Really enjoying my new tank.

[pridmorej]

Hi All,

As with most newbies I brought my tank before reading up on the topic and even though I had a cold water tank for over 3 years, I'm shocked at how much more I need to know when looking after my tropical tank.

I've tried reading as much as I can over the past couple of days since I discovered this great site, but I dying to ask just a couple of questions that I can't find easy answers to after searching.

I have a 190L tank that has been setup for 1 week with 12 plants and 6 neon tetras. My Nitrites and Nitrates are 0. And after reading here I'm going straight out to buy an Ammonia testing kit tommorow )

1. I have loads of white strands/flecks all over the leaves. What could they be? I've only fed them a few flakes each day so I'm pretty sure its not food and I'm sure it's not dust that has settled either.

2. I've seen a few snails in the tank and happened to spot a couple of them 'at it' on the front glass, so I scooped then out through fear of being swamped in the future. Was this the right thing to do? Do they add any benefits to the tank or are they just a pest? How quickly would they breed if I were to have left them in there?

3. I'm sure my PH is high (i.e. over 7.6 as my kit doesn't go higher, even after adding 25ml of PH Down over the past 5 days). Now, when I put my hand in the tank, the water tingles my hand . Is this me or has the PH Down severly affected my water?

4. If anyone is familiar with the Juwel filter system; the instructions said to replace the white pads at the top of the filter weekly. I've just taken one out and swapped it with a clean one, then washed the dirty one under the tap. Will this be OK to reuse later? Its not torn or even stained! Manufacturer sales gibe I suppose?

That's all for now.

Thanks in advance.

Jeremy

 

[Sasha]

Hi Jeremy.

1. What do the white strands/flecks on the plant leaves look like?

2. A few snails are fine in the tank unless the multiply into large numbers.

3. The pH should be around 7.0 in the tank. What is the pH in the tap water?

4. Sorry, but I'm not familiar with the Juwel filter system.

Hope this helps!

 

[Catfish Fanatic]

i find the sight of mystry snaiils very soothing how they glide a across the glass in a speedy graceful manner how they go like ther fast but in a slow flow of time it just traps you in a butiful happy momment escpecialy with the back ground of corys and zebra *slaps self*


oh well the pesty ness depends on the sanail i say mystry and trumpet snails are okay but that just my opion

TAKE AT YOUR OWN RISK BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

but your rish not the fish now

i see dead peopl
i see smart people
i see happy people
i see non pycotic people
i here voices
catfish will rule and destroy all mabey ill just go back to smilys insted of giving my auto biography

 

[pnyklr3]

Riiiiight......Anyway, don't bother using pH Down anymore. I have a local tap water pH at high 8s almost 9. If you buy your fish locally, then they are most likely already adapted to the pH. The only probs you will run into is if you are breeding, or keeping Discus (who like a lower pH).

I also am not familiar with the Jewel system. What other components does it have? For example, my filter has an activated carbon bag, a biobag, and a filter sponge.

 

[pridmorej]

Hi All,

Haven't tested the PH of the tap water, but I will tonight, although I have read that the PH changes once it has declorinated and the gases change.

As for the white strands/flecks, they look like..... ....white strands/flecks They don't look like a bacterial plumbe, but just like small tubular strands (lots of them everywhere). On one of the plants they seem to be static, but on another plant they seem to be growing. Sorry, I'd like to take a picture, but my camera isn't that good at taking pictures through water.

I was wondering whether it is anything in the PH Down that is causing it.

The juwel system I have can be found here in PDF format...

http/www.juwel-aquarium.com/pdf/Rio_180_Pass.pdf (2 pages)

Thanks

Jeremy

 

[Vip]

CatfishFan, you ok?

 

[pnyklr3]

I'm not sure if the PH Down caused it. When I was a newbie (and far before I found this site) I tried PH Down. It caused the water to be cloudy for awhile, but that was really all (except for the drop in pH that lasted, oh, about 2 hours tops).

I have actually hand-cleaned some of my plants before. Just clean up your hands and arms (make sure there isn't any residue of any kind on them that will kill your fish), stick your arm in the tank, and gently rub the stuff off of the leaves. If the plants are fake, you can pull them out and do this. Frankly, if they are fake, I'd give them a good cleaning in the sink with some hot water.

 

[pridmorej]

Right then...now I'm confused.

I brought a high PH testing kit tonight and got a reading of 8.2 from the tank. So I thought I'd test the tap water and got a readying of 7.4 - the lowest the high PH kit would go. So I used my normal PH kit and got a reading of 7.0!!! What could cause my PH to go up so much?

FYI my NH was 0-0.25 ppm and Nitrite 0 ppm and Nitrate 0 ppm.

So, either my tank has already cycled (in a week!!!) or it hasn't started yet? After seeing someone else doing a chart I'm going to start one as well.

I also did a 10% water change tonight and washed the dirtiest plants in the old water.

I think a good peice of advice to beginners is to wash your plants before you put them in your tank!

Q: I'm going to be putting some more fish in next week. So should I start setting up a quarantine tank now? I have a spare tank with my old Fluval 2 and heater so I suppose I could.

Thanks for sharing my first few daysa with me :cheese:

Jeremy