Lots of help needed

[Ember]

Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions you have to offer. I know this post is very long and there are a lot of questions

About 2 weeks ago I was given a fully stocked 30 gallon tank. I've been a betta keeper for about 5 years but I'm new to larger tanks and other fish. So far I haven't lost any fish in the move and I would like to keep it that way. So here is a long list of immediate questions that come to mind. I'm sure I'll be back with more.

Unfortunately the people who gave it to me didn't know much about it so I was kind of left "on my own". Someone had set it all up for them and they had it for less than a year (not sure how much less).
They told me the only thing they did was just add water as it evaporated (a few gallons a week). They didn't siphon out the gravel or anything. All they fed were flakes.
I knew it was absolutely essential to vacuum out the gravel and do water changes. But someone told me to be careful because of "old tank syndrome". I was told to do 30% change once a week with small (couple gallon) changes throughout the week.
I immediately did a 30% change the day after I got the tank.
The only thing I did to the water was Amquel and Novaqua. Later I ended up adding some dissolved aquarium salt to the tank.
The only test I had was a ph test. This came out to about 7.0.
One week later I did another 30% change. With a few small changes in between.

I wasn't able to get a test kit until a few days ago. Ended up getting the Jungle brand Quick Dip strips, wasn't sure what to get. I knew that company and the strips seemed easiest. Is this ok? Do I need one of the tests with separate reagents and vials? I think it was $45 as opposed to $10 for the strips.
I also bought new carbon filters (this tank has a double bio wheel hob filter). Also the carbon rocks that's supposed to be good for taking out ammonia. I forgot the name of them, black and white gravel. I know the black is carbon. This was a recommendation of the lfs guy.
When I did the test, my Nitrate level was instantly sky high! I didn't even have to wait for it to develop. On the chart it says unsafe and it was off the charts! Unfortunately I had done a big water change the day before so I was afraid to send them all into shock by doing another one. I'm so afraid to do anything drastic, they're all doing so well.......it seems.
I kept doing small changes whenever I could and just did another 30% yesterday (I only waited 5 days as opposed to a full week). So far this makes three 30% changes with some little ones in between.
The test today revealed the Nitrate level down a bit but it's still in the unsafe zone. It was at about 80. That tank must've really been out of whack. Amazing thing is it looked pristine!
What do I do now? Risk shocking them by doing a few more large changes? Just keep doing the small changes? How much can I get away with every day?

Also the water hardness level is very high in my area. Should I be worried about that? The profiles of the fish I have (see list at end) say they prefer softer water but the lfs said not to worry about it unless you're breeding. The other stuff (nitrite, nitrate, ph, alkalinity, temperature) is more important for fishkeeping.

Should I be adding an acidifier? The fish I have prefer more acid water. I put a tiny bit after the first change but I became worried about doing too many different things until I knew better. It's testing at around 7.0 now.

So far I only use Novaqua (conditioner for stresscoat and antiviral), Amquel (dechlorinater), added salt the first change- I know not to use it every water addition since salt doesn't evaporate and will become too concentrated.

Oh! For food I bought freeze dried plankton and algae wafers. They all seem to love those. The pleco even boldly comes out to feed. Yesterday he was munching on a wafer and doing spirals and somersaults with it in order to keep away from all the other fish. There was such a blissful look on his face too. He's smart enough now to grab one and stick his head in a pocket in one of the rocks. No one can get to him there and he can munch to his heart's content.
And I still give them the flakes that I was given by the original owners.
I usually do two feedings throughout the day, sometimes three small ones.
Today I gave them some brine shrimp that I got for my bettas. They loved them!!!

Now for the list of what I have. I know that's important to know in answering my questions..........
I did a lot of searching and finally have a definite i.d. that two are Ram Cichlids. For a while I thought I had to get rid of them and I really grew to love these guys. I am almost sure they are Bolivian as opposed to Blue because they don't have those vivid markings of the Blue.
I still need to figure out what type my Pleco is. He's my other favorite. I'd hate having to get rid of him but if it's a Common it's not good to have him in the 30 gallon for much longer.
Planning on trading in the Tiger Barbs. Although they don't seem to be nippy except with each other. Still not sure what to do. They aren't really a fave of mine so wouldn't mind freeing up the room.
Actually the only fish I'm really stuck on are the Rams, Pleco, and Angel. Any suggestions about what to do/trade are welcome.

