Hi! I'm Matt, I'm new to these forums and im also quite new to the hobby.
My specs:
33G tank
Purple and white graval (its so ugly, lol)
various sizes of plastic plants and decor
a submarine dude that shoots bubbles, along with a long tube that shoots bubbles in the back of the tank
one 10W flourescent light (came with the tank)
My Fish:
1 angelfish
2 buenos aires tetras
1 zebra tetra
2 bloodfin tetras
2 black fin tetras
2 other tetra fish unknown of which type
1 betta
1 frog (not sure which type)
I've been reading a lot about these fish and doing alot of my research (especially on this site and http://www.myfishbox.com) but the problem is I did the research AFTER I got the fish, so I realize I've done a LOT OF MISTAKES (i've read that sticky on beginner's tips, oh my..)
like for instance, tetras like to be in schools of their own type, and I have tetras who are paired and some alone, I know that angelfish like schools too, but the problem is when i bought the four angelfish, the other 3 were in bad condition and they all died (yeah, and I found them all stuck to the filter, i felt like throwing up) I've had the tank for about a month now, and the cycle is almost finished (another noob thing to do, i had no idea i could do fishless cycling!) as the nitrite levels are beginning to shoot up. I know quite a bit more than I did last month, so I'm beginning to understand what I'm doing.
Now to get on topic. My tap water's pH is above and beyond my pH testing kit. My pH testing kit reads from 6.0 - 7.6, and my tap water is showing 7.6. I know that my pH is higher than 7.6 because i've done a few tests where i'll take 5mg of aquarium water and add 2 drops of vinegar (which has a pHlevel of 3) and it will go down to a 7.3. So I'm wondering how I could get my pH level down, and if possible, before the water gets put into my tank. I've tried pHadjust(down) and that works for about 30 minutes and goes way back up. I realize that this is probably because chances are my KH is high as well, but again, I wouldn't have a clue how to get that down either. Any suggestions?
My second problem is about my poor male betta! I understand that it's recommended not to put male bettas with any other fish, but I believed the lfs dealer, simply because I believe what I see, and I saw a male betta in a community tank with tetras. But what I didn't realize is how different, different types of tetra's personalities are. My betta hides in the cave all day and won't even come up to eat, in fear of having his fins nibbed at. It hardly has any fins left, maybe half a centimeter left. The main bulliers are the bloodfin tetras and the buenos aires tetras especially. I feel bad for the betta but I don't have a different container to put him in! I'm trying to keep as calm as possible and just say to myself that the betta will be ok, but I know that that isn't the case. Again, are there any suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
MMarr
My specs:
33G tank
Purple and white graval (its so ugly, lol)
various sizes of plastic plants and decor
a submarine dude that shoots bubbles, along with a long tube that shoots bubbles in the back of the tank
one 10W flourescent light (came with the tank)
My Fish:
1 angelfish
2 buenos aires tetras
1 zebra tetra
2 bloodfin tetras
2 black fin tetras
2 other tetra fish unknown of which type
1 betta
1 frog (not sure which type)
I've been reading a lot about these fish and doing alot of my research (especially on this site and http://www.myfishbox.com) but the problem is I did the research AFTER I got the fish, so I realize I've done a LOT OF MISTAKES (i've read that sticky on beginner's tips, oh my..)
like for instance, tetras like to be in schools of their own type, and I have tetras who are paired and some alone, I know that angelfish like schools too, but the problem is when i bought the four angelfish, the other 3 were in bad condition and they all died (yeah, and I found them all stuck to the filter, i felt like throwing up) I've had the tank for about a month now, and the cycle is almost finished (another noob thing to do, i had no idea i could do fishless cycling!) as the nitrite levels are beginning to shoot up. I know quite a bit more than I did last month, so I'm beginning to understand what I'm doing.
Now to get on topic. My tap water's pH is above and beyond my pH testing kit. My pH testing kit reads from 6.0 - 7.6, and my tap water is showing 7.6. I know that my pH is higher than 7.6 because i've done a few tests where i'll take 5mg of aquarium water and add 2 drops of vinegar (which has a pHlevel of 3) and it will go down to a 7.3. So I'm wondering how I could get my pH level down, and if possible, before the water gets put into my tank. I've tried pHadjust(down) and that works for about 30 minutes and goes way back up. I realize that this is probably because chances are my KH is high as well, but again, I wouldn't have a clue how to get that down either. Any suggestions?
My second problem is about my poor male betta! I understand that it's recommended not to put male bettas with any other fish, but I believed the lfs dealer, simply because I believe what I see, and I saw a male betta in a community tank with tetras. But what I didn't realize is how different, different types of tetra's personalities are. My betta hides in the cave all day and won't even come up to eat, in fear of having his fins nibbed at. It hardly has any fins left, maybe half a centimeter left. The main bulliers are the bloodfin tetras and the buenos aires tetras especially. I feel bad for the betta but I don't have a different container to put him in! I'm trying to keep as calm as possible and just say to myself that the betta will be ok, but I know that that isn't the case. Again, are there any suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
MMarr