michael.qian

Hi there, in the process of recycling my tank as I added fish too fast, terrible mistake I know, but right now not looking so bad it seems that I'm making good progress. Ammonia has dropped to less than 0.25ppm, just tested this morning, it's almost 0ppm, but still not seeing any nitrite? Is this normal? When can I expect to see some nitrite? I was advised two days ago to not to do water changes if my ammonia doesn't rise, as this may get rid of some of the beneficial bacteria, so my last 25% change was on saturday, hope I'm doing the right thing, as least all the fish seem to be doing well. Cheers for any advice.

agree with above, don't use chemicals unless you absolutely have to. pH of 6 is fine for most fish, I wouldn't worry about pH that much at all as a lot of fish can adapt to different pH. Do you have driftwood in your tank? That can sometimes lower you pH by a little.

lol I know, the power cost can be astronomical with those. I've estimated it like this, for a average 4-5 foot tank 150W Fluorescent lighting 600W Heater (2X 300W) 450W Metal Halide 100W Other accessories TOTAL of 1300W or 1.3KW Max Cost per month will be about $170 just for the tank, but realistically will be about $100-$140.

Burn firewood from late afternoon to about 9pm, when we go to sleep and the fire stops temperature will begin to drop. But it's only 150W, my calculation is based on the assumption that the full 150W is running 24/7 for a month, which it won't be. But then I did just realise this month I've been at home mostly and my computer is always on during the day, for 12 hours a day approx, that would probably consume a lot of power. But anyway will wait until next month and see what's the bill is, won't have computer running much from now on.

Just want to ask another question, nothing to do with fish. Just a month ago I added a heater, 150W Jebo, today my power bill arrived and apparently the heater has made a massive $30 difference! According to my calculations, which I'm sure it 99% correct, the maximum increase on my average power bill is $19 maximum, but the heater wasn't even on 20% of the time. Any ideas on this? Cheers

Ok the Corys then, I was kind of leaning toward them myself as well. Will aim and get a new tank within 2 years time, a 4-foot one will be ideal, already having headaches of how I am going to transfer everything over to the new tank, but will leave that till when the time comes. Cheers

I actually have a bit of a ammonia problem at the moment, though it's steadily improving, luckily I took fast action, did the appropriate water changes and ammonia level is slowly going down. This happened because I made the terrible mistake of adding fish too fast, I added 26 fish in 3 weeks, the tank is fully cycled before I added all the fish and after the fish were added there was an ammonia spike. It doesn't look like I'm going to lose any fish so luckily I won't have to learn the hard way, but I would like to take this opportunity to advise people NOT to add lots of fish at once, you'll just restart your cycle and it can be deadly to your fish.

Whoops, forgot the signature, here it is.

Hi all, I'm thinking of stocking my tank a little more, either with 5-6 Corydoras or 3-4 Kuhli loach, in about 3-4 weeks time. The tank is pretty stocked already for its size, see below for the list of fishes. After this addition that's it, I'm will be afraid to add anymore, or maybe even not this one if I have too many fishes already. Which one would you go for? I'm having trouble deciding between the two, kuhli loach for corys? Cheers

Also I really hope the lady in the pet shop was new and just started working with fishes, because it's the only logical explanation of why she didn't know what a clown loach was.

Or you could return all the fish, cycle the tank without the fish, your fish shop will tell you how, that's one way to make sure all the fish will live.

I find that now my 150W heater can't keep up with the temperature in my 130L tank, quite cold in Auckland, not THAT cold, heater set up 27 sometimes it drops to 26. and it's ON all the time.

Actually you can put your temperature even lower, as low as 20-22 will be fine for your fish, at least for now until your tank is cycled.

I would still be prepared for ICH, don't panic if they get it though as most clown loaches will after been transported to a new tank. I got my loaches last friday and one of them got slight ich, just a few spots, now they've all gone now after treatment.

Unfortunately what you did was NOT good. It's a new tank and hasn't been cycled properly yet, adding all those fish at once will definitely create and ammonia spike because there aren't enough bacterias to absorb all the ammonia and turn them into nitrite. This ammonia spike will be very dangerous to your fish, I know it was a good deal getting those fishes for half of what you would pay for them normally, but you also run a very high risk of them dying, ammonia is the more lethal than any other chemicals for the fish. Test for ammonia levels twice a day, change water as neccessary rather than sticking to a schedule, I would change 25% as soon as the ammonia gets over 1ppm, this way your fish have a chance of staying alive. Also don't do any cleaning, that might get rid of some of the beneficial bacteria that turn ammonia into nitrite. When the ammonia stays under 1ppm, only change the water when it beings to rise again, otherwise you'll get rid of some of the beneficial bacteria, but of course still do your regular water change once every week. Feed very little, you don't want the fishes to poop any more than neccessary and contribute to your ammonia levels. 26 is a good temperature to keep them at, though ammonia is less toxic at low temperatures, so I would set the heater to about 24 just for now. Hope this helps.

Great job, looks awesome. I don't use chemicals either unless I have to, which is right now. Having a bit of trouble with whitespots.

I thought with fish you just package them really well and can courier them like you would normally with everything else, just take it up to the counter and they don't ask what it is. I've couried snails a few times anyway, just like with any other items.

Sorry to be a pain another question, I just put the medicine in, should I continue feeding as normal? Thanks

Just an update, went into Hollywood fish farm today and got an ammonia test kit, a bottle of treatment for ich, they told me it won't be toxic to clown loaches or tetras so I will do a water change and start treating today. BTW it's most definitely white spot, some neon tetras are showing a spot or two, also noticed 3 spots on one of my bristlenoses. Also I need to lower my ammonia, my nitrate is 0ppm but my ammonia turned out to be around 1ppm.

I do about 10-12 hours each day. As said above too long will promote algae rather than plant growth.

I would still go with the 55W. Even if it overheats a little you could always turn it down to adjust. 25W is too small and probably won't be enough.

It will be fine for your tank. Make sure to have a SEPERATE thermometer to make sure the heater is heating the water right, with my sometimes it overheats the tank slightly, e.g. Set at 23, thermometer reads 25, but that's all good. For your tank it might overheat a little, since tank is small and heater is very large with respect to the size of your tank, so set the heater a bit below your desired temperature.

I would think it's ok, though when I started my tank I waited a week before adding any fish, to make sure the water clears up. I know the feeling of unable to wait to get some fishes in, very exciting. I'm sure they'll be ok if the water itself is ok, never mind the murkiness, test for pH, nitrate and ammonia, if they are good your fish should be good.

Sponge is very old, will replace tomorrow, was planning on buying a new one anyway. I wash the sponge everyweek though, did it last friday. But yeah it is in pretty bad shape no longer straight and puffy, though it keep my nitrate at 0ppm, with the help of lots of plants.

Hi all, came back from work today and noticed my Eheim 2010 has stopped producing air bubbles, though it,s still working and water flow from the outlet is normal but just no air bubbles. Any ideas? I'm doing a water change tomorrow so will look at it then. Cheers