30 Gallon
1 Angelfish (about 3")
2 Bolivian Rams (about 3" ea) both males I believe - LOVE these guys!!!
4 Tiger Barbs (3 are between 3.5"-4" and one is teeny tiny still)
2 Silver Dollars (about 2.5" ea)
2 Serpae Tetra (about 1.5" ea) I think that's what they are anyway
3 Tetra - unknown (about 1" ea) They are small orange little tetras with black spots along their sides.
1 Pleco (about 3") not sure what kind. He sure is beautiful though

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

What are your ntrite and ammonia stats? these are the most important to know other than nitrate.
a. firstly, stop using salt! plecs and tetras are intolerant of salt and they will get sick and/or die if you continue to use it.
b. Don't buy any ph boosters/modifiers, your current ph is fine for your fish although im not an expert on all your fish so i couldn't say for water hardness but i'd leave this until you know for sure what to do and if it is nesarsary.
c. as for nitrate, adding lots of live plants will help lower it alot, although you will need to remove the carbon from the filter as this will strip your tank of all the nutrients live plants need to grow and also any meds you need to treat the fish with.
Your fish will also appreiciate live plants too, particually the plec and live plants as mentioned will help keep water quality good- stop using ammonia removal products as these will most likely mess up your bacterial cycle and are unesarsary unless you have real bad ammonia problems- even so water changes are best for this.
d. Old tank sydrome is basically when your tank experiences mini cycling problems and as far as i know, as long as water quality is good you don't have it and it is also easy to sort out. Doing regular water changes with dechlorinator and gravel vacs is the best way to keep a tank healthy.

 

[Ember]

Thanks for the quick response.
My Nitrite is 0 now (Yay!)
Not sure my ammonia stats. I guess I need to get separate test for that. Doesn't the nitrate level indicate the ammonia? I had thought it did. That's what made me scared. I became panicked when I saw the test chart said "Unsafe" for the reading for Nitrite. I was thinking the ammonia was through the roof.

I'm planning on getting live plants. In fact, I planned to do a whole other post on that one. I have tons of questions for that too.
Problem is, I'd have to change the substrate so I want to make sure I feel that I have the water under control before I undertake a big job like that.
I was thinking in the meantime of getting some live rocks if I can find them. Would that be feasible until I get proper substrate? Don't I need to add a source of CO2 and fertilizer?
I do have a package of bulbs. Could I turn one of my lava rocks into a live rock somehow with one of the bulbs? There are some good pockets in the rock for it.

How often and how much should I be changing the water? Should I just be on regular maintenance or more frequent until I get the Nitrate down to 0 too?
That first vacuuming was very satisfying! It was as if tons of black soot went shooting up the vacuum. I've got it now so the water is relatively clean from the gravel.

BTW, thanks for the tip on the salt and ph boosters. I'm glad I only added a small dose of salt that one time. Won't be doing that anymore. I had thought it would lessen the stress on the fish from the move.
I'd rather not have to add more stuff. The less I have to do, the better!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Actually nitrate is safe for most fish as long as its in levels 60 or under, 80 is quite high but not very life threatening, you need to have some kind of nitrate reading as this shows you your bacterial cycle in your filter is working to a good extent- test your tap water straight out of the tap to see how normally high it is as well. A good nitrate reading is somthing between 5 and 30 .
I suggest you do a 50% water change and gravel vac if you can once a week but water test kits are also good because they help give you an indication of when and how much water you need to take out, but 50% should be fine with gravel vac as long as you add sufficient dechlorinator though

 

[CFC]

Tokis-Phoenix Posted on May 29 2005, 07:39 AM

d. Old tank sydrome is basically when your tank experiences mini cycling problems and as far as i know, as long as water quality is good you don't have it and it is also easy to sort out. Doing regular water changes with dechlorinator and gravel vacs is the best way to keep a tank healthy.

Actually old tank syndrome is where the pH becomes dangerously unstable from all the calcium buffers in the water being used up by the nitrogen cycle and elevated nitrate levels releasing nitric acid into the water. It has nothing to do with mini cycles. You wasnt completely out though, doing water changes and removing the debrie by vacuming will prevent old tank syndrom by removing organic acid compounds from the water and replacing the used calcium buffers.