Ok, I just got my first aquarium ever and was wondering if anyone can think of anything I'm missing. I have learned a lot in a short time, but I know there is much more to know.
I'm not having any problems yet. Things just seem too good to be true. Here is my setup:
55g freshwater tank
undergravel filter
penguin pump
300g per hour power pump
air pump powering 2 decorations with air stones and 2 tubes hooked to
I filled the tank with half purified water and half tap water and had an extremely high pH. I got everything setup and turned it all on to start cycling. I added a doose of CYCLE, a dose of echnicea/vitamins, and a dose of something to eliminate chlorine, chloramines, nitrates, and nitrites. I let this run for a few weeks without fish. I got my pH down to 7 and my nitrites have never been over 0 yet (even since I've had fish in it). My temp stays between 75 and 76 always and my light is on 10 hours a day. I've got 2 bamboo plants and a water lilly and just planted several bulbs for water lillies, onions, and some sort of grass.
I've slowly added 3 fish every couple of days. I currently have:
2 cremecicle mollies
2 dalmation mollies
1 opaline gourami (male)
1 flame gourami (female)
1 golden dojo loach
1 red platy
1 sunburst platy
1 shubunkin
I just got rid of a male gold gourami because he was going after my opaline gourami nonstop. I have also discovered that the shubunkin is a goldfish and shouldn't be in the tank with the rest but he is doing well. I've only been testing my pH and my nitrites and they have been holding steady. I feed them 2-3 times a day and only add enough so that it is all eaten within about 2 minutes.
I guess everything just seems too good to be true. My fish are very peaceful since I got rid of the gold gourami. My pH and nitrates are holding. I thought this was supposed to be more challenging. I feel like I've been super lucky and I'm kind of waiting for that to run out. I'm definitely not complaining, I just want to know if I'm missing something here. What other levels should I be testing? I've had fish now for about 11 days. I want to add a few more, but I also want to make sure everything is how it should be before I spend any more money on fish. Any comments would be appreciated.
Also, aside from the technical question, what other types of fish my compliment my tank?
I'm not having any problems yet. Things just seem too good to be true. Here is my setup:
55g freshwater tank
undergravel filter
penguin pump
300g per hour power pump
air pump powering 2 decorations with air stones and 2 tubes hooked to
undergravel filter with air stones
heaterI filled the tank with half purified water and half tap water and had an extremely high pH. I got everything setup and turned it all on to start cycling. I added a doose of CYCLE, a dose of echnicea/vitamins, and a dose of something to eliminate chlorine, chloramines, nitrates, and nitrites. I let this run for a few weeks without fish. I got my pH down to 7 and my nitrites have never been over 0 yet (even since I've had fish in it). My temp stays between 75 and 76 always and my light is on 10 hours a day. I've got 2 bamboo plants and a water lilly and just planted several bulbs for water lillies, onions, and some sort of grass.
I've slowly added 3 fish every couple of days. I currently have:
2 cremecicle mollies
2 dalmation mollies
1 opaline gourami (male)
1 flame gourami (female)
1 golden dojo loach
1 red platy
1 sunburst platy
1 shubunkin
I just got rid of a male gold gourami because he was going after my opaline gourami nonstop. I have also discovered that the shubunkin is a goldfish and shouldn't be in the tank with the rest but he is doing well. I've only been testing my pH and my nitrites and they have been holding steady. I feed them 2-3 times a day and only add enough so that it is all eaten within about 2 minutes.
I guess everything just seems too good to be true. My fish are very peaceful since I got rid of the gold gourami. My pH and nitrates are holding. I thought this was supposed to be more challenging. I feel like I've been super lucky and I'm kind of waiting for that to run out. I'm definitely not complaining, I just want to know if I'm missing something here. What other levels should I be testing? I've had fish now for about 11 days. I want to add a few more, but I also want to make sure everything is how it should be before I spend any more money on fish. Any comments would be appreciated.
Also, aside from the technical question, what other types of fish my compliment my tank?