Hi all, I have to admit Im getting very confused and could do with some advice please.
I got my tank just over a month ago (Juwel 60L) and have had fish now for 3 weeks so the tank didnt cycle first which I now know is wrong after reading far too much info on this site. I have 3 live plants, an additional aeration pump and started with 2 male guppies, pairs of swordtails, platy's and mollies. Regardless of all my novice mistakes I still have 5 of the 8 fish originally added plus 20+ babies. The guppies lasted 24 hours, poor things, but everyone else seemed happy and I have been doing 10% water changes every 3 days and keeping an eye on the water chemistry daily for evidence of cycling and problems.
Unfortunately I wasnt quick enough to spot the signs the live plants were showing (going brown very quickly on leaves) and we lost the female platy 10 days ago when the amonia level suddenly spiked to 8ppm (day after she gave birth). I instantly did a 50% water change to reduce the toxins then 2 days later the nitrites hit 10ppm so I did another 80% water change and these reduced immediately to 1. This also helped with the massive snail infestation I found myself dealing with and everyone is swimming about quite happily now. Since then I have continued testing daily, doing 10% water changes every 3 days to keep the toxins down and Amonia/NO2 have now returned to 0 with nitrates currently averaging at 20ppm. At no point have I cleaned the filter in case I destroyed any bacteria and stresszyme and stresscoat have been added with each water change as per API recommended doses.
I thought I was doing everything right after doing everything wrong until I went down to my LFS this afternoon who have been nothing but helpful with my endless questions. Despite all my reading/researching and best interests at heart I was suprised to hear I shouldnt have done such major water changes as the tank now has to start cycling all over again causing the fish even more stress. What I dont understand is if I am doing everything wrong why the babies are all surviving with the remaining fish constantly breeding. Surely the babies would die instantly if the tank water was stressing the fish and they are all thriving to the point I will be rehoming them over the next week (if I can catch the little speed demons!). I am now worried I am basically abusing my fish and making them suffer through my ignorance and losing heart quite quickly.
My current levels taken with API master kit this afternoon are:
Amonia 0
NO2 0
NO3 20
GH 180
KH 180
PH 8
Finally I wanted a tank of tetras once it matured but my PH is too high and water is very hard. Is it worth trying to alter the water to the levels they require or should I start looking at some different fish who are better suited to my current levels and accepting tetras arent the fish for me.
As I said Im confused......any and all advice would be most welcome
Rae
I got my tank just over a month ago (Juwel 60L) and have had fish now for 3 weeks so the tank didnt cycle first which I now know is wrong after reading far too much info on this site. I have 3 live plants, an additional aeration pump and started with 2 male guppies, pairs of swordtails, platy's and mollies. Regardless of all my novice mistakes I still have 5 of the 8 fish originally added plus 20+ babies. The guppies lasted 24 hours, poor things, but everyone else seemed happy and I have been doing 10% water changes every 3 days and keeping an eye on the water chemistry daily for evidence of cycling and problems.
Unfortunately I wasnt quick enough to spot the signs the live plants were showing (going brown very quickly on leaves) and we lost the female platy 10 days ago when the amonia level suddenly spiked to 8ppm (day after she gave birth). I instantly did a 50% water change to reduce the toxins then 2 days later the nitrites hit 10ppm so I did another 80% water change and these reduced immediately to 1. This also helped with the massive snail infestation I found myself dealing with and everyone is swimming about quite happily now. Since then I have continued testing daily, doing 10% water changes every 3 days to keep the toxins down and Amonia/NO2 have now returned to 0 with nitrates currently averaging at 20ppm. At no point have I cleaned the filter in case I destroyed any bacteria and stresszyme and stresscoat have been added with each water change as per API recommended doses.
I thought I was doing everything right after doing everything wrong until I went down to my LFS this afternoon who have been nothing but helpful with my endless questions. Despite all my reading/researching and best interests at heart I was suprised to hear I shouldnt have done such major water changes as the tank now has to start cycling all over again causing the fish even more stress. What I dont understand is if I am doing everything wrong why the babies are all surviving with the remaining fish constantly breeding. Surely the babies would die instantly if the tank water was stressing the fish and they are all thriving to the point I will be rehoming them over the next week (if I can catch the little speed demons!). I am now worried I am basically abusing my fish and making them suffer through my ignorance and losing heart quite quickly.
My current levels taken with API master kit this afternoon are:
Amonia 0
NO2 0
NO3 20
GH 180
KH 180
PH 8
Finally I wanted a tank of tetras once it matured but my PH is too high and water is very hard. Is it worth trying to alter the water to the levels they require or should I start looking at some different fish who are better suited to my current levels and accepting tetras arent the fish for me.
As I said Im confused......any and all advice would be most welcome
Rae
