First Post....Fish and Plants Dying

[root81]

When Nitrate gets above 20-30, it's time for a water change, whether you did one 5 days ago or 5 hours ago. However, the strips are often inaccurate. you would be much better to get liquid test kits for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.

If your plants are dying, then yes remove them, when they start decomposing, they will cause ammonia to rise, which in turn will up the nitrite, then nitrate, which you have indicated is already high. Water changes or plants are the only way to get nitrate out of the water.

Best of luck with the java ferns and moss. They are excellent plants to start with. I say any plant that won't commit suicide when I try to grow it, should grow for anyone, and my java moss is starting to take over, and the ferns are doing well.

 

[didy]

Any plants that are dead should be removed. If there are decaying leaves, they can be pulled off.

You might want to switch to a water conditioner like Prime or Amquel +. They will convert ammonia and nitrites to safer forms for the fish without messing with your bio filtration.

When you were a kid, someone else may have been doing a lot of this for you.

Any chance of an RO system?

 

[Ketso]

Unless you had bio material from an existing tank, I would say it is almost impossible to cycle a tank, fishless or fishy, in 1.5 weeks. I have yet to read of anyone accompishing it in that small amount of time. That being said, you should be testing amonia and nitrites daily (if not more often). Water changes are necessary if ammonia, nitrItes or nitrAtes get too high.

Read the stickies at the top of the Freshwater Newbie Section about cycling. And by all means, if you dont understand something, ask questions. A great deal of the folks here are seasoned veterans at cycling tanks and are always happy to answer your questions.

As for your water hardness being high, what type of substrate is in the tank and did you test your tap water without substrate? Some gravels can cause your kH to go through the roof. I had this happen with Lowes pea gravel. To test your tap water, let a cup of it set out overnight before testing it.

I also recommend getting a liquid test kit. They are reasonably priced (if you look around) and are by far more accurate than the test strips.

 

[jason372923]

Thanks for all the input. I guess i'll have to get better testing equip.

I've taken all the plants that were in really bad shape and tossed them. I'll change out water tomorrow, again.

 

[jason372923]

I've got another newb question. Is it true that a tank with lots of plants (java fern and moss) won't do well with a tank full of fish. I planned on putting about 25-30 community fish in my 46 gallon bowfront.

Also anyone else have the problem of the search function always giving a dead link?

I fear by finding this site i'll now be even more unproductive during the day :dance2:

 

[didy]

The plants should help, not hurt, but I wouldn't add the fish until after the tank is fully cycled.