10gal Tank Started 7th June 08 & Cycling With 6 Cardinals

[Bblou]

I wasn't aware but i got airstones and fair amount of surface agitation also. thanks


if its 0, then just do as many and as big a water change (s) as you need to to get and keep it at 0.

and see if anyones near you thats got any mature media u can have in the media donation section for newbies. think its pinned.

theres no1 near me

 

[Lazerus]

A good hour has passed since the last water change and the tank is now reading 0ppm for Ammonia.
Phew! I can go to bed now!

I think my betta has overfed as he gobbled up alot of the tetras food today as well as his own.

He's been motionless and is just floating at the top for the past few hours. But he's still alert, not gasping or anything, just not swimming around like normal.

I'm not going to fed him tomorrow to see if that helps. I've been scanning the Betta forum to see if can find any info on this but I mustn't be typing in the correct search words as I can't find much.

Ok, goodnight. I'll look further into it tomorrow. I hope he's ok.

(P.s Who am I talking to at this hour? Ye's are all probably gone to bed by now! )

 

[Lazerus]

Thanks for the tip about the media donation...I've checked that list, and actually there is two people near to me! "Furry Rabbit" & "Tanks a lot"....thats interesting!

I wonder are they still doing it? Hmmm...it might help me with my eractic cycle problems. I may pm them, once I get over my bout of shyness.

Thanks again!

Ok I'm off to bed...night, night.

 

[nigsy]

Thanks for the tip about the media donation...I've checked that list, and actually there is two people near to me! "Furry Rabbit" & "Tanks a lot"....thats interesting!

I wonder are they still doing it? Hmmm...it might help me with my eractic cycle problems. I may pm them, once I get over my bout of shyness.

Thanks again!

Ok I'm off to bed...night, night.

try checking out local dentists, doctors or schools for media, most will let you have a small piece of theirs to help get your cycle more balanced, even your LFS if you've spent enough money in there might hand some over!!

Allways check the condition of the fish in tanks (disease etc) before doing this though, don't want to inadvertantly add another problem!!

 

[Lazerus]

Thanks Nigsy...I'll look into that.

So....My ammonia is at 0ppm this morning so that big water change helped, the nitrite and nitrate is at 0ppm also. PH still at 7.8. I guess that PH is never going to change.

Also my betta is looking a bit more lively this morning...although not his usual self still. He has some poo hanging out of him so maybe he'll improve at the day goes on.

I'll watch out with those bloodworms in future...he just wouldn't stop eating them. Didn't give the tetras a chance at all. I think I'll use a tweezers next time to control the amount they get.

I saw something yesterday about giving peas to help with constipation, but I simply can't find the details now. The search thing won't work for me on any word I type in.

Anyway...thats me for today.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the forum search function is broken at the moment, admin are trying to fix it, hopefully be working again soon

what we do for peas is you blanch them (drop them in boiling water for a few seconds..... not boil them like you would to eat them yourself), remove them from the water and pop them out of their harder shells so you're just left with two sections of the soft inside bit of the pea, depending on the size of the fish you either just drop these in as they are, or cut them up a bit smaller then put them in

 

[Lazerus]

Ah great thanks!

I'm off to get a pea now....

I'm only going to give the betta about two tiny bits off the pea....and see how he goes with that.

I know he'd eat the whole pea if I dropped it in, he's such a greedy chap! Its unbelievable actually!

 

[Lazerus]

No interest in the pea....oh well....

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ha ha they don't always twig that it's food at first!

leave it in for a few minutes to give them a chance, if they don't go for it then remove it. do try it again though, give them a couple of go's to show an interest in it.

 

[Lazerus]

Okay so...I'll try again later...He's really not looking well today actually, he's just hiding in the barrel, and taking his air from an air bubble in the barrel..

The tetras however are like pirhanas around the bit of pea though.

I nearly had to fight them off it....

For the past few weeks I've been using a turkey baster to take samples of water for my tests (its just easier so I don't have to put my hands in the water each time)

So, I used this to take up the bits of peas, but they are so familiar with the baster that they are nearly swimming up the tube to get at the pea!

These fish are mad, I tell ye!!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

lol, no harm in letting the tetras have the pea if they want it. i just meant remove it if no one's eaten it so it doesn't decompose

 

[Lazerus]

My evening water check has shown more Ammonia ...0.25ppm....so I did another 30% water change. I'll be checking the water in an hour to make sure its down to 0ppm. I not even going to bother putting my bucket away & stuff away until then...

Prince the Betta is still looking sad either hanging on the top of the water or going down into his barrel for some quiet time.

I hope tomorrow brings him better health. Poor little guy.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

he won't be happy about the ammonia, touch wood it'll clear up soon.

 

[Bblou]

my betta sulked for the first day or two aswell. they dont seem to like change.

hows your tetra doing?

my bazils whitespot has gone and hes swimming about again and eating like a horse!! got one more dose of med to go in tomorrow and then it should be done.

hes got tail and fin damage from resting on the filter so gotta wait for that to heal up but things are looking up

 

[Lazerus]

Hi again…didn’t get a chance to log back last night….

So, after doing that 30% water change, I tested again after an hour and there was a still an ammonia readings not quite 0.25ppm, but not 0ppm either.….so I did a second 30% water change.

This morning I woke up to the tank reading 0.25 Ammonia again. So, I’ve done another water change….I’ll check again in an hour.

Now…I have a question.

I read on a different website this morning that moderate (10%-15%) water changes rather than large (20%-50%) water changes are better because large water changes will stress the bacteria and fish, causing inadequate filtration, as well as removing the ammonia and nitrite the bacteria are trying to metabolize.

So, I’ve been doing exactly what they are saying I shouldn’t and alway trying to get my water down to 0ppm. This website is indicating that will never cycle my tank if I do it this way?

God, I’m getting that 'I'm so confused' feeling again.

I’ve no problem putting the time and effort in as you can see (I enjoy it!) but if I’m compromising the end result by doing it incorrectly now and setting myself up for failure, then I’d better correct myself before it becomes an ‘endless cycle’ like this website is talking about.

What are peoples thoughts on this?

P.s Prince is still not swimming again today, although on saying that, he moved as fast as lightning this morning to try and steal the Tetras food….but the tetras were faster! I fed one wafer at a time down the other end so he couldn’t get any.

I wonder is it all the water changes etc that are stressing him out rather than suspected 'overfeeding' and thats why he's behaving this way?

Anyway, the tetras are looking great these days, they are triving....I didn't end up giving the tank that second dose of medication. With all the water changes going on it just got to confusing but hopefully, that sick tetra will be over the worst of it now. He's feeding well and swimming up with the others constantly now.