New Setup

[Royston Low]

Hi All,

I'm very new to this. Can you guys give some advices to the setup?

Is my hof too small? the hof used to be for my "ocean free betta space 5L". i bought another tank size 40x25x25 and i tranffered the hof to this tank.

[Urban Aquaria]

The hang-on filter is abit small for the tank, upgrading to a larger/better filter would be a good idea.

Note that the plants on the left and right side of the tank are non-aquatic terrestrial plants, left is a dracena plant, while right is a croton plant (remove that as it can leak toxic sap when cut or damaged).

If you just started up the tank recently, it should still be in the cycling stage, so do more frequent water changes to reduce the toxic ammonia being produced by the live stocks... at least until the tank is cycled and the beneficial bacteria can handle the bio-load.

[tetrakid]

Try smelling the water in the tank. Does it have a strong foul smell?
It should smell fresh without any foulness. If it smells, try bubbling the
water overnight with an airhose. In the morning, the water should smell good
and healthy*. It is better to do 20% water change daily, but with not much fish,
10% daily water change will do.

*oxygen is a smell killer

[Royston Low]

Try smelling the water in the tank. Does it have a strong foul smell?
It should smell fresh without any foulness. If it smells, try bubbling the
water overnight with an airhose. In the morning, the water should smell good
and healthy*. It is better to do 20% water change daily, but with not much fish,
10% daily water change will do.

*oxygen is a smell killer

What is bubbling?

Means I've to do water change of 10-20% daily?

Sent from my HM NOTE 1W using Tapatalk

[Royston Low]

The hang-on filter is abit small for the tank, upgrading to a larger/better filter would be a good idea.

Note that the plants on the left and right side of the tank are non-aquatic terrestrial plants, left is a dracena plant, while right is a croton plant (remove that as it can leak toxic sap when cut or damaged).

If you just started up the tank recently, it should still be in the cycling stage, so do more frequent water changes to reduce the toxic ammonia being produced by the live stocks... at least until the tank is cycled and the beneficial bacteria can handle the bio-load.

So I should get aquatic plants? I'm ain't sure which species are.

Can advise?

Sent from my HM NOTE 1W using Tapatalk

[Urban Aquaria]

So I should get aquatic plants? I'm ain't sure which species are.

Can advise?

Yes, you should only be using aquatic plants for your aquarium... non-aquatic plants will either melt/rot away and pollute the tank, or release toxic sap which may affect your fishes.

Just check the various aquarium plant websites and familiarize yourself with the various plants that can be used in aquariums. If you are at a LFS, just pull up the websites to check if the plants are on the lists.

Here are some useful reference sites:

http://tropica.com/en/plants/

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myPlants.php

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...finder/all.php


Here are a list of some common plants found at LFS which are non-aquatic or not suitable to be kept in aquariums (they are usually intended for vivariums or paludariums):

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u...t.php?sid=4741

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?...quatic-plants/

[Royston Low]

Hi all, I just got a api master test kit. The results are:

pH 7.6
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 5ppm
Nitrate 5ppm

What should I do to improve the nitrite to 0?

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[Urban Aquaria]

Hi all, I just got a api master test kit. The results are:

pH 7.6
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 5ppm
Nitrate 5ppm

What should I do to improve the nitrite to 0?

Not much else you can do... just have to wait until the beneficial bacterial multiply and grow to handle the conversion of those parameters. The tank cycle just needs time to complete.

Since you have fishes in the tank, doing more frequent water changes and using Seachem Prime to temporarily detoxify the ammonia and nitrites (until the bacteria can handle them) can help in the meantime.

[Royston Low]

I've been doing about 20% water change daily for past 3 days.

Is there the possibility that my filter is too small?

Sent from my HM NOTE 1W using Tapatalk

[Urban Aquaria]

I've been doing about 20% water change daily for past 3 days.

Is there the possibility that my filter is too small?

20% water changes do help... but note that when you change 20% of the water, it only reduce the parameters by 20%. So for example, if your tank's current nitrite level is 5ppm, after 20% water change it only drops down to 4ppm. So if you want more effect, have to do larger water changes.

As for size of filter and amount/quality of bio-media, its all to do with the amount of water being processed over a period of time and how much available surface areas there are for bacteria to grow on (which will determine the tank's maximum bio-handling capacity). Using larger filters with more flow rate is always better. If you find that ammonia or nitrite levels pop up again and start increasing even after the tank is cycled, then it means the filtration already hit max. capacity and there is not enough bacteria to process the bio-load... then its a sign to improve the filtration system and add more/better bio-media for higher quantities of bacteria to live in.

[tetrakid]

What is bubbling?
Means I've to do water change of 10-20% daily?
Sent from my HM NOTE 1W using Tapatalk

I suggested that because from the picture, it appears there are some big air bubbles floating on top,
which can mean that the surface tension is tough and the bubbles do not break up easily. Without
adequate oxygenation, good bacteria cannot survive and bad bacteria (anaerobic) will cause the water
to stink, a situation which will do great harm to all living organisms and fish in the tank.

Bubbling with air is a good remedial means of oxygenating the water. But that has to be done in such a way
that ensures the whole tank receives the treatment via good circulation. Thus, good placement of the air
tube is essential. An alternative remedy is a big HOF with fast flowing water outlet which is arranged to agitate
the tank surface a lot.

[Royston Low]

Hi All,

I have been doing 20-30% water change daily for the past 3 days and the nitrite level is still ard 2-5ppm. Is this normal?

. IMG_20150816_204901 (640x475).jpg

first tube is pH, 2nd is ammonia, 3rd is nitrite, 4th is nitrate.

i went to seaview and ask the staff there, and told him about my high nitrite level, and he suggest me using this as per the below pic. is it useful? i use for 2 days, there seems to be no effect on my nitrite level. Should i continue to use?

IMG_20150816_212512 (475x640).jpg

many thanks in advance.

[Urban Aquaria]

Hi All,

I have been doing 20-30% water change daily for the past 3 days and the nitrite level is still ard 2-5ppm. Is this normal?

. IMG_20150816_204901 (640x475).jpg

first tube is pH, 2nd is ammonia, 3rd is nitrite, 4th is nitrate.

i went to seaview and ask the staff there, and told him about my high nitrite level, and he suggest me using this as per the below pic. is it useful? i use for 2 days, there seems to be no effect on my nitrite level. Should i continue to use?

IMG_20150816_212512 (475x640).jpg

many thanks in advance.

Like i mentioned in my earlier post, 20%-30% water changes do help but they only remove the equivalent 20%-30% of nitrates each time, which only works out to 1ppm off 5ppm to get 4ppm, hence not much noticeable effect.

Since your tank's beneficial bacteria population is not mature yet, the nitrite will tend to keep accumulating and increasing as fast as (or faster) than your small water changes, so you will need to do larger water changes to get more noticeable nitrite reduction effect.

The bacteria product that Seaview staff recommended is mainly to help add more alternative bacteria into your tank system to improve the ammonia and nitrite conversion process, these products can help in some cases but their overall efficiency can be variable at times, so you just have to try and see if it works.

Your tank will cycle eventually anyways, with or without those bacteria products, just have to wait.

[Royston Low]

Hi Bro,

How much percentage of water change do you advise?

[Urban Aquaria]

Hi Bro,

How much percentage of water change do you advise?

For more immediate effect in reducing nitrites, i would usually recommend a large 80% water change (even up to 100% if the parameters are at greatly toxic levels), that will instantly drop the nitrite down by alot, then you can monitor how long it takes to rise up again to determine the amount and frequency of follow-up water changes.

But as you do have fishes in the tank, you have to be careful with doing such large water changes since it may change the water parameter suddenly and stress the fishes (though they would appreciate the cleaner water). If you are unsure of how the fishes will react, do a 50% water change first and observe the fishes. If they are okay, then can do larger water change to further reduce the nitrite levels.

[Bern C]

I don't measure nitrate during my cycle because nitrate test kit expensive. I start testing nitrate when both ammonia & nitrite is 0, cycle complete.
XD It's better to play safe and test nitrate during cycle.

@_@ The nitrite level looks bad. It will probably kill the fish in days time if the level don't drop.

[Royston Low]

I don't measure nitrate during my cycle because nitrate test kit expensive. I start testing nitrate when both ammonia & nitrite is 0, cycle complete.
XD It's better to play safe and test nitrate during cycle.

@_@ The nitrite level looks bad. It will probably kill the fish in days time if the level don't drop.

That's i'm worried...

[Royston Low]

Does aquarium salt helps here?

[Bern C]

Does aquarium salt helps here?

Yup they do help. Seachem Prime will also help in detoxify ammonia and nitrite. Seachem stability and API quick start claims it can start a tank with livestock without cycling, so you can try those products too.

Here's some useful links.
Ammonia poisioning
Nitrite Poisoning
Seachem Prime
Seachem Stability
API Quick Start
API Stress Coat
API Quick Start packet
API Salt

Just additional info: If you ever wanted to dose fish medication to treat the fish, make sure they are bacteria safe else your bacteria will get wipe out and cause ammonia & nitrite spike. Things like Methylene blue and Malachite green will kill bacteria, so gotta treat than in a hospital/quarantine tank.

XD Recently I tried stress coat on my fish and shrimp community tank, then few hours later I found 1 dead shrimp and next morning 3 more. Then another 1 on the following morning. Total 5 shrimp dead. @____@ I not sure if its the coating that cause molting problem or what. I also dose 15-20% more as 5ml = 10g but my 10g tank is 3/4 filled. Still puzzling. XD I also realize the stress coat will dry up as a gel.

Hope this helps ^_^

PS: Fast growing plants also helps to soak up excess nutrients. I will usually dump in hornwort before adding livestock after weeks of cycling just in case there's a spike

[Dscheng]

Keyword is Patience ! Just let the water cycled first. Avoid putting in any more livestock. You can kill them. Like what UA say, do more water change, monitor a few more day. Sometime even 1 month later, the water also haven't really cycled. It is up to individual setup.