish in there.

He's about 3 years old. He hasn't grown much at all in 2 years. But your point is taken.

 

[MuddyWaters]

I had a tank that I cycled (or thought I did) and when I put fish in, the ammonia would stubbornly not go away. I changed half the water every day for about 2 weeks (it was a 10 gallon, so easier water change) and just kept an eye on it. The daily water changes made sure it stayed low enough not to get to where it is immediately harming the gills (I think .75 ppm? can't remember).

Anyway, it'll get straightened out, but you will need to keep that water clean while it sorts.

The recommendation to get a larger filter is a good one. I try to have too much filtration (there's no such thing really) so that whatever problems I have are not caused by too little filtration.

 

[gotham01]

I had a tank that I cycled (or thought I did) and when I put fish in, the ammonia would stubbornly not go away. I changed half the water every day for about 2 weeks (it was a 10 gallon, so easier water change) and just kept an eye on it. The daily water changes made sure it stayed low enough not to get to where it is immediately harming the gills (I think .75 ppm? can't remember).

Anyway, it'll get straightened out, but you will need to keep that water clean while it sorts.

The recommendation to get a larger filter is a good one. I try to have too much filtration (there's no such thing really) so that whatever problems I have are not caused by too little filtration.

Thanks for the encouragement. Short of a canister, what filtration would you or anyone suggest? I’d ultimately like to incorporate frogbit or water lettuce down the pike, but this flow in my HOB is ridiculous

 

[Essjay]

Prime is a water conditioner which 'detoxifies' ammonia for 24 to 36 hours. After that it becomes toxic again. It was intended to detoxify the ammonia part of chloramine until the filter bacteria have had change to remove it.

Dr Tim's One & Only and Tetra Safe Start are bottled bacteria which can help to seed the filter and speed up cycling. They don't work instantly though.

 

[Colin_T]

If you have filter pads that remove ammonia, they should be removed and replaced with normal sponges because they adsorb ammonia for a short time and then become full. When they are full they need to be recharged or replaced. It's preferable not to have ammonia adsorbing substances in the filter because it interferes with the beneficial filter bacteria.

Established biological filters should be cleaned at least once a month. Wash the filter media/ materials in a bucket of aquarium water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn outside.

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It's not normal to have ammonia in the water unless there's a filter problem. As others have mentioned, do massive water changes each day until the ammonia and nitrite are on 0ppm and the nitrate is less than 20ppm. Your nitrite and nitrate are fine but you need to get the ammonia down because it is the most toxic out of those 3 substances.

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When the jewel cichlids start to breed, there will be problems with aggression and you will probably lose 1 pr when they get killed by the other pr. The chocolate cichlid could also get attacked.

 

[gotham01]

Thanks for the practical advice. So if I read this right, rinse out the removable cartridge in a bucket of tank water, which won’t destroy anything established? Does the same apply with the mesh bag of ceramic rings?

I’ll get some sponges to stick in the slot up front where pads are.

As for my big boy (guessing), he’s been through a lot of catastrophes (I poured white vinegar in by accident once) and I will rehome the jewels at first sign of trouble. Prolly should have just stuck with the two males, or keep the females if need be.

I have hornwort in there as it’s supposedly an ammonia eater. I’ll add more if it’s a practical solution in addition to everything else.

 

[Colin_T]

Thanks for the practical advice. So if I read this right, rinse out the removable cartridge in a bucket of tank water, which won’t destroy anything established?

correct.

Does the same apply with the mesh bag of ceramic rings?

yes.

I have hornwort in there as it’s supposedly an ammonia eater. I’ll add more if it’s a practical solution in addition to everything else.

Don't rely on plants to remove ammonia. It does a lot of damage to the fish and the longer they have ammonia in the water, the more damage it does to them. Do big daily water changes to remove the ammonia.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

 

[gotham01]

correct.



yes.



Don't rely on plants to remove ammonia. It does a lot of damage to the fish and the longer they have ammonia in the water, the more damage it does to them. Do big daily water changes to remove the ammonia.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Thanks for your time.