How Do I Salvage My First Tank

[eschaton]

Hey all, you might have noticed some of the other posts I've made lately

Right now I have two 20 gallons, an initial one, and one I set up to take on most of the fish once I realized the LFS totally steered me wrong and I didn't cycle properly.

I found a reputable fish store finally which sold me some much needed rooted aquatic plants, as well as giving me far better advice. That said, the tiger barbs and guppies in my first tank were dropping one by one, even though the second tank seemed A-OK, (though I know it's just because it's starting to cycle).

So, Sunday this new fish store gave me some fertilizer to add to both my tanks to help spur plant growth. Since that happened (dunno if it's related) tank one now has extremely cloudy water. I had been adding ammo-lock and doing regular water changes. Last night the Ammonia/Ammonium reading was off the charts so I decided to move out all the fish that were in there before (tiger barbs, guppies) though I left in the bamboo shrimp, frog, and snails because they seemed to be doing okay, and I couldn't catch them without uprooting all the plants. After the water change I moved glowlights and the zebra danios into the tank, as I thought they'd do better with the water quality

Anyway, today, even after a 75% water change, my Ammonia/Ammonium is still around 4, and the PH (measured it the first time today) is only 6.2. The water is cloudy as hell again and there are a ton of different alges choking the sides, though I don't want to introduce a fish until the cycling is under control.

In contrast, tank two is still crystal clear, ammonia/ammonium is only around .5, and the PH is 7.8.

I'm glad I swapped the remaining guppies, as they'll likely do much better not being in an acidic tank. I suppose I should move the neons in there as well as they handle that PH better. Is the cloudyness of the water an issue? Should I cut down on the plant life in the tank (I'm thinking some of it is decaying and playing a role in the current PH? I need some guidance here.

 

[cujoho78]

Hi. Sounds like you've got a lot going on! In my opinion the best thing you can do for an aquarium is to change water. What i would do first and foremost is test your source water. If you're using tap water test it to make sure that it is basically ok and to make sure you know what you're starting with. After that i would do regular weekly water changes of 10-20% as i'm sure you already do. For the tanks that you are having trouble with i would reccommend doing a water change and gravel vac of about 10% every day until things get better. Gradually you can wean the water changes back down to the normal weekly change as things get better. Also try not to over feed during this time period and be careful with adding chemicals to the tank. Don't attempt to alter your pH as it is usually a losing battle and is generally not important. How long do you leave the lights on in a day? 10-12 hours should be plenty, and if you shut them off for a couple of hours during the middle of the day this may help with the algae problem.

As for your ammonia readings, if you are using the ammo-lok product, i believe that you will still get a reading with your test kit while using this product. The ammo-lok changes the ammonia to a non-toxic form but i'm pretty sure you'll still see a reading. So keep up with the water changes and try to keep everything else as constant as possible!

I hope this helps you some. Good luck with your tanks; everything will settle down soon enough.

 

[TigerIssey]

Whenusing ammo-lock, if you use a one bottle test kit you will still get a reading for ammonia / ammonium. However if you use AP Freswater mastertest kit with a two bottle ammonia test, this only picks up ammonia and not ammonium.

Hope that helps.