In Need Of General Advice?

[Lavinder]

I've had a 25l tank now for about 3 months, it contains 4 neon tetras, two golden apple snails and about 30 baby apple snails - I've had some problems recently where my two female guppies both died so I invested in a water testing kit which arrived today.

I've done my tests and these are the results:


pH: 7.4
ammonia: 0.25ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate:40ppm
tank temp: 24c

Just wondering do these results look acceptable? What would be the optimal numbers if I were to start adding some Platys?

I would also like to know what is the best thing to use for water changes, as I'm using tap safe at the moment and that has nearly ran out - I would preferably like the cheapest solution that works the best.

 

[Liquid skills]

I've had a 25l tank now for about 3 months, it contains 4 neon tetras, two golden apple snails and about 30 baby apple snails - I've had some problems recently where my two female guppies both died so I invested in a water testing kit which arrived today.

I've done my tests and these are the results:


pH: 7.4
ammonia: 0.25ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate:40ppm
tank temp: 24c

Just wondering do these results look acceptable? What would be the optimal numbers if I were to start adding some Platys?

I would also like to know what is the best thing to use for water changes, as I'm using tap safe at the moment and that has nearly ran out - I would preferably like the cheapest solution that works the best.

how much do u feed because that increases ammonia also ur amonnia needs to be lowered i suggest a 50% water change (some one please correct me if i am wrong) but useing tapesafe is the only way to make water safe for fish

 

[MBOU]

I think you'll need to move on some apple snails, they can be really messy...

0.25 ammonia is bad, though i know the difference between 0 and 0.25 is nearly impossible to tell on some test kits, especially the API one i think.

I would be making sure you use a gravel vac to do your water changes once a week to get the dirt out of the gravel as it builds up quickly. Keep your feeding to once a day and be careful how much you are feeding the snails (using courgette or cucumber keeps some pollutants out the water!).

BioActive Tapsafe is really good, about £5 for a small bottle that treats over 1000L so concentrated, lasts ages, not expensive and has some beneficial bacteria in it too.

Personally, i think platies will overload your tank, they do get pretty big and it wont give them too much space...

I would probably look for a smaller species... though tbh I kept a pair of platies in that size tank, i'd had them for years and they were sedentary, they never did much and just got pushed around in the bigger tanks. I wouldnt put more than two males in there. Def no room for females!

 

[Juggler75]

The ammonia is too high, should be 0. It might be little spike if its just after feeding etc so I'd test it again to see if the results are the same. Since you have nitrates then unless your tap water has 40ppm nitrates the filter is transforming the ammonia into nitrite then into nitrate. If your retest shows any ammonia or nitrite then do a water change to dilute the ammonia or nitrite to as close to 0 as possible. Values you should be getting in a mature filter are ammonia = 0, nitrite = 0 and nitrates = whatever is acceptable to your livestock (I always aim for less than 60ppm). The temp seems fine and although the pH is slightly high for the neons it is great for the apple snails and the neons will prefer a stable pH than you constantly trying to 'fix' the pH leading to it fluctuating.

 

[the_lock_man]

Hi there.

The only "acceptable" levels are 0ppm for ammonia and nitrite. If you've got the API liquid kit, you need to look at the ammonia test under natural light, I have seen a few people on here that seemed to have 0.25ppm, but then when viewed under natural (sun) light, the green tinge goes, and it's a definite 0ppm. A Nitrate level of 40ppm is fine.

Have you come across cycling? It's the process of growing bacterial colonies in the filter, to deal with the ammonia produced by fish. Did you do anything in this respect? The reason I ask is that the most common cause of fish death in new tanks is the effects of exposure to ammonia. Whilst your levels are low now, they may well not have been when the tank was first set up, and ammonia poisoning can have delayed effects (rather akin to smoking in humans).

My personal viewpoint with your 25l tank is that you should get another couple of neons, as they seem to feel happier in groups of 6 or more, and then call it a day. 25l is very very small, and I wouldn't suggest any platies at all.

Many many people on here recommend Seachem Prime as a dechlorinator, as it is very very concentrated, and therefore works out very cheap in the long term.

 

[Lavinder]

I feed about a pinch of 3 flakes per night.

 

[MBOU]

Neons are fine in a pH of 7.4, in fact, thats a lot better than some places and they still do fine. Few shops run R.O systems just for tetras and so they are kept on tapwater, where i live and have worked, it ranges between 8, 8.5 and 9.

Neons are for the most part tank bred these days or bred in a country that isnt native to them. They are used to much harder water with a higher pH. Hence why 'wild green neons' are generally more delicate... because they are wild... and the difference in hardness and pH means more to them.

Messing about with the pH is far more dangerous IMO

 

[Lavinder]

Yes I am definately going to try and lower the ammonia as that is what seemed to be the cause of the death of the other fish. My tank was cycled as I had it up and running for about a month before adding any fish and had my water tested at the LFS and they agreed that I should start adding fish.

As for the comments about the tank being too small, I'm hopeful that it would be able to add a couple more fish as it look incredibly empty at the moment? I've seen tanks as small as mine in local aquariums with a lot more fish than I am currently keeping?

