freshwaterguy

currently cycling my first freshwater set up, and I am at nitrite stage my reading 1.6mg/l temperature 77F & pH 7.5 now waiting for cycle to move to next stage for nitrate before adding next fish.

I would like to know

1) when doing partial water change after treating tap water do I have to leave water and AquaSafe to stand for 24 hours or can the conditioned water be heated and added to the aquarium after a shorter period of time?

2) Once the tank is cycled can I only add 1 more fish, or can I add say two or three more tiger barbs as I know these should be kept as a minimum of 6

3) I have read that an Airstone is a good way to aerate the aquarium and this is good for the bacteria in my tank, what is an airstone and how does it work? and is there a better way to achieve better aeration simply.

Set Up Running Since August 5th
RIO 125 Aquarium
x 4 Zebra Danios
x 4 Tiger Barbs
Fake Plants

Thanks

Beeboy

Hey Freshwaterguy,

1. I let my water set for 24 hours but I've never tried heating it. I would stick with letting it set until told otherwise.

2. Once the tank is cycled you can add fish more frequently but not in large numbers. Three tiger barbs would be fine.

3. An airstone is a small black square rock with a little pipe coming out. You attach plastic tubing that you can get at your pet shop to it and attach the other end to an air pump. When plugged in bubbles will come out and aerate the water. There are also long tube shaped aire stones that stick to the back of your tank if you want a wider range. The picture in the link is a white airstone.
http://www.csupomona.edu/~jskoga/Aqu...airstonecp.jpg

Beeboy

freshwaterguy

Thanks Beeboy I am looking on Ebay now for a bargain for pump, airstone and airline.

Beeboy

Good Luck,

Beeboy

sgould

As long as you are conditioning the water to remove chlorine, which Aquasafe does, it is perfectly safe to add the water to your tank right away, providing you have the water temp at or very close to the tank's temp.

Howeyg

questions! i was wondering my plants (amazon swords) have started to grow a brown algae on them which i thourght the corys would get rid of but they spend most of the time on my big log or in the little cave they have made themselves. any solutions also my cockatoo cichlid has started to be very slow and has seemed to have lost him appetite. my nitrates and ammonia levels are 0 and my ph is around 7 so i dont know what is up with him. everyone else in my tank seems fine and acting normal. if i need to lower the ph how would i do so??

sirdarksol

As was noted by sgould, adding a dechlorinating conditioner removes the need for letting water sit. The reason for letting water sit is to let chlorine evaporate from the water. As many cities no longer use chlorine, but use chloramine (which doesn't evaporate at a low enough temperature), we add the conditioner instead of aging the water.

As far as the plants, cories aren't really all that big of algae eaters. They would rather eat the uneaten bits of food that sink to the bottom of the tank. They will eat large bits of algae, but won't really clean your tank. Amano shrimp, otos, or plecos are good for that.

You shouldn't need to lower the pH for your cichlid. Cockatoo Cichlids prefer 6.0-7.8, so you're right in the middle of that range. How old is your fish? What you're describing could easily be old age.

Bryn

hello and welcome to fish lore.

1) when doing your weekly or fortnightly water changers there are a number of ways they can be done. yes you can let the water sit over night. but you can also add it straight from ur tap to the fish tank as long as it is close to the temp already in the tank and also that u have put chlorine nutraliser in it also. then it should be fine . but make sure to not tip it all in at once as this will desrube the tank and gravel in the tank to much and will be a much harder hit the fishies. slowly tip it in slowly, even holding it slightly higher then the tank will cause the water to not go as far down in the tank when its added.

2) when your tank is cycled , be sure not to add all ur fish at the same time as the levels may spike. but if your sure its cycled adding 1-3 small fish should be find depending on the tanks size. then wait another 1-2weeks and add the rest.

3)A air stone is a lil stone round thing attachted to air hose (pipe) which the pipe is then attached to a pump at the other end. the pump then blows air through the pipes then through ur air stone witch is in ur tank causing alot of air bubbles to occurre.
an air stone is a good way of supplying the fish tank with great aeration. an air stone and pump will not be good enough just by its self , it will work great along side a filter. the best thing to start off with is a filter with areation to it as well. this way you will have all the fish need in the one package. a filter is much more important then a air stone off the end of a pump.

i hope this helps freshwaterguy

let us all know how you go mate

cheers,
Bryn

freshwaterguy

Thanks again for the advice guys on my new freshwater set up

I have now purchased a RENA 200 Air Pump from Ebay suitable for my Aquarium size (Rio 125) Airline and the purchase also which comes with a LIMEWOOD DIFFUSER is the included LIMEWOOD DIFFUSER suitable to Aerate my aquarium? or is an airstone a better alternative

When my tank has cycled I will be purchasing Live Plants which I believe need to fed? I have read live plants have a few benefits to the aquarium

I love my x 4 Tiger Barbs and am looking forward to adding a couple more when Nitrite drops off during cycling

armadillo

Hi Freshwater guy.

Well done on your bargain. Good one on having picked a filter over your aquarium volume. People recommend 2x the volume, but 125 -> 200 is a step in the right direction. Am sure you'll be OK if you keep up with the filter maintenance (check if it gets clogged. If it does, rinse it in a bucket full of water from your tank - not tap water).

You'll need an airpump and airwand or long stone to aearate your tank. I actually make sure I have a diffuser + 2 airwands in each of my tanks. Do test the airpump at the petstore to make sure it's not a loud one. Most are very loud and annoying. I can only recommend what I have (Eheim 100). They're really quiet.

You can already purchase live plants as far as I know. No need to wait for your cycle to have ended. It's just that they help purify your water so it could be that they slow down the cycle a little, seen as they remove pollutants from they water.

They don't need to be fed, but if you really want lush and green, you could start playing around with CO2. I've never done it so absolutely no advice to give. What I have done is to bury a fertiliser pill once in a while next to the roots. Doesn't seem to have made much difference, though.

freshwaterguy

Re armadillo comment

The Rena 200 I have purchased comes with x 1 Limewood Diffuser can you advise what an airwand or long stone is ? The Rena 200 only has x 1 Outlet so I imagine I can only have the x 1 Limewood Diffuser or an Airstone? I see on Auction sites that Diffusers and Airstones can be readily purchased is there any difference?

With The Rena 200 only having x 1 outlet and assuming I can only have x 1 Diffuser or Airstone is there anything else I should do?

My Juwel RIO 125 has an inbuilt filter complete with white filter pad which I am changing weekly, carbon which as per instructions is to be changed every 4 to 6 weeks and fine and corse blue filters which are to be washed in tank water once every 5 to 6 weeks.

I have bought Tetra General Tonic and have test kits for Nitrite, Nitrate and PH and have spares for all filter media - I am trying to be a good first timer but any recommendations are welcomed.

I do not have a quarantine set up, but the LFS is highly recommended and I chose all my own fish and will continue to do so. One day I would like to have a quarantine tank, but I only set up my aquarium at beginning of August.

The Rena 200 I have purchased is for 160 Litres Per Hour for