new 15 gallon planted tank advice

[sidhesh]

Hi guys,
Im a newbie to planted tanks . Previously had a betta in a 1.5 gallon bowl. After he passed away, decided to start a planted tank. I stay in an apartment, so couldnt afford to get a large tank.decided on a 15 gallon ( 24x12x12 inches)
So i ended up with all this:
Substrate: a mixture of fluval shrimp substrate and fluval regular plant substrate (1.5 inches deep)
water volume : comes to around 11 gallons (after excluding the substrate and the air at the top)
Filter: 2 sponge filters, one in each back corner
A piece of driftwood
Plants: 3 dwarf crypts, a cabomba at the back, 5-6 bunches of twisted vallisnerias on each side, and dwarf sagitarias (12-15 total) spread out over the centre, and some java moss( a small piece) tied to the driftwood (hope it increases in size and spreads over the wood)
Light: a 40 watt CFL bulb
I was new and in a hurry and so ended up adding the fish too soon without waiting for the tank to cycle fully.. i added a bacteria supplement to hurry up the process though ( the bottle label said to add 10 ml every day over a week to hasten the process)
So i ended up adding 10 neons, 10 male fancy guppies and a male halfmoon betta. Lost one neon, but its been 2 weeks now, and the plants are having a few yellow leaves so igot some plant micro and macre nutrient supplement and added them..the fish seem to be doing okay. Im seeing a few split tails on 3 guppies though, a little worried about it. So ive ordered the Tetra easy strips for checking the parameters. Im doing 10-15% water changes weekly.
What else should i do ? any changes? Please advise. Have i overstocked the tank? ( i used the surface area formula – acc to it i can add 24 fish, i have 20). Thought if i plant heavily, the tank can be heavily stocked. Thanks a ton,
Sid


P.s: sorry for the poor image. clicked it from my phone

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Looks like a nice setup.

I think you've got a few too many fish for a new tank that's still establishing itself. The plants will help with that somewhat, but if they aren't growing then they aren't helping - and if they are having issues themselves, they can contribute to rising ammonia / nitrate levels. Nitrate isn't a problem as the plants will utilize it, but ammonia is a problem if there is more being produced than the tank / plants can keep in check. You may need to be doing larger and/or more frequent water changes for a bit. If it were me, I'd do a 50% water change while waiting on the test strips.

Neons can actually be helpful in the meantime - if you see their colors fade, it's typically a result of water quality issues. So it would be time for a larger water change.

Is the betta picking at the guppies? A lot of male bettas don't appreciate the flowing colorful fins of a male guppy, and may go after them as though they are another male betta.

 

[sidhesh]

Thanks for the reply!

yea, ill do larger water changes as you say. the betta tries to chase the neons occasionally but they are too quick for him surprisingly he leaves the guppies alone !

 

[FreshyFresh]

Yes, that is a lot of fish for a 15gal tank, especially with a lot of substrate and low on water. 10 guppies is going to eventually = LOTS of guppies. Sounds like you're on it though in regards to water changes. I'd do 50% daily until your sure the tank produces nothing but nitrates.

Keep in mind, neons do much better in cooler water. People often neglect this fact. They do best in ~68-72F. Cardinal tetras on the other hand can do the higher temps. That's why you often see cardinals with discus.

 

[FroggyFox]

Hi Sid, That is a very nice looking tank! Is there a reason you have the water level so low?

While you can stock a planted tank more heavily and get away with it, like Capslock mentioned that is only when it is an established tank and the plants are thriving. For a non-planted tank (I don't have a green thumb! by any stretch of the imagination), I like to use the 1 inch of adult size fish per gallon in an established tank, and by that you would be pretty overstocked.

Fingers crossed that your male guppies are all male or you will have some serious overpopulation problems. The betta would help a bit though in case of misidentification and resulting fry.

I agree with the suggestion to change a lot more water. I just finished cycling a tank that had a bacteria boost from an established tank, and I changed about 50% of the water every day until the cycle was finished. That tail degradation you see could be caused by poor water quality, so knowing what those water parameters are would be very helpful. The test strips may not tell you as much as you want to know, I always like to have the liquid drop in a test tube type kits (API's is the most economical I think). Freshy's tip about the neon coloring is also a good one!

Keep us posted with how the tank is doing

 

[sidhesh]

Thanks Froggyfox!

2 more neons died this morning. i panicked and did a 50% water change. decided to decrese the number of fish, so returned 6 guppies to my LFS. im down to 7 neons and 4 guppies now, with the betta. they seem to be doing okay. but im starting to have algae problems now! there's a lot of fine hair-like green stuff on the back wall of the tank. its also starting to grow over my driftwood and the crypts!

Also, i finally got my tetra easy strips this evening. the water parameters are : ammonia 0.5 ppm, nitrite 0.5 ppm, nitrate 20 ppm and pH 6.8, water hardness- very hard, alkalinity- low, chlorine - 0. since im having nitrate, it means the tank is cycling, right? how do i continue with doing the water changes now?

im worried for my first tank- plz help?

Thanks,

Sid

 

[CAPSLOCK]

It looks like the tank is cycling. If you're getting measurable ammonia, you should do a water change. Or use something like Prime or Amquel to bind the ammonia so that it is non-toxic to the fish. Ammonia will burn fish gills.