RE: The update on the 15 gal. Eclipse

[janetjam7]

Dear Fishfans,

The pH is 7.2, the Nitirites are 0. and the Ammonia is 6.0. I treated with Amquel. Do I have to do the Amquel every day? I cannot do the 25 % water changes daily, just every other day, due to my schedule at work and at grad school. The cloud has not dissipated at all yet, and I keep adding about a teaspoon of the Bacteria starter every day. I put a neat rooty looking thing from the fish chain in the tank. I like it, because I read somewhere that tetras grow in the wild in rooty jungle streams. Is this true?

So far, no more flushes;) I thought last night a couple got sucked up on the siphon when I was draining the tank partially... But, they were just hiding in the corner, immobile.

I bought 20 foot of tube at the Home Depot, and stuck it on my gravel washer. I let gravity do its thing. It took quite a few minutes to suck the fish water up through the tube. What a site that must have been. Yep, I'm a Yankee. Didn't want to shell out the 60 bucks for the thing you hook up on the faucet.

somethings fishy in here.....
janetjam7:)

[pinballqueen]

Don't waste your money on the bacteria starter stuff. Most of those products are nothing but snake-oil.... the jury is still out on some of the newer products to hit the market, but chances are you've not shelled out the bucks for Bio-Spira...

Good thinking on the DIY gravel vacuum... any way you can save money is fine by me!

It looks like you are in the beginning of your cycle. You have fish in the tank? That's where your problem with the bacterial bloom is (if I remember correctly from your last post, you have a white, milky look to your water...). The plecos had nothing to do with it. It is just that the bacterial colonies are establishing themselves in the tank. Give it some time, and read the thread on fishy-cycling called "Now What..." at the top of this forum. It's got a little bit of insight into what will be happening over the next few weeks. Water changes every other day should be fine, in fact, that shows a great deal of dedication on your part. Although we'd like for you to change the water every day for the comfort of your fish... I understand that it's not always possible for the best-case scenario to happen. That is a LOT of ammonia in the water, though, so you may want to change more of the water at a time, say, about 40%, for a while, until your tank is cycled.

P.S. If anything is making your cloudy water worse, it's that bacteria starter...

You're doing fine. Just have patience....

HTH

[janetjam7]

Dear Fishfans,
I will do the 40% tonight when I get out of class. I have to go, I have class.

janetjam7
somethings fishy in here........:)