Any help/advice for a newb would be appreciated.

Good point, thanks.

Just tested my water. My PH is perfect, at 7.0, ammonia was 0.5, Nitrites are kinda high, at about 1.5, and my Nitrates are at about 30 ppm.


Someone correct me if I am wrong, please. If I read and remember correctly, then what I have going on right now is normal.
 
ideally you want 0 ammonia and nintrites and some nitrates 40 or less, but your tank is still cycling right? im not really good at explaining the cycle so someone else should. sorry if i was sounding cocky just trying to help( i get hot headed though). best of luck:thm:
 
Its all good.

Yes my tank is still cycling. I tend to feed the catfish a little bit to much, that is probably why my ammonia is high, I will cutback on the feeding for now.
 
TI44 said:
Are you seriously going to tell me that if you, an obvious fish lover, would kill just about every fish you catch when you go bass fishing? Be real.
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As a fish lover, yes I would kill any feral fish I caught, either that or put them back into captivity. I would be saving so many more native species that would have otherwise be eaten by it.

I don't think you really understand how devastating feral species are. It's one of the largest threats to this planet's biodiversity. An educated animal lover should be able to grasp this concept.
 
TI44 said:
Good point, thanks.

Just tested my water. My PH is perfect, at 7.0, ammonia was 0.5, Nitrites are kinda high, at about 1.5, and my Nitrates are at about 30 ppm.


Someone correct me if I am wrong, please. If I read and remember correctly, then what I have going on right now is normal.
Click to expand...

Let's all offer our help to TI44 and try to save the debate on non-native species for another thread, so this one can stay on topic.

Back in post seven you asked when to start water changes. With the above post on readings, you are overdue since you are in a fishey cycle.

You should be doing water changes to keep ammonia and niTRITES below .25, even if this means large changes and more than one a day.

As your bacteria grow to accomodate the current biological load, the frequency of changes will space out until you are at a weekly pace. Depending on your end stocking and type of fish, along with amount of filtration, will determine what size.

Add new fish slowly over a period of time to let the bacteria grow to the new bio load.

3-4 nice looking aggessive fish, that can eat feeders once in a while? JDs, red terrors, GTs, firemouths and probably dozens of others. Though you could be setting yourself up for needing to upgrade rather quickly. I have a 90 set up that way. Sometimes it just comes down to the personality of the fish involved in the tank, not the species overall characteristics. HTH
 
Thanks alot, I will do a water change today. When I was getting ready to fill up my tank, my buddy who helped me told me that well water, would be much better for the tank than city water. I dont know if anyone knows or not, but well water in South Florida, is not like well water up north, its pretty nasty water. The well water smells like canal and lake water. Most houses have a well for the sprinkler system, and city water for drinking.

So, my friend told me well water is better for my fish because it will already have some of the bacteria etc. in it, can anyone here verify that?

Thanks.
 
I don't know this for a fact, but your well water could contain substances harmful to fish. I would test the well water before using it. It may be fine to use after treating.
 
rbishop said:
Let's all offer our help to TI44 and try to save the debate on non-native species for another thread, so this one can stay on topic.

Back in post seven you asked when to start water changes. With the above post on readings, you are overdue since you are in a fishey cycle.

You should be doing water changes to keep ammonia and niTRITES below .25, even if this means large changes and more than one a day.

As your bacteria grow to accomodate the current biological load, the frequency of changes will space out until you are at a weekly pace. Depending on your end stocking and type of fish, along with amount of filtration, will determine what size.

Add new fish slowly over a period of time to let the bacteria grow to the new bio load.

3-4 nice looking aggessive fish, that can eat feeders once in a while? JDs, red terrors, GTs, firemouths and probably dozens of others. Though you could be setting yourself up for needing to upgrade rather quickly. I have a 90 set up that way. Sometimes it just comes down to the personality of the fish involved in the tank, not the species overall characteristics. HTH
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So you think I can put 3-4 Jack Dempseys in there? I think I might do that. One thing though. You told me that when I get fish, slowly put them in. I know most cichlids are aggressive fish, and I will most likely end up getting cichlids. But, when you put one aggressive fish, wont it take over and claim the water that he is in as his/her territory? That means if I have two fish in the tank, and add two more, the two new ones will be enemies to the ones that were there before them because all the water is his/her territory. Correct me if I a wrong, this is just what I have heard.
 
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