Need Total Assistance With A Two Week Old Tank

[Nic84]

Assaye,

- If there was a Kudos counter on this forum, you would certainly be getting some from me! Thank you for a very clear, informative answer to my question. Yet again, LFS advice is proven to be nothing far from nonsense.

I see your a Betta collector, I love them too and hope to own one myself one day in the not too distant future. Do you have any pictures of yours in the Betta forum? I'm holding out for a red and blue crowntail. Sorry for going off topic.

Tomorrow I will change 50% of my water before I go to work and then another 50% when I return home. After that, depending on the readings, I will do a further 50% (at least) each day until the nitrite and ammonia read 0 for at least 7 days without water change.

The flesh is pink (not red) so maybe its just something I haven't noticed before. I will however keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't change colour.

Thanks again Assaye and everyone else who is helping me with this.

 

[Assaye]

Assaye,

- If there was a Kudos counter on this forum, you would certainly be getting some from me! Thank you for a very clear, informative answer to my question. Yet again, LFS advice is proven to be nothing far from nonsense.

I see your a Betta collector, I love them too and hope to own one myself one day in the not too distant future. Do you have any pictures of yours in the Betta forum? I'm holding out for a red and blue crowntail. Sorry for going off topic.

Tomorrow I will change 50% of my water before I go to work and then another 50% when I return home. After that, depending on the readings, I will do a further 50% (at least) each day until the nitrite and ammonia read 0 for at least 7 days without water change.

The flesh is pink (not red) so maybe its just something I haven't noticed before. I will however keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't change colour.

Thanks again Assaye and everyone else who is helping me with this.

Glad you're finding us useful =) we may not be 100% correct 100% of the time but I'm certain we'll give you better advice than most shops.

I do indeed have a bit of a betta collection. I have 7 males and 5 females at the moment and hopefully *touches wood* everything has stabilised a bit. I've not been in the betta hobby that long and have lost more than my fair share of them through a nasty combination of highly infectious diseases and buying poor quality, mal-treated fish. Just been a run of bad luck. My white halfmoon plakat is not feeling at all well at the moment and I am totally stumped as to why.

Here are some photos of bettas, past and present:

Spoiler

There are some other pictures in the betta photos section.

 

[Nic84]

The 6th Betta down is absolutely amazing! Exactly what I'm after.

I tested the water and changed 50% this morning as I said I would. Before changing, the readings were as follows - Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0.3 (it has done exactly what Assaye has said it would), Nitrate between 5 and 8. I then changed 50% of the water and now my readings are these - Ammonia 0, Nitrite <0.1 but not quite 0, Nitrate between 3 and 5. I will test again tonight and if the nitrite has risen above 0.25, I will do another 50% water change.

Upon closer inspection this morning, it appears that the gills no longer show red. It must have been the light I was looking at them in last night.

I will continue to post my water testing results.

 

[Assaye]

The 6th Betta down is absolutely amazing! Exactly what I'm after.

I tested the water and changed 50% this morning as I said I would. Before changing, the readings were as follows - Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0.3 (it has done exactly what Assaye has said it would), Nitrate between 5 and 8. I then changed 50% of the water and now my readings are these - Ammonia 0, Nitrite <0.1 but not quite 0, Nitrate between 3 and 5. I will test again tonight and if the nitrite has risen above 0.25, I will do another 50% water change.

Upon closer inspection this morning, it appears that the gills no longer show red. It must have been the light I was looking at them in last night.

I will continue to post my water testing results.

Sounds like you are steaming along!

My crowntail was called Balthazar. He died just after Christmas and I was (and still am) gutted.

 

[Nic84]

That seems to be one of the downsides to Bettas, they don't have a very long life span. I tend to grow extremely attached to things (married at 25!) and would find it hard to lose anything close to me.
I will be getting home in around an hours time, do a water test and then probably another water change. Even if Nitrate is still below 0.25 I think I may change at least 25% of the water. Would this be the correct thing to do?

 

[Nic84]

Before any water change, the levels read as follows -

pH - 8.0
ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0.1
Nitrate - 6

I think I might leave the water change for tonight (as I did around 60% this morning) and see what the reading shows tomorrow morning.
Feeding time then I might attempt to take some pictures.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, nice low test levels so its a good time to not change and see how it goes for the next 12 hours. That's all part of figuring out the right frequency and percentage of water changes so that you're doing enough to always stay below 0.25ppm but not more than you have to.

By the way, agree with all the nice posts up above. Thinking that water changes will significantly reduce the autotrophic bacteria shows pretty much a complete lack of understanding of the bacteria involved and probably of the nitrogen cycle.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Nic84]

Waterdrop, I totally agree now I have done my own research into the bacteria itself combined with the obvious knowledge you guys have.

Didn't have chance to do a full test this morning (running slightly late for work) but i did squeeze in a nitrite test. After 14 hours from my previous test, the Nitrite is still 0.1. Again I will test it tongiht and make sure it hasn't rissen to anywhere near 0.25.

Another thing I have observed is one of my platys (when it thinks no-one is watching) will shake in the water, almost as if its trying to swim using its whole body including its head and not actually get anywhere. It also seems to have gotten a lot fatter in the last few days. Could this be a sign of pregnancy? As soon as it notices me or I add a little food, it goes to swimming normally and playing with the other platy. It also seems to be nearly forcing itself into the top right corner of my tank (next to the magnetic cleaner) but after I moved the magnet I have not seen it do it since? Maybe a magnetically charged fish?!

I tried to take some pictures last night but I don't think my camera has a setting for 'darting fish' so they all came out blurry or slightly late. Oh well, I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

Out of interest, I know its not a good thing to do, but what would happen if I was to put a Betta into the tank with the two platys (once it is cycled properly of course)? I'm guessing the platys fast swimming and scurrying behaviour would stress out the Betta? I'm still in the process of trying to convince my wife to let me have a 2nd tank. I'll have to wait and see on that one!

 

[Nic84]

My evening results for today. No water change since Monday morning.

pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - <0.1 (almost clear)
Nitrate - between 8 and 10, probably closer to 10

Could it be possible for me to have cycled my tank? The nitrite is dropping without water changes and the Nitrate appears to be steady. Will the Nitrate reach a level where it is dangerous to either the plants or the fish? I will continue to monitor and if it stays steady for the rest of the week, I may look at putting a few shrimp in at the weekend. Would that be OK?

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, you want to get in a good week with clean double-zeros and no water changes before you consider yourself cycled but yes, a shrimp at that point should be ok, they are almost no bioload. Just don't go getting fish yet! WD

 

[Nic84]

Another test this morning showed even less Nitrite than yesterday, I would say its as close to 0 as its gonna get. Ammonia is also still 0 and the Nitrate is showing around 6 or 7. I would also like to report small ammounts of algae beginning to form on the glass. I'm going to let it grow a little before cleaning it off with the scraper/adding a few shrimp.