Hello! New Aquarium Owner here with some questions (sorry, long post)

[LemmyK]

I wanted to first introduce myself here, as this is my first time on the board.

This is my third attempt at fishkeeping, it seems that about every 5-6 years I get the bug, and go out and get a tank and some new fish. The first time, I was 17 (about 15 years ago, pre-internet), and made a huge mistake. I bought a wolffish (not cichlid, the real wolf fish!), and bought a 10 gallon tank, no cycling (bought fish and tank same day). Collected some rocks for substrate, bought the cheepest filter I could find, no heater and one small artificial plant. Can you believe the LFS let me do this? The poor guy lasted 3 years though, his fate was handed to him when he jumped out of the tank (making a run for it) in the middle of the night.

The next time I attempted fish keeping, I was 25 and married. I purchased a 20 gallon high, a nice filter and heater, proper substrate and deco's for the tank. I cycled the tank (best of my knowledge at the time) and added tetras and danios. Nice little tank for a year, but we had a power spike and I think the tank got shocked (along with my tv, computer, etc...). Fried fish.

Now, I am 32, still married, with little kids. I got the bug again a few weeks ago. I went out my little kids, bought a 29 gallon tank, Elite Hush 35 Filter, 100w heater, nice substrate and fake plants, and most importantly TEST Equipment!.

Here is the breakdown to what I did:
Day 1: Brought home everything, setup tank, filled with water, turned on filter, heater, etc...
Day 2: Checked pH (7.2) and introduced a pinch of food (to start cycle).
Day 3: Checked pH (7.2), pinch of food. No ammonia, nitrite or nitrates
Day 4: Introduced 3 Gold Skirt Tetras. No am/ni/na.
Day 5-10: pH steady (6.8). Tetras doing well, eating and pooping, hanging around heater mostly. Heater is behind a large rock-type cave and around some fake plants. Probably a little shy?
Day 11-14: No am/ni/na. Nothing (clear on all tests). pH dropped to 6.6
Day 15: Still no am/ni/na. pH at 6.6
Day 16: Added 4 swordtails, 3 Gold Skirt Tetras (total of 10 fish). I realize that it was early to add, but my excitement got the best of me.
Day 17-22: Ammonia at 0, nitrites at 0, Nitrate at 5ppm. Beginners luck?
Day 23-24: pH dropped to 6.2
Day 25: On this board, asking questions to what I did right/wrong.

Man, this post is really long sorry, here are the questions:

1. Is my tank cycled? With 10 fish, I would have expected an ammonia spike, and after almost 4 weeks, never happened. Water never really clouded, just a little after week 1.
2. Will the pH be a problem at 6.2? I added a bit of pH up yesterday, waiting until tonight to recheck.
3. Water changes, I have been doing 10% every 5-6 days. Too much? Too little?
4. I realize that I added way too many fish, too fast... No loses, fish seem well. Can I safely add more at this point? What should I add? I would like to add 1-2 unique larger fish that will get along with it's tankmates.
5. Plants: Are there any plants that I could place into my low-light tank? 18w lighting for 29 gallons.
6. Vaccuming the substrate: Should I do this weekly?
7. Filter cleaning/changes. There are 2 media types, foam and a white type (cloth?). Should I change/clean them together, or seperate?
8. Heating: 100w doesn't seem to be quite enough. My swords hang out by the submersed heater all day. The temp at the opposite side is between 76-78 all day. Do the swords need more heat, or are they just real shy. Since adding the new tetras (6 gold skirts now), they are active and fun to watch in the open part of the tank (half is shaded with art. plants, rocks, the other half is more open with only 1-2 plants).

Thanks and sorry again for the long post!

 

[Cory Keeper]

1. I',m no expert, but if its day 22, no NH3 or NO2 and some NO3 Id say its more or less cycled.

2. my PH is at 6.2, dont worry about it and dont touch it, unless its chiclids

3. I'm told 10%-15% is good.

4. You may be getting close to stocked right now, if your NO3 starts getting way too high too fast, It looks like your overstocked

5. Ask someone else about plants

6. IMO, be careful when getting into the substrate, I managed to restart my cylce by doing that

7. If your filter is anything like the Top Fin BIO 3, Don't touch the foam, that is where the good bacteria resides, if its clogged, careully rinse it out in the old tank water. DO NOT USE TAP.

8. 76-78 degrees should be fine, they may just be real shy, even more so with light. My tank has 14 fake plants, and the ST even when healthy seemed to take to the lower portions around the plants. My danios seem to like to them too.

 

[lancerland]

Shouldn't you rinse the filter out with tank water, not tap water? The Chlorine in the tap water will kill all that bacteria you have built up.

 

[Cory Keeper]

I edidted that, I write weird sometimes.

 

[KnaveTO]

1. Is my tank cycled? With 10 fish, I would have expected an ammonia spike, and after almost 4 weeks, never happened. Water never really clouded, just a little after week 1.

