Neil

So I took some water to the pet store to get tested and they said the ammonia levels was over 3ppm, toxic levels, and was told to do a 50% water change.
Did that yesterday and today did my own tests.

PH- 7.6
Hardness-425
Alkalinity-180
Nitrite- 2
Nitrate- 20
Ammonia 1.2

I added + bacteria to the tank as well.
Will do another water change in 3 days.
Fish look like their doing fine, darting around.

lilsoccakid

thats still dangerously high keep doing changes

Neil

Supposed to do a 25% change in 3 days. Any other recommendations?

sgould

Yes. Don't wait 3 days. Your ammonia and nitrite are both at dangerous levels right now, never mind 3 days from now.

You could also look into a detoxifier such as Prime or Amquel+ to make things more pleasant for the fish. They do not remove ammonia/nitrite, but they do chemically "bind" them so they are not harmful to the fish.

lilsoccakid

if you cant follow sgould's advise, then i would suggest at least daily 30% water changes

Neil

Thanks!
Did a test this morning and it read .8, did a about a 30% water change and took another reading an hour later, now stands at .6.

Neil

Tday its less then .6 , can barely see any color in the test liquid, so looks like its adjusting itself

sgould

Sounds like you are nearing the end of the 1st stage of the cycle. How are your nitrite readings looking?

Neil

Sep29--- 30

Nitrate 20 --- 15
Nitrite 3 --- 2
Hardness 300 --- 250
Alkaline 120 --- 120
PH 8 --- 7.6

Neil

Oct 5

Nitrate---10
Nitrite----0
Hardness-250
Alkaline--120
PH---------7.6

Looking good

bhcaaron

Congratulations! I'm just sorry that you didn't find FishLore before you started cycling the tank. Poor fishies!

Neil

Yup, Well they look healthy, boping around allot. So now trying to figure out what plants to put in their, Java fern for starters, but from my surfing including plant geek, I cant find any ware were they talk about the function of the plant, whats the best to contribute to the eco system etc

bhcaaron

You need to talk to MrWaxHead on that one. He's the plant Guru on here.

Neil

Ok, would be nice if their was a sticky thread on the basics what what does waht so one can set it up for newbies.

bhcaaron

Talk to Mike and MrWaxHead about that. I think that would be a great Idea. In the mean time, lookie here:

http://www.fishlore.com/AquariumArticles.htm

Check out the subtitle Aquarium Plants

MrWaxhead

Hey hey, your question about whats the best to contribute to the eco system, is basically any healthy growing plant, if they are doing that the are contributing, if they are dying they are putting ammonia into your tank. For your java fern, the only key thing to them is not to physically plant them, they will die. They like to be tied down to wood with cotton thread etc, and they will attach themselves by the time the thread rots away.

What would be helpful to know is your tank basically, how many gallons is it, what size length and width and how much and what kind of lighting do you have, that will determine tremendously on what plants you can have. Because if you start piling in light loving plants and don't have enough light, they will start to die and make ammonia which will start a algae onslaught.

Your choice of java fern is very safe it will grow in almost anything, but if you leave that info someone here can at least start to steer you in the right diffection as to plant choices that will work for your tank, or help you make choices for your tank.

Isabella has made up a great little sticky on low light plants with lots of good choices etc.
General Guide to Low-Light Planted Tanks

What I usually do, is research until I find a plant that I know I want that will work in my tank then find it. Or I will go to my LFS and see what plants they have, and if one I know nothing about catches my eye, I go home and research it before making that choice (I do the same with fish btw)

But as I said earlier, as long as you choose plants that work in your tank, they will grow and be a positive load on your tanks eco system. And without knowing more about you tanks setup, its really hard to help with types of plants that may work for you.

One of the best things to do is find a local aquatic club or local site that its members trade or sell there babies and plants etc. It saves you tons of money and usually the plants are of better quality as they are coming from healthy show tanks, not store tanks that are basically temp homes for revolving stock.
I see you are in alberta you could try the following and check the buy and sell sections. And once you have healthy stock its very easy to start trading your growth for other species of plants.
Forum
http://www.albertaaquatica.com/

Clubs
Edmonton
http://www.fish-club.org/index.php
Calgary
http://www.calgaryaquariumsociety.com/


I very recently joined one in BC that has amazing deals all the time and for pennies on the dollar (a good 75 yo 95% cheaper then petstores) you can get huge healty off cuttings from other members, you just have to be fast as people snag them up quick. Great way to meet others with similar interest too. You also see great deals on tanks and hardware too when people with the fish bug upgrade to bigger and better tanks, and sell their old stuff to help finance it.


Hope some of those help you out, and if you can add some tank specs i will try to help you out as well.

MrWaxhead

hehe and thanks a guru I am not, I just read tons from people who are, and spend lots of time trying new plants and methods to keep them healthy.

bhcaaron

Wow! I didn't even know places like that existed. MrWaxHead, is there a site with such listings? I'd love to find stuff like that here. Unfortunately, I don't think there'll be any here, but, maybe Vegas or Phoenix or if I find enough people I might start one myself.