I've Screwed everything up!

[Jennifer]

So I have been cycling my tank with fish for the past few weeks (I would have done a fishless cycle but I didn't know about that until it was too late). I did have filter media from a mature tank to speed up the process as well as some "Big al's Bio-Support" (if that actually does anything). I planted my tank first and let the filter run for a few days.

I put a betta and blue gourami in first. The ammonia spiked a little as well as nitrate/nitrate and then fell to 0. My Nitrate as remained between 0 and 5. I then added a school of neons and another gourami. Everything remained the same (ammonina, nitrite and nitrate) and my PH dropped to about 7.8 (from nearly 8.4!) as my plants got more situated. I have almost completed my DIY CO2 generator so hopefully the PH will drop a bit more.

I was feeling pretty confident that the cycling was almost done and added a pair of cockatoo cichlids... and now everything has gone to s**t. Obviously the cycling wasn't completed and the ammonia is spiking. Nitrite has stayed between 0 and .25, nitrate between 0 and 5. Last night the ammonia was nearing 1 so I did a water change (I was feeling anxious because my PH is so high). This morning the ammonia was back between .6 and 1 so I took about 50% of the water out. After that the ammonia dropped to below .3

I haven't lost any fish so far and none of them appear sickly. I have been testing the water at least 3 times a day (luckily I am a student and don't have to be anywhere! lol). To make matters worse everytime I do a water change I completely destroy my tank...I am a clutz and, as such, clumsily planted my plants...leaves fall off and roots get pulled up everytime I add water. Also I think I have too much gravel (dust and food gets stuck undernearth it and kicks up after a water change).

URRGGGHHH! Very frustrated, I have spent a lot of money and I love my fish...don't want anyone to die! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Orion]

Nothing you can do about the ammonia now but tough it out. Your doing the right thing by doing water changes as this will help keep your fish from feeling the effects of it.

How are you uprooting your plants with a water change? Do you just have a bucket and are pouring it in? Try either pouring it slower, or even by pouring it over top of a rock or bowl or something that you place into the tank to help dispurse the water keeping it from hitting the bottom all in one place. This just takes trial and error to find the best way that works for you.

Food, poop and other debris is normal to get stuck under the gravel. It's when too much of it gets stuck that it really becomes a problem. As long as you don't overfeed and keep up on the regular water changes then you will be able to keep it under control.

 

[PlecoCollector]

I'd say keep up your water changes until the ammonia goes back down. Make sure your Nitrates are above 0, I heard once that if you ever read them as 0, there's something wrong with your test kit.

With clutter in the gravel, I suggest getting syphon (sp?) to vaccum up some of that stuff With your plants, try adding water slowly into one spot, it may help with your uprooting. Healthy plants shouldn't fall apart when water hits them, usually at least. Picking off dead leaves may help with that

I hope that helps some... I'm usually not very good with cycles... *is very impatient*

 

[Toam]

As everyone has already said, definitely keep the water changes up, I use to put a saucer on top of my gravel, and pour my bucket over that (you won't be destroying your aquascape every time you add water that way). My next question is the stocking? I could be totally wrong, but I have a feeling, that the gourami, cichlid's, and betta are not going to get along for an extended period.... is it a male betta? was he from a tank used to other fish in it? what size are your cichlids? and how big is your blue gourami? once full grown they can become very territorial. Last question is this, how much lighting have you got up top to support your plants? is it enought hat you require the Co2?
edit:what size tank is this in also?

 

[Submariner]

How do you remove your old water? I always remove mine while vaccuming the gravel. You can never get all of that stuff up, I just keep vaccuming until I'm about 75% water in the tank, then put my fresh water in. Also, how big is your tank? Maybe you're overstocked? You should always add fish very slowly, especially before your tank is well established.

 

[Jennifer]

Okay, so I feel better now, I've got things in control. I checked my ammonia again and its dropping, but I am still prepared to do water changes.

Reasons for destroying the aquascaping: when I first planted it I was having a hard time getting my plants to stay down (they had the foam on the bottom and I couldn't get it off without wrecking the roots), so the gravel doesn't like to stay covering the plant roots. Any current changes push the gravel off, then I try to fix it and end up making it worse. Also, I could have bought better gravel more suitable for plants (like the flourite) but I didn't know this before. I have tried pouring the water over rocks but it still disrupts things...much better though. I went to the lfs today and bought these weight things that keep plants in place so I will give it a try. Also, I know if I don't fill the bucket so much I would have more control over the flow. To empty the tank I was using a syphon rated for my size tank (32G) but I found that it was to big manage without knocking everything about, so I bought a much smaller one today.

As for CO2 and light- unfortunately I don't have a flourescent canopy but I found 50/50 blue/flourscent compact lights that fit. They were really expensive but supposedly the best...we'll see. I hooked up a DIY CO2 generator today, hopefully I made it right! A couple of my plants were starting to get brown spots on them.

My betta is male but he doesn't have a very aggressive personality at all. He is very calm...will eat out of my hand and let me "pet" him. Its so funny. I am prepared to take him out and put him in a seperate tank if this changes. I have been keeping a very close watch...there has been no fin nipping or fighting over food. The two male gouramis are dwarfs so they shouldn't get bigger than 2.5". They are also getting along surprisingly well...they swim and eat together. They fought a little bit in the beginning but not at all now (the blue one was being dominant because he is bigger). I bought the cockatoo cichlids specifically for their peaceful nature and small size. The female is very small (about 1.5") and the male is nearing 2.5"-3". They shouldn't get any bigger than 3".

So in my 32 gallon tank I have 2 dwarfs gouramis, 1 betta, 2 cockatoo cichlids, 1 school of neons and a rubberlip pleco (added later). Is this overstocked?

 

[noncentric]

What is the wattage of those bulbs? If the "blue" lights you're referring to are "actinic" bulbs, then those won't help your plants any. Actinic bulbs are mainly beneficial for reef tanks, so will only contribute aesthetically to your freshwater tank.

If possible, I'd take the lights back and get a regular (non-blue) freshwater compact fluorescent light fixture.

I'll leave it to more experienced aquarists to address your compatability questions.