If you are showing Nitrates then your tank has gone through a cycle. This can happen although usually in planted tanks. However remember that each time you add more fish and larger fish you tank needs to adjust to the added bio load so a minimum of a week before you add new fish

2. Will the pH be a problem at 6.2? I added a bit of pH up yesterday, waiting until tonight to recheck.

That shouldn't be too big of a problem, however it does depend on the type of fish you keep and plan to keep and whether or not they are captive bred, local bred or wild caught.

3. Water changes, I have been doing 10% every 5-6 days. Too much? Too little?

That should be fine for now. Again though as you increas the number of fish in your tank you may have to increase the amount of water you change and the frequency.

4. I realize that I added way too many fish, too fast... No loses, fish seem well. Can I safely add more at this point? What should I add? I would like to add 1-2 unique larger fish that will get along with it's tankmates.

You can possibly add more fish but remember that you are increasing the bio load by doing so. Also is your tank a tall or a regular tank? I ask because a tall can handle a smaller bio load than a regular tank. Footprint of the tank is more important than gallonage.

5. Plants: Are there any plants that I could place into my low-light tank? 18w lighting for 29 gallons.

There are some plants that you could potentially add to your tank. I would ask at your LFS for Low Light plants that only require about 1w per gallon of lighting. They will also help you with a bio load should you get more fish.

6. Vaccuming the substrate: Should I do this weekly?

Yes. Vaccumming substrate remove the detrius that accumulates there and help prevents pockets of gasses from forming in the substrate that can be lethal to your fish. Just don't completely move it around otherwise you may restart your cycle as happened to the previous poster.

7. Filter cleaning/changes. There are 2 media types, foam and a white type (cloth?). Should I change/clean them together, or seperate?

I would do them separately. However never rinse your filter media in tap water. You should take some of the tank water in a bucket and squeeze out the media in that. But rinsing your media out in tap water you are likely killing the bacteria in it as the chlorine and chloamines in your water will kill it. (After all that is what it is in your water to do)

8. Heating: 100w doesn't seem to be quite enough. My swords hang out by the submersed heater all day. The temp at the opposite side is between 76-78 all day. Do the swords need more heat, or are they just real shy. Since adding the new tetras (6 gold skirts now), they are active and fun to watch in the open part of the tank (half is shaded with art. plants, rocks, the other half is more open with only 1-2 plants).

Your temp is fine. The rule is about 5w/gallon of water. Remember the larger the tank the less likely major swings will happen as it is more difficult to adjust larger amounts of water than it is smaller. I use a 200w heater in my 65 and it stays a perfect 79F with little to no temp fluctuations.

Hope all this helps and good luck with the tank(s)

 

[LemmyK]

Thanks for all the responses!

OK, I will carefully clean out my filter media in tank water (never tap), twice a month? Once a week?

The heater is a 100w, for a 29gallon tank (not sure high or long, but it is the 30" long model), I would assume I then would need a 150w? My water is always between 76-78, from what you are all telling me it is fine, but would it be more efficient to run the 150w?

Could I go and add more swordtails? I would like for them to be more active.

If I get more algae, could I add a pleco? Will it be too big? What about an otto?

Thanks again for answering all the questions! I definately feel better about the pH!

 

[Cory Keeper]

yes, more ST would be fine, just try and have a ratio of 1 male to 3 females.

If you want algae control, Bristlenose Plecos are perfect. The common pleco will ignore algae once its gets big enough and become a bully for food, also most plecos get over 18 inches long. Bristlenosers will stay at around 2-6 inches and just clean your glass all day long; however, be sure to give them a few algae waffers.

 

[kjr928]

I think Knave just about covered it. I would also like to add that swordtails are jumpers, so make sure your tank is totally covered.

 

[KnaveTO]

I rinse my sponges out about once a month... depending on how they look. Is a judgement call...

Oto's are better for algaes than plecos however they are social fish and need to have a few of them. Plecos have a lot of requirements that need to be maintained for them to stay healthy and happy. Depending on the species you need to have wood, meat or greens or all three for them to eat. Furthermore acclimating a pleco can be very tricky especially if they are wild caught. Be prepared to loose one or two during that process. And if you do buy a pleco, when you go to the store never buy one on that day... come back a few days later and buy one. I recomend this as they are usually kinda gaunt when I see them and you don't want to buy one till you know it is feeding again. Lastly if you are looking at a pleco please visit www.planetcatfish.com or www.plecofanatics.com for more info on what you are intending to buy that way you are not surprised when you eventually get a pleco that grows to 24" long!

 

[FancyFins]

KnaveTO said:

Vaccumming substrate remove the detrius that accumulates there and help prevents pockets of gasses from forming in the substrate that can be lethal to your fish. Just don't completely move it around otherwise you may restart your cycle as happened to the previous poster.

D'oh! I have never heard this! Could this explain why my ammonia has been soaring? .25 last night, .5 this morning. There are 0 nitrites, but nitrates continue to increase (10 last night, 20 this morning). I have been changing water like mad for a week, and... *sigh*... vacuuming the heck out of the gravel. :wall: AAANND... the pH keeps dropping. It was 7.4 last night, 6.4 this morning! Tap water is about 7.6 - after 24 hours, it is 7.4.

Yes, I DO use the API liquid tests!