 

[the_lock_man]

My tank was cycled as I had it up and running for about a month before adding any fish and had my water tested at the LFS and they agreed that I should start adding fish.

If you didn't add any source of ammonia, then unfortunately, you hadn't grown any bacteria in the filter - the ammonia and nitrite stats would have been fine, because there was nothing to make it un-fine. I would definitely suggest that the guppies died due to ammonia poisoning.

As for the comments about the tank being too small, I'm hopeful that it would be able to add a couple more fish as it look incredibly empty at the moment? I've seen tanks as small as mine in local aquariums with a lot more fish than I am currently keeping?

Aquariums as in local fish retailers, or pay to go in and look round Sea-Life Centre type places? If the former, yes they do cram their fish in, it's temporary only. Ever been on the London Tube or New York Subway or equivalent in rush hour? You don't suffer hugely, it's only temporary - but you wouldn't like to live like that at home. Having an overstocked tank means you are more susceptible to algae, need to do greater water changes, and in a small tank like that, any problems are more concentrated and then tend to have a worse affect. But it's your choice.

 

[Lavinder]

Must not have cycled my tank properly then - to be honest I jumped in to it quite a bit.

I feel quite stupid now, the person that gave me the tank said it was 25L so I presumed that that was the actual size. I've just mesured the tank and actually it's 34l so I've been calculating medications completely wrong .

So what would be acceptable for a 34l tank?

 

[Rummynose]

Yes I am definately going to try and lower the ammonia as that is what seemed to be the cause of the death of the other fish. My tank was cycled as I had it up and running for about a month before adding any fish and had my water tested at the LFS and they agreed that I should start adding fish.

As for the comments about the tank being too small, I'm hopeful that it would be able to add a couple more fish as it look incredibly empty at the moment? I've seen tanks as small as mine in local aquariums with a lot more fish than I am currently keeping?

It is always best to educate yourself on the needs of the species of fish you are interested in, size of tank, compatibility with other fish....instead of basing it on what you have seen, so you don't end up with other people's mistakes, tanks that may be overstocked or poorly stocked!

 

[Akasha72]

Hi again Lavinder, agreeing that the ammonia is too high - are you still doing the frequent water changes? This will deal with it.
For de-chlorinating I use API Stress Coat but I've also used interpets tap safe - both are good and reasonably priced (I've not tried Prime yet as I've not found an lfs nearby that stocks it) For your 25 litre you'll only be using very small amounts so it should last ages.

I had a 26 litre and in there I had 3 neons, 4 male guppies and a couple of platies. It was overstocked which is why I got my 57 litre. I'm now overstocked again so I'm looking to upgrade again.

I know nothing about apple snails so I've no idea how much space they take up but I'm guessing if you got rid of most of the babies you'd have a bit more room. I think it says on here somewhere that the general rule for stocking is one inch of fish to a litre (correct me somebody if I've got that wrong)
Platies grow to about 2 - 3 inches so you can see how 25 litres would soon become a little small if you want a few of them. You could just get a couple of females. My sunset female is much smaller than my wag tail and I'm wondering if their size varies a bit.

The first thing though is to get the ammonia under control.

Best wishes - Akasha

 

[the_lock_man]

that the general rule for stocking is one inch of fish to a litre (correct me somebody if I've got that wrong)

[whisper] Psst, Akasha, it's inch per gallon, not litre, and it's a very bad rule anyway. [/whisper]

 

[Lavinder]

Hi again Lavinder, agreeing that the ammonia is too high - are you still doing the frequent water changes? This will deal with it.
For de-chlorinating I use API Stress Coat but I've also used interpets tap safe - both are good and reasonably priced (I've not tried Prime yet as I've not found an lfs nearby that stocks it) For your 25 litre you'll only be using very small amounts so it should last ages.

I had a 26 litre and in there I had 3 neons, 4 male guppies and a couple of platies. It was overstocked which is why I got my 57 litre. I'm now overstocked again so I'm looking to upgrade again.

I know nothing about apple snails so I've no idea how much space they take up but I'm guessing if you got rid of most of the babies you'd have a bit more room. I think it says on here somewhere that the general rule for stocking is one inch of fish to a litre (correct me somebody if I've got that wrong)
Platies grow to about 2 - 3 inches so you can see how 25 litres would soon become a little small if you want a few of them. You could just get a couple of females. My sunset female is much smaller than my wag tail and I'm wondering if their size varies a bit.

The first thing though is to get the ammonia under control.

Best wishes - Akasha

Yep still doing regular water changed, going to wait till it's perfect before adding any fish.

Golden apple snails are about an inch in length and the babies are as big as tomtatoe pips.

This is the offical measurment of the tank : 8.2 Imperial gallons = 37.2779534 litres

 

[Akasha72]

that the general rule for stocking is one inch of fish to a litre (correct me somebody if I've got that wrong)

[whisper] Psst, Akasha, it's inch per gallon, not litre, and it's a very bad rule anyway. [/whisper]

oops ... shutting up now

This is the offical measurment of the tank : 8.2 Imperial gallons = 37.2779534 litres

I think it would be safe to put a couple of platies in there - once you get the ammonia under control