Help! A big disaster in my two weeks new tank

[JeffP]

I would second Wetman's suggestion to read the Boruchowitz book. I read it and found it to be a great all-around aquarium book. It is not a specialized book Tanganyika cichlids but most of what you learn there will apply when you're ready for the Tanganyika tank....which would be after getting your current tank up and running for a period of time.

I included a link directly to the Boruchowitz book at the top of this forum under the sticky post for beginner books.

Good luck and don't get <too> frustrated.

 

[Harry Tolen]

I third the wetmanNY recommendation for the Boruchowitz book. Also that you should keep doing water changes, and not mistake nitrItes for nitrAtes when figuring out what is wrong. LFS advice is often wrong, but when you have an "old hand" like wetmanNY offering advice it's almost always correct; that's the advantage of someplace like AC.

P.S. Although he doesn't seem to have mentioned
it in this thread, wetmanNY maintains an excellent
reference site. Go to http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/
for a lot of good reading and advice.

 

[Tom]

Hi,

I have tested my tap water for Ammonia and found it to be 3ppm. According to Wetman, it means that the water might contain Chloramine. I then follow the direction on Aqua Plus to add 1/2 capful to a 2 gallon bucket of water. After 10 minutes, to my surprise, the reading on the Ammonia is still 1.5ppm. I tested on my tank and it was 0. I'm wondering if the Aqua Plus doesn't work or my test kits is not accurate? I use TetraTest Laborette test kit? Anyway, I only remove about 1 gallon of water and add about 2 gallon of water from the bucket. Since I can't find the SALICYLATE type of Ammonia test kits, I ordered it on-line along with AmQuel. Util then, hope I can clear up some confusion on my Ammonia reading and do more water change.

 

[Tom]

Hi,

Thanks for the book list. I got some of them at hand and will go through of them in a few days. It helps for me to determin which type of Cichlid to keep. I am looking at shell dweller from Lake Tanganyika in the future.

 

[Tom]

Hi,

I'd like to post a follow-up on my tank. Last Friday I called my water supplier and the person who answered my phone seemed to be not very knowledgable. He told me that the water does NOT contain Chloramine, then I point out their web site to him that the company specifically indicates Chloramine is added to the water. I also asked about PH, GH, KH, and the answer is quite different from LFS and my own testing. I figure that I need to have the water tested myself.

On 03/11, I bought AmQuel, Nitrate test kits, Ammonia test kits(SALICYLATE type). My water reading:
Nitrite: 1.6ppm
Nitrate: 10ppm
Ammonia: 0

Tonight, 03/13. I tested the water again and get the reading:
Nitrite: 0.3ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm
Ammonia:0
It looks the tank has completed the cycle. What a great news!

I'd like to thank those people who responsed to my posts and your comments are appreciated very much.

One thing I'd like to point out is that I only remove 1 gallon of water and add 1.5 gallon of water in the tank on 03/06. It seems to me that I do not need frequent and massive water change to reduce the Nitrite level? I am still not fully recovered from the last disaster during water change. I tested my tap water on 03/11 again and found 1ppm Ammonia. Hope AmQuel can do it's job, then I will feel more confortable doing water change.

 

[ChilDawg]

I don't think that 0.3 NitrIte means that your cycle is complete. I could be wrong, but I thought that NitrIte had to hit 0 in order for a cycle to be complete...anyone want to chime in and clarify?

 

[JSchmidt]

Yeah, I wouldn't be too happy until nitrite is at zero for several days...

Tom, I've just read this rather long thread, and I have to say this is the best argument against relying too much on LFS advice. At almost every turn, they've given you bad advice and/or sold you unnecessary stuff.

You should strive to add as little as possible to your water. Given the fish you're currently trying to keep, only Amquel is really necessary, and salt (plain old table salt is OK) may be helpful with the livebearers like mollies. Lots of folk here keep these fish and can give you specific recommendations for those species.

One of the best ways to get to know your tank and how the water biochemistry works is to test regularly and record those results and everything you do to the tank (water changes, gravel vacuuming, etc.). You'd be amazed at how quickly you can start to see patterns, learn whether maintenance procedures are sufficient, etc.

I'm glad things are settling down. Many of us have a collection of junk we bought when we first started out gathering dust on a shelf somewhere, so don't feel bad. The key is learn the practices that will allow you to keep fish healthy without spending unnecessarily.

And remember, water changes are almost always good. What can be better for your fish than fresh, clean water? It's like a breath of fresh air.

Good luck,
Jim

 

[Tom]

Thank ChilDawg and Jim for the comments.

I added 2 gallon of water yesterday and tested the water tonight. Here are what I got:
Nitrite: < 0.3ppm (Tetra tst kits only
shows < 0.3ppm, so not sure if it
is zero already)
Nitrate: 5 ppm

According to the reading on this forum, it seems to be reasonable for the low Nitrate level in the current fish stocking. There are only 2 mollies, 2 glowlight tetras, 1 pleco, and 10 fry with a few plants- moneywort in a 29 gallon tank. Everything looks good now.

--Tom