Rank beginner, few questions, (sorry for repeats)

[desertrefugee]

Well, I'm a forum veteran - but, not this one - this is a first post to the "fishtank".

I've always admired fish, appreciate the serene nature of an aquarium and, so, recently acquired a 29 gallon unit. Last Wednesday, I set it up. All new stuff: gravel, artificial plant and nice bottom decorations. I filled with tap water, added treatment for chlorine reduction and a supplement that supposedly jump-starts the cycling.

I know this part is controversial, but today I added several tetras to help the cycling along. I'm hoping they'll not be too badly affected by either a low bacteria count or high ammonia level. (I'm monitoring and will adjust, if possible).

I do have a couple of basic questions - and O apologize if they've been answered dozens of times (searches were not entirely satisfying).

1) When adding water - or replacing, what is the best way to do this? Since the "new" water is from the tap, do you stage it in a separate container and add chemicals, or is it sufficient to let it simply stand for a few days?

2) Is a water temperature of between 80 and 82 OK?

3) How do you gauge the amount of food to be provided?

I have other questions, but thought I'd float a few important ones first. The others can wait.

I have to say that, even though well into middle age, I'm as thrilled with my new aquarium as with any possession I've acquired in a long time.

Thanks in advance for any help or input.

(And, yes, I've been doing a lot of reading).

Thanks again!

 

[seastaar88]

Keep reading the stickies - lots of good info there.

I was just posting on another thread - I think people generally go both ways with the dechlor before or after adding water. I generally add dechlor after I've added water (after each bucket full I add).

I feed a small pinch at a time - only feed as much as will be consumed in a few minutes. You don't want to overfeed- will lead to problems. Watch your fish as you feed - you'll get the hang of about how much they eat after a few days. I feed once per day. Standard for me is a small pinch of flake or pellets plus some bloodworms or silversides on alternate days.

 

[Greendragon1128]

Firts of all, welcome to the tank.
I have done bothe methods for water changes myself. When I just had a 10g to worry about, I'd fill a bucket with water, treat it, and let it sit overnight. Now that I've upgraded to a 47g, I don't really feel like having five buckets sitting around to treat water. THis tank is right by the door so I just stick the hose in (this hose goes through the water softener and has temperature control). As long as the chemicals are added soon after, this seems to work. 25% of 29g= 7.25 gallons, so you would have two 5g buckets.
Both my tanks stay around 80, sometimes up to 82 when the air conditioning isn't working. The fish seem fine.
As for feeding, I generally add enough so all the fish get a chance to eat. The community tank gets flakes and algae pellets, and the betta get flakes with bloodworms every fourth meal.

 

[desertrefugee]

Thanks, folks. Kinda what I'd thought. Appreciate the replies. Going back into lurk mode - and poking around the stickies.

This is going to be fun.

 

[1077]

Since you have fish in the tank, I would feed them a small pinch of food every other day and only once that day. this will help keep ammonia levels from becoming uncomfortable to lethal for the fish. Do read up on the maturing or (cycling) of new tanks. Liquid test kit helps loads for monitoring the water and is more reliable (accurate) than those tests that use strips.
I ALWAYS add water conditioner to the water before it goes in the tank. Leaving water to sit will get rid of chlorine but has little effect on chloramines which are found in many households supplied with municipal water. Dechlorinator such as PRIME will also help with removing or detoxifying any metals that may be present and is an excellent water conditioner that addresses chlorine,chloramines,and ammonia. Can also be used at double the dose for nitrite spikes that aren't uncommon during new tank maturing process. Keep a daily eye on ammonia levels and perform water changes anytime ammonia is above.25 according to test kit.Try to make water you add close to same temp as the tanks water to prevent shocking the fish. I would not touch the filter for the next month. Most of the beneficial bacteria needed for the health of your fish will be developing here and you do not want to disturb it . otherwise the maturing or (cycling) process will take much longer than necessary. Only if filter becomes clogged,(shouldn't if not overfeeding) Would you need to clean it. this is best done by rinsing or swishing the filter material around in some old aquarium water you take out during water change. Same thing for after the tank has matured or (cycled). Only need to replace the filter material when it literally begins to fall apart from all of the rinsing or swishing. Hope some of this helps.

 

[desertrefugee]

Thanks again. It's starting to sound like much of what's important is pretty intuitive and almost common sense. It's all about getting the bacteria colony thriving, not killing it with chlorine by not introducing municipal contaminants (i.e. more chlorine/chloramine etc.)

I'm sure I'm way oversimplifying, but my current goal is to get the beneficial bacteria "up to speed" before the ammonia impacts the health of the residents.

Thanks again, folks!

 

[seastaar88]

You've got it!

 

[sombunya]

Test the water and keep your ammonia levels down, .50 or less.

A 30 gallon tank? Two 5 gallon buckets give you a 30% change. Very easy. I advise using PRIME. Out of an eyedropper, use three drops per gallon, 15 drops per 5 gallon bucket. And keep changing the water until it stabilizes.

 

[desertrefugee]

I must be doing something right because this morning, I have a significant "milky" clouding to the water. From what I've read, this is a good thing and is likely a bacterial bloom.

If so, where in the cycling process would this place the tank? Is that too little information to tell? Testing last night indicated all was well - nitrates, nitrites and ammonia.

Fish seem happy. Spending time all over the tank and appear very energetic.

 

[homebunnyj]

'All was well'? Can you post the results in numbers, please? Thanks.

 

[Ravenstar]

It's great that you seem to be significantly less stubborn than I was when I started my boys' tanks. "Oh, I don't need filters, they'll be fine if I just change the water!" Well, I don't know for sure what caused it but I did lose a fish (probably a combo of lack of cycling and a poor source), and now that I've got things up and running, my boys are so much more lively! After seeing how energetic they are in their cycled tanks, I don't see how anyone could let their fish sit around in standing water without filtration.

I've never used Prime, so I'm not certain how well it works, but I do great with Stress Coat (1 tsp/10G) and a little aquarium salt (1 TBSP/5G, but not necessary) and let the water sit for at least a few hours (though a full day is better) to let the stuff go to work.

I agree with Homebunny, numbers are good. The more information you give us, the more we can help! Best of luck! :3

 

[homebunnyj]

Actually the water conditioner works pretty much instantly.

 

[seastaar88]

Agreed - no reason to have the water sit around for a few hours before adding

 

[jo3olous]

3rd that. Water conditioner should be added to the water before you add it to the tank though. So I would put the new water for your tank in a bucket, treat it their and then dump it in. Once again, this can be added right away, no wait time needed.

 

[Ravenstar]

Oh I add the conditioner and then let the water sit, just to be certain since everyone says it takes a day (without conditioner) to let the chlorine evaporate. :3 But thanks for the input!

 

[sombunya]

Oh I add the conditioner and then let the water sit, just to be certain since everyone says it takes a day (without conditioner) to let the chlorine evaporate. :3 But thanks for the input!

That's if your water company is not providing Chloraminated water. If they are, then no amount of sitting will make the water safe for your fish.

 

[desertrefugee]

Hi folks, as the OP (original poster), sorry to be so delinquent in checking back in, but I didn't realize how lively this forum is!*BOUNCINGS

My three week old 29 gallon unit continues to chug along. It's inhabitants (5 mollies, two black sailfin, three silver lyrae tail and a dwarf frog) have been in for two weeks and are eating - every other day, moving briskly and all appear happy. *thumbsups I have been doing twice-weekly water changes. Usually about 7 gallons (approximately 2/3 of a 5 gallon bucket twice).

I originally had only the three silver mollies, but had seen absolutely no indication of chlorine after a week. About a week ago, I added the two black sailfins and the frog and am now beginning to see evidence of chlorine. I'm using the strips, so accuracy is not good. I believe I'm at .5 to 1 PPM which I know is high. I suspect the increased bio-load may now move things along quicker - and I definitely will be changing water more frequently starting tonight. Is 7 gallons out of 29 enough?

I've yet to see any sign of nitrite, much less nitrate. *SICK* I certainly hope I can get the system going without losing any fish. I'm starting to get attached to the little buggers already and semi-panic when I can't find one right away.

Thanks - this is a great site. Just a little browsing through the archives and I've learned a ton.

 

[Scooper]

Sorry if I'm late but I've used Prime before and it's great! It's cheap and you use much less than normal dechlorinators. I think it's one capful for 50 gallons!

I just saw your post and think I can help. I think 7 gallons twice a week should be fine. What is our water source? I'm lucky because my tap water is rated the best in the world! If the water is a poorer quality then I would suggest Prime. It smells awful but does its' job and well.

 

[homebunnyj]

Actually, you need to use a bit of math to determine how much of a water change is enough. For instance, if you have an ammonia reading of 1.0 and you want to bring it down to .5, you need to get half of that ammonia out of there. You do that by removing half the water (50%) and replacing it with fresh water -- about 15 gallons. If you test your water and --- aauuuuggghhh!!! --- it reads 3.0 !!! then you need to get the ammonia at least down below 1.0 for your fish's sake. That's a 66% reduction, and 75% would be even better, as it would lower the ammonia to .75 -- about 20 gallons for a 66% wc, and about 23 for a 75% change. This is assuming you don't have a huge amount of substrate and ornamentation in your tank, because that reduces the actual water capacity of your tank somewhat. You can figure the percentages to gallons once and record them somewhere for future reference. Or, you can just eyeball the water level. I'd say that's what most of us probably do.

 

[1077]

I cycled my 29 gal using six pristella tetras and changing five gal out every other day ,and feeding every other day as well and small amounts. In this way ammonia levels never became dangerous.
I am not a fan of large water changes and much prefer smaller more frequent ones to help create more stable enviornment. Large water changes can have detrimental effect in that respect. But I agree that if ammonia levels are high, larger is better at reducing those levels more quickly.P.S. used same six pristella's to cycle eighty gal ,and seventy five gal ,along with 56 gal which was most recent.