Please read!!

[richgonfishn]

I mentioned in my last post that I had made a mistake. My tank is 30 not 20 gallons.

So when I do the water swap... I have a 2 gallon jug. Do I take out like 6 gallons do I now dechlorinate the water in the jug or after I've put it in the tank? I could not find a amonia test kit. The two pet stores I went to were out.

 

[clutterydrawer]

change six gallons. Dechlorinate the water in the jug. shame about teh ammonia test as it makes it hard to work out what's going on. test nitrite and nitrate every day anyway.

 

[richgonfishn]

Ok, I'll do 6 gallons right now. Should I also treat the 6 gallons with the EasyBalance?

Also do I need to put in any DOC Wellfish's Aquarium Salt?

Thanks...

 

[clutterydrawer]

NO SALT


Sorry for the caps, I just wanted to get my point across don't put salt in with catfish, it's bad for them.

I forget what Easybalance is. treat it with something that removes chlorine and chloramine.

 

[richgonfishn]

I forget what Easybalance is.

Easy Balance- Keeps aquarium water biologically balnced for up to 6 months. Stabilizes pH and alkalinity level vital for fish & plants. Reduces nitrates amd phosphate.


I used- AguaSafe to remove the Chlorine and Chloramine.

 

[SirMinion]

I forget what Easybalance is.

A waste of money that sounds too good to be true... and is.

 

[richgonfishn]

It's made by Tetra Aqua. It's a "NEW FORMULA" with nitraban Nitrate Reduction Granules.

Reduces phosphate levels for improved water quality.
Alkalinity (KH) and pH stabilizers prevent sudden, dramatic swings in pH.
Add the vitimans, trace elements and minerals essential for a healthy tank.
Keeps nitrate levels down.

 

[Bignose]

rich,

The issues about cycling and taking your time are true for any size tank, 20 gal, 30 gal, or 100 gal or 1000 gal. They all need time to get generate ammonia, then more time for the ammonia-eating to grow and excrete nitrite, then even more time for the nitrite-eating bacteria to grow. The reason you are warned to add fish slowly is that one fish makes less ammonia than two fish (duh, right). And, therefore not as much ammonia builds up before the bacteria grows to sufficient level to remove all the ammonia. Ammonia is toxic to fish, and should probably not get above 1 ppm (part per million, the usual measurement unit on the tests). Nitrite is also toxic, so is should not get too concentrated either.

You have lots of fish, and with all the catfish, messy ones at that. They will produce a lot of ammonia, and the bacteria have not had nearly enough time to build up to suffienct levels to take care of all those fish. So, the only way to lower the level of ammonia is to dilute is with treated water. (Aquasafe is perfectly fine for that, that Easybalance is probably a waste -- if you do your regularly scheduled water changes everything that Easybalance is supposed to do will already be done).

Here is a link that talks about checking your water without a test kit, but having an ammonia test is one of the most critical tests you could have. I would fine one as soon as possible, OR most LFSs will test your water for you if you bring in a sample. Having them do a test is better than being completly in the dark.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I took the Penguin 330 and rinced it. I did throughly clean the bio wheel because I remember reading something about that. I used 5 plastic plants from the progonal setup. I cleaned those lightly in the sink.

Rinsed? How do you mean? Do you know not to clean anything in tap water?

Did you clean it before you had posted or were you saying that you had just done it?

 

[ajhainey]

Hi there,

Something I can't see anyone mentioning so far is that you should also test your tap water for nitrates.

If your tank nitrate is higher than your tap nitrate thats actually a good thing at this point as it means some ammonia has changed through nitrite into nitrate (I'm assuming you've read the cycling pinned posts by now) and in combo with your nitrite reading means the cycle has at least started and everything might yet turn out ok...

If the tap==the tank then in all probability all the waste is still in the tank as ammonia - i.e bad

Even overstocked as you are (it looks fine now btw as 'overstock' is based on adult sizes and you probably have baby fish) your tank will be fine until ammonia builds up to 1,2,3,4,5+ ppm ammonia and then suddenly it all goes downhill The fish start to shimmy and shake, scratch themselves on rocks, unexplained deaths, gasping at the surface, finrot, ich, fungus...Until then it will all look ok - but it really isn't..

The only way to cope with the cycle when you have fish , and can't move them elsewhere is either

a ) resign yourself to the fact they are going to die and just keep fishing them out (generally not the favourite choice on here ;-)
b ) water changes - lots of them. Test your tank morning and evening for ammonia. Everytime it is above 1.0ppm do a 20% water change (dechlorinate in the jug by the way). If its above 2ppm do a 40% water change.

Hope that helps - you've got some lovely fish in there!

aj xx

 

[richgonfishn]

Ammonia test results!!

I just tested the water and it reads between the .25 & .50. I'm getting ready to do another 6 gallon swap.

I bought two live plants today. From what I've read, these are very benificial.

Any suggestions?

No dead fish so far!!

 

[clutterydrawer]

sounds like you're doing well

the live plants will use some of the ammonia and I think they'll bring some of the appropriate bacteria with them too

also, 0.5 isn't too bad - just make sure it stays under 1.

 

[richgonfishn]

Thanks clutterydrawer.... I guess I've been VERY lucky. I did everything WRONG and so far I have not lost any fish. I know I'm not out of the woods, but everything looks very nice. The live plants look nice and the fish seem to really like them. I had NO idea there was sooooo much involved in setting up a tank. I guess it's better to be lucky than good?

I appreciate all the help.

I swapped out another 6 gallons and used the Aquasafe. I will do that every other day for a week or so. How when I know when the cycle is complete? Once everything is set, is there a rule on how much/often I replace the water? The 6 gallons is pretty easy to do.

The LPS thinks I haven't lost any fish due to the fact I have the underground filter (with two air tubes) as well as the Penguin 330. I understand the 330 is a overkill for a 30 gallon tank? What do you think?

Thanks again...... more replies please...... it makes me feel like someone is listening to me.

 

[clutterydrawer]

Heya I think the majority of people "do everything wrong" when starting fishkeeping - or at least, it seems like it from reading these forums! and sadly, it's very often due to the lfs giving wrong info. There's certainly a lot to learn and if you keep on with the hobby, you will accumulate all sorts of useful snippets of info!

When the cycle is complete you will have constant ammonia and nitrIte readings of zero (absolutely nothing more, or the tank isn't cycled) and a steadily increasing nitrAte level. I'm not sure how long it will take - it could be a while, as the constant water changes required to save the fish unfortunately slow the cycle down.

Most people recommend changing 20-25% of the water weekly in an established tank. It's also useful to "vacuum" the gravel. This is accomplished by removing the water using a siphon hose with a funnel-like attachment on one end, and using the funnel bit to suck dirt and debris from the gravel. This is especially important in your case because you have an undergravel filter - if you think about it, it's basically sucking allthe dirt underneath the gravel, so if you don't get some of it out, it will stay there...for EVER. ewww. Sadly though I do think you need to take a few fish back they just get too big. unless of course yo uwant another tank

I'm afraid I can't really comment on the Penguin 330 cos I dont' know what it's like, but overfiltering is infinitely prefereable to underfiltering and does no harm whatesoever, so it's a good thing. a lot of people purposely buy filters the next size up to the one they need.

this got really long sorry!

 

[richgonfishn]

Thank you for the reply. I didn't think it was too long. I still can't seem to get the pH level down. It's reading between 7.8 & 8.4. I don't know what else to do. Do I need to do anything?

I just completed a 5 n 1 test and the results are-

Nitrate- 20-30

Nitrite- 0-.5

Hardness- 150

Alkalinity- 120

pH- 7.8-8.4

Ammonia- .25-.50

These are 3-4 hours AFTER I did the 6 gallon water change. I treated the 6 gallons with AquaSafe & pH decreaser.