Yet another newbie

"Old tank syndrome" .... I'll have to look that up, thanks. :read:
 
Do some searching around on "Old tank syndrome" as that is what is going on in her tank. If she were to make radical changes to rectify things, she could well harm the fish. They need gradual changes to pristine water so that they can adapt.
Good to know! I know she is actually planning to move the tank upstairs from her basement into the main living room of her house soon, and wants to put the silver dollars in an old smaller tank for a couple of weeks while she is getting the larger tank up and running. She said she wants the large tank to be a show piece type tank, which I totally understand. It could be a really nice tank, especially with that huge sword in there. I will let her know about the danger of switching things up at this point too quickly, and I will definitely do some digging on old tank syndrome.

Thanks so much for the info!
 
Ooops...You are right :lipssealedsmilie:.... a fishless is totally different than a fishy. I plan to do that when I get my new big tank... and I'll have to look at the threads dealing with fishless cycling. In fact, this thread, if I look back through it, will probably have the info I need.:)
No problem! I am always checking and double checking what I am doing with it. I am really hoping I can take the baby sock with gravel in it out soon though! That thing just looks silly in there. I didn't have any nylons, so a baby sock it was. :lol:
 
I think I am nearly cycled. I added more ammonia days ago, and that evening, the ammonia level tested at somewhere above an 8 (added a bit too much), and today, it is back to 0! Yippee! My Nitrites are sky high still though, so I added more ammonia and will test again in a couple days.

As for stocking the tank, I am pretty sure I will do 6 Rasboras or Ember tetras (whichever I can find at my LFS) and two snails. One purple Bridgesii and one zebra Nerite if I can find them. I figure I will get the fish and see how it goes and work slowly on getting the snails as I know they may be difficult to find exactly what I am looking for, and I can't have them shipped to my house until at least spring.

I also still need to get a decent heater, as the little under gravel one I have doesn't keep the tank warm enough, and I still need to get some food.

I am getting there!
 
There are members here that ship snails. They also have heat packs to send along with them so they stay a decent temperature on the journey! Visit the invertebrate forum. you will get a lot of advice! I am not sure if you can keep those two in such a small space. The nerites eat a lot of algae and I am not sure you will have enough to feed it in a 5 or 6 gallon tank (I can't remember which you have.) I have 4 in a 10 and I can't wait to set up another tank to move at least two of them out. I feed mine on a regular basis and don't rely on the natural algae growth to nourish them.

Way to go on the cycle. Doing it right will be so much more beneficial.
 
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