Shidohari's Tank Journals

[Shidohari]

well i tested my ten gallon tank water...and I DON'T HAVE TO DO A WATER CHANGE TODAY...WOOT...

Ammo TRACE OR ZERO
NitrItes ZERO
NitrAtes 5.0

My fish in the ten gallon are going to be happy about that. I think what's helped is the extra biomedia...I got some of those small fluval rings in the 170g box, and placed half of them in a media bag, moved the small bag initially in that tank to the four gallon, because the bag in the ten gallon is bigger, though i'm sure i probably put the same amount in there that is in the four gallon.

That and the fact that most all the Carbon is removed (with trace that i couldn't reach) from the filtration sponge in the both of the tank systems, Prime and stability can act better.

[fishmommie]

Did a 50 percent water change on my 4 gallon tank this morning. The readings after the change are as follows
PH 8.2
Ammo ZERO
NitrItes ZERO
NitrAtes closer to Zero but a darker Yellow than that reading. I would estimate maybe .5-1.0 of nitrates with the darker yellow color.

You need to remember it's the readings PRE W/C that count because after a w/c they should be pretty good, right, as you've just removed the water with ammonia and or trites from the tank?

Having said that though, I'd say you're very close to cycled if you aren't already. good job

[Shidohari]

True but i went ahead and changed that one because before i crashed prior to testing my water yesterday, my ammonia was .25 in the small tank, so i just went ahead and did it.

[fishmommie]

True but i went ahead and changed that one because before i crashed prior to testing my water yesterday, my ammonia was .25 in the small tank, so i just went ahead and did it.

gotcha. if the ammonia pre w/c was .25 then you're, right, you're not quite there. you might want to skip a day or two ... let that bacteria build a little so your media can get firmly seeded. when ammonia approaches .50 then change it and I'm betting very shortly after that, you'll see double 0's :o)

[Shidohari]

Well i took my blood pressure meds in the morning instead of at night because i reached for that bottle instead of the diabetes meds.

It finally caught up to me 3pm yesterday afternoon and i was pretty much sleeping until 5-6 this morning.

I had not tested either tank before crashing yesterday.

[Shidohari]

After my anime convention since prior to it like friday morning i think my nitrates were at 10.0. so i did a 75ish percent water change today just in case (that and the fact this is the day after the con and i finally have energy again) and the results of the three chemicals of doom are as follows. Also cleaned the inside of the tank down to where the water was drained with a simple cleaning sponge for aquariums i got at petsmart recently.

Ammonia ZERO
NitrItes Zero
NitrAtes Less than 5.0, the color is yellow with the barest touch of orange, so i think that it's trace reading.

Going to keep monitoring it for the next week (hopefully it's cycled if it lasts through the week with nothing but nitrates increasing). Also i finally filled the water all the way to the 'top' submerging the filtration system. The other post from way back for someone else was right...There are no bubbles if you do that for the filtration system where the current comes out. Will be doing my four gallon like that once i get readings. Will post them in a separate post for your review.

The runners from my dwarf grass are evil...They only grow up and out instead of under and out. the grass is getting taller, but I'm afraid to cut it as i don't know if scissors are safe in tank even if the water is drained for fish, and i don't want ever root system has been established to be destroyed. Then again the growing grass makes it look more natural, and the crypto and the grass on the right block off the view of the bigger parts of the 'cave' which works to the fish's benefit.

[korith]

The runners from my dwarf grass are evil...They only grow up and out instead of under and out. the grass is getting taller, but I'm afraid to cut it as i don't know if scissors are safe in tank even if the water is drained for fish, and i don't want ever root system has been established to be destroyed. Then again the growing grass makes it look more natural, and the crypto and the grass on the right block off the view of the bigger parts of the 'cave' which works to the fish's benefit.

Go ahead and use the scissors. At first I just used a cheap pair of dollar store ones in my tank. Eventually I bought some long handle ones off ebay for planted tanks. Makes it easier to reach.

[Shidohari]

Four gallon tank was the following results

Ammonia ZERO
NitrItes Zero
NitrAtes Trace

Slightly over filled my tank when i was adding the extra water. I need to take a slight bit of windex (the go green kind) to the front of my tank as i still see a water trail there and it's bugging the crap out of me.

Will also be watching this tank for the next week to see if there are any drastic changes.

also just ordered 250ml seachams stability, the fluval aquarium scissors, and the fluval planting tongs from amazon.com as well as the next manga i was looking for in the redone Sailor Moon Manga line. Those should be here next week. Either the scissors or the tongs will arrive in two business days, but i don't plan on those being here until after the thanksgiving holiday either.

Should make trimming things easier, though if i hadn't wanted variety in the ten gallon, with the way the crypto is growing, i probably would have just stuck with that.

[Shidohari]

Well given that i've lost all of my oto cats (you guys did warn me survivability was not very good at times for oto cats), i was able to do something new with the living room aquarium.

The ten gallon that used to house the remaining three oto cats with the assassin snail now holds a school of 8 gold white cloud minnows and the assassin snail.

I just fed them when i got home from work. Sunday they got two separate small feedings as they didn't eat when i brought them home on friday. I feed them a small pinch, and then if they finish it fast i feed them another small pinch.

Below is a brief video of the school swimming. I'm waiting for the plants to fill out before i remove the rest of the fake plants that are providing extra cover for right now. The plants are baracoa carolina, water wisteria, and narrow leaf java fern. Click on the image below to go to the video.



I still have that algae on the fake rock decoration, but i am undecided about getting either 5 Cherry Shrimps or 1 blue mystery snail for this tank to take care of the algae. Because of the color of fish, i think i would prefer the five shrimps as the minnows if they ever spawn don't eat many of their fry.

[~firefly~]

What are you water parameters? Is this tank cycled?