New tank advice

[Deleted member 149562]

Diatoms (the brown stuff) will die off by itself in a week or three. It is a normal part of the process whilst cycling the aquarium

Sometimes you'll get it when the aquarium has been running for years, again it dies off on its own and is a sign of a water chemistry issue in older aquariums...but for those in cycling like yours, its normal and will fade out on its own

 

[Rick147]

With changing water, should I vacuum gravel every time aswell?

Or just do a water change only?

 

[outofwater]

How else can I get rid of it?

Algae is caused by imbalance in nutrition and light. What kind of light do you have, and how long is it on for? With some tweaking it will go away on its own in a matter of days

With changing water, should I vacuum gravel every time aswell?

Or just do a water change only?

Once you add fish, generally speaking you want to siphon every time you do a water change, (most do weekly) or as often as needed until you figure the feeding pattern for your fish. Besides the poop, some of which ostensibly goes into the soil and feeds your plants, leftover fish food is the main tank pollutant because too much sitting for too long may load up the ammonia and is breeding ground for bacteria

 

[Rick147]

I would love to have fish..

 

[Rick147]

I’ve been reading through the beginner section and read of so many people who setup tanks and put fish in. They are advised to just do a fish in cycle with water changes etc.

I’m at nearly 6 weeks and returned fish twice now.

Currently no fish and still coping it from a member for rushing.

Can anyone else help me out who is very knowledgeable.
maybe just through private chat so it’s a little more sensible

 

[Essjay]

Fish-in cycles are not recommended. Even when done properly a fish-in cycle can damage fish and when done incorrectly it can kill fish.
Ammonia in the water burns the fish's skin and gills. Burned gills don't take up oxygen as well as healthy gills so the fish suffer lack of oxygen.
Nitrite binds to the blood stopping oxygen binding. It does the same to fish as carbon monoxide does to us.
Even small levels of ammonia and nitrite harm fish.

The simplest way to do a fish-in cycle is to test the water every day for ammonia and nitrite and do a water change every time either of them reads more than zero. The amount of water that should be changed depends on how high the levels are, the higher the level the more water which has to be changed.
It is recommended to use just a few fish to cycle a tank as fewer fish means less ammonia and nitrite. It still means daily water changes for a few weeks though. And when the tank is finally cycled, it is only cycled for the fish in the tank at that point. When more fish are added, they make more ammonia, and there aren't enough bacteria to cope so it could well mean back to daily water changes.

To be honest, I've got better things to do than water changes every day. Fishless cycling is so much easier - just add ammonia, test the water almost every day and add more ammonia when necessary. All you need to do is get some ammonia or Dr Tim's Ammonium Chloride and we can talk you through a fishless cycle.

 

[AmyKieran]

I’ve been reading through the beginner section and read of so many people who setup tanks and put fish in. They are advised to just do a fish in cycle with water changes etc.

I’m at nearly 6 weeks and returned fish twice now.

Currently no fish and still coping it from a member for rushing.

Can anyone else help me out who is very knowledgeable.
maybe just through private chat so it’s a little more sensible

You have returned fish because they are not suitable for the water you have, unless you buffer it, not entirely because your tank was not cycled. It would be sensible to return them and cycle it but if your fish were suitable you could have just winged a fish in cycle

 

[Rick147]

Ok so I am doing a fish in cycle, well whatever time is left for it.
I have a couple of American cichlids, very small.

Current levels an hour after water change:

A: about .1 its not 0 but its not yet at .25
pH 7.6
N02: 0
N03: 5

Other questions:
How often do you wash out filter media, also how often do you change the media?

Brown algae has 90% gone.

 

[Rick147]

Also FYI.

I first had a couple of goldfish in this tank at the start for a week.

Then took them out when I decided to change to warm water fish and added
0 small mollies
Waited few days, then 4 angles
Few days and then 2 clown loach.

Was told to remove them which I did..
about 2 weeks later added 4 cichlids.

a few days after this was told not enough time for tank so I removed them..

Tank is at 6 weeks now.

 

[AmyKieran]

Also FYI.

I first had a couple of goldfish in this tank at the start for a week.

Then took them out when I decided to change to warm water fish and added
0 small mollies
Waited few days, then 4 angles
Few days and then 2 clown loach.

Was told to remove them which I did..
about 2 weeks later added 4 cichlids.

a few days after this was told not enough time for tank so I removed them..

Tank is at 6 weeks now.

You basically want to do at least 50% water change every time you see ammonia or nitrite go anywhere above 0

Remember to always treat water with dechlorinator and treat water with nitrifying bacteria

 

[Rick147]

You basically want to do at least 50% water change every time you see ammonia or nitrite go anywhere above 0

Remember to always treat water with dechlorinator and treat water with nitrifying bacteria

 

[Rick147]

I did all of those things,
Changed almost 50%
Treated water.

Thanks for your advice

 

[AmyKieran]

I did all of those things,
Changed almost 50%
Treated water.

Thanks for your advice

Okay keep testing and do that for weeks to ensure that yuur ammonia and nitrite is still 0

 

[Essjay]

Since you are determined to ignore all the advice given by other members, all we can do now is help you not to kill these fish.


Ammonia shows up first as fish excrete ammonia. It takes a few weeks for enough bacteria to grow to eat all the ammonia, so until then, you have to remove it by doing water changes.
Once the ammonia eaters start to grow they turn ammonia into nitrite; this doesn't show up straight away so you need to keep testing for that daily as well so you know when it starts to show up.
Ammonia will drop to zero before nitrite does, so you need to keep on daily testing and water changes whenever they read above zero until both drop to zero and stay there.

Live plants will help by taking up a lot of the ammonia. Floating plants are very good for this, so look at getting some of those. Water sprite is probably the one to look for as it's quite a big plant.


You have not said which fish you have. Some American cichlids are too big for your tank; make sure the ones have have are suitable for the tank.

 

[AmyKieran]

I did all of those things,
Changed almost 50%
Treated water.

Thanks for your advice

Just bare in mind that fish in cycling will probably kill a few fish and probably impact them for the time of them being in the tank

Just so your aware