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We’ve had the tank for almost a month. We did all the proper procedures to get the tank ready before getting any fish. It’s a 10 gallon tank.
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The first fish we got were three black-skirt tetras. The pH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates were totally normal that first week.
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After a week with the first fish, we got three x-ray red belly tetras. For the first week, the balance of the water was fine.
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Then, the ammonia started to get crazy. At first, we didn’t want to do anything because we didn’t want to stop the natural biofilter from starting. However, it had been almost two weeks and the ammonia kept getting higher, and the nitrites kept staying the same. We put in ammonia blocker in the water so the fish won’t get sick. Even though I didn’t think we were over feeding them (one smallish pinch of food every morning), there seems to be a lot left over, which it probably the cause of the ammonia spike. I feel bad.
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Last night the ammonia was close to 2.0 - this morning I cleaned out the tank. I did a 50% change of the water - 25% more than I wanted to, but I wanted to get as much of the old food flecks out of there as I could, safely. I took out all of the tank decor - including the plants (all fake at this point), and rinsed them thoroughly. I let them dry before putting them back in. I scrubbed the inside of the tank, and cleaned the gravel as best I could. There’s still some flecks, but I got the vast majority out of there.
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The tank looks a lot better, and the fish are more active than they have been in the past few days. That could be because they’ve had an exciting morning, but I still want to take the activity as a good sign. However, I tested the ammonia about 1 hour after the the cleaning and water changing and the ammonia is still at 2.0. ARGH!
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As for water changes, we were told to do a 10% water change every week for the first month. We did just that.
I don’t know what we’re doing wrong - I feel bad about the feeding thing - I really didn’t think I was overfeeding…but obviously I was. Now I feel like I need to change out the gravel, but the fish have gone through enough stress today, and I don’t feel like I can safely change out any more water. The Ammonia is too high for only 6 fish, and the biofiltering cycle is taking forever to start. My boyfriend just said that the testing kit might not be accurate because its a new tank - so how the hell are we suppose to accurately tell whether or not we are providing a safe home for our fish?!
Any advice will be helpful. We’ve been trying really hard to do this right, so this is frustrating me. We picked out hardy fish in case this sort of thing happened…but I want them to be as comfortable as possible. I also wasn’t expecting problems so soon in the process for building a full tank.
Thanks.
You’re doing it right - you just put too many fish in the tank too soon. You should have just stayed with your original 3, allowed the ammonia to rise a little, establish some good fauna and then add more fish.
However, thing’s aren’t as dire as they seem. Firstly, ammonia block converts the ammonia to a harmless form, but it doesn’t get rid of it. For that reason your tank will continue to read high for some time, but your fish will be ok.
Do NOT rinse the tank decor!!! Good bacteria grow in places like under fake plant leaves, or the grooves of your sunken treasure chest and improve the condition of the tank. Rinsing them in tap water kills that bacteria and you have to start from scratch. If you MUST clean them because you can’t stand the way the fur looks, use a new toothbrush and scrub them while they are in the tank, or remove a bit of tank water and scrub them with that. This goes double for the filter. NEVER rinse the media in tap water. You’ll kill all the good beasties and have to start from scratch with your tank cycle. Double ditto for the gravel. Use a tank vac to clean it. Do NOT replace it and do NOT remove and rinse it in tap water.
Finally, the kit is accurate. 2.0 is a perfectly resonable level for an overloaded tank, which is what you’ve got. Calm down, continue with the 10% water changes, continue monitoring the levels and don’t buy any more fish. For a beginner 6 inches of fish in a 10 gallon aquarium is plenty.
eta - you’re probably not over feeding them - they probably aren’t eating because their water is funky. They should start eating now. Anything they don’t eat in 2 minutes you should fish out with your aquarium net.
What type of filtration are you using?
Obvious question, as you seem to have done your homework, but are you de-chloronating the water? I’d also reduce feedings, up water changes to twice a week, and keep a log of water conditions.
Water conditions do tend to spike as the tank breaks in. The fish will defecate, but the bacteria that convert the ammonia to less toxic substances haven’t yet built up in your tank (as they won’t arrive without the fish crap). You might try adding Stress Zyme or a similar additive to help kick start the biological process, if you aren’t already doing so.
ETA: agree with alice on the tank load. 10 gallon tanks are tiny, and can’t really handle many fish and nothing of size.
You are getting good advice here, but check these people out: AquariaCentral.com They are SERIOUS. Be prepared to post pictures, too!
Agree with above - it’s a bit overloaded. You can put 6 fish in a 10 gallon tank, but it’s a lot more work than 6 fish in a 20 gallon tank. With only 10 gallons, you see more swings in parameters.
If they are still not happy, I would suggest a 5% water change each day - that’s a half gallon, not too hard. Conditioned water, of course, of appropriate temperature.
Above all, remember the cycle. Poop -> Ammonia -> Nitrites -> Nitrates. Nitrates feed plants and algae. Seeing algae on the tank sides is a good sign that enough bacteria have built up to from stage 1 to 2 to 3 to algae food.
This won’t help you now, but for future reference – if you start a second tank, for example – you can use water (and the odd decoration maybe) from an established tank to help kick start the cycle in a new one. Just make sure it’s from a healthy tank (sounds obvious, but bears repeating). I also like to use some of the floss from an established side or box filter in a new one, for the same reason.
Oh, and once things settle down, you can go from 5% daily to 10% weekly water change, like you were recommended to do for the first month – except with that number of fish I would keep doing a 10% weekly change pretty much indefinitely. A few minutes spent siphoning out some crud from the bottom, and you’ll have a gallon and be done before you know it.
I’m a member of Aquaria Central and another board called Aquatic Community (my favorite.) They have some EXCELLENT advice and a lot of serious fishkeepers.
I have a ten gallon tank and I keep tetras in it. A single chinese algae eater would solve a ton of your waste issues. Also, ghost shrimp are extremely cheap, and they are also good clean-up crew.
If you ever get a bigger tank, a pictus cat is also a great cleaner.