Fluval Flex 15 Gal. - First Ever Fish Tank!

ColdWafflez

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Hey everyone, I recently got into the hobby and had a little bit of help from a friend/pet store employee on starting up. Unfortunately, I didn't read too in-depth about the nitrogen cycling beforehand and the employee had told me that I would be able to add fishes in right away by using bottled bacteria(Nutrafin cycle in my case). This is my tank about 2 days after planting and doing a bit of aquascaping. I realized that I went too thick on the substrate at the front a bit too late but oh well.
20210505_130107.jpg
After doing more research about the nitrogen cycle, I have decided to do daily water changes(about 40% with Seachem Prime to dechlorinate) to keep up with the ammonia/nitrites and testing the water daily to try to keep my fish from being stressed due to a fish in cycle. Unfortunately, 1 of my Juuli cory's had passed away when I checked on my tank in the morning. I believe it was due to using a water clarifier while the fish were in it as I saw them like coughing/gagging after adding it in once and decided to do more research as I didn't believe the packaging when it says "safe for all aquarium inhabitants."

This is 1 week after the start of my fish tank:
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I had decided to add some more Cory's since 1 of them passed away and the other 2 remaining Cory's seemed stressed since they didn't really have a group anymore. They just tried to stay hidden under the rock/tree until I added 4 green cory's. After adding the new cory's their whole attitudes changed and they now are much more active and joining in on their group scavenging. I also added 3 more plants into the tank to fill in a bit more space during this time. My lighting has been on a smart outlet for timing. I had the light on for too long at the beginning and started to get a bit of green hair algae. I cut down my lighting about 40% and everything seems to be doing great so far.

Here's one of my Juuli Cory's enjoying the sand:
20210503_161110.jpg

Thanks for taking the time to join in on my little adventure. I would gladly appreciate any help/advice for anything you see that I could be improving on.
 
Welcome to the forum. Read and understand this completely, and post any questions you may have: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-i.433769/

DO NOT add "water clarifiers, stabilizers" or any other chemicals to the tank, besides the Prime...you may have seen cloudy water, which is a GOOD thing (bacterial bloom), and we don't want to mess with that until the tank is cycled, at which point it will go away on it's own.

Be sure you have one of these, test the water daily, and perform water changes as necessary: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255NCI/?tag=ff0d01-20

Paper test "strips" aren't accurate or reliable, but they will do (if you have them) until you get your liquid test kit...do not rely on others (pet store) to test your water.

Enjoy your new hobby...
 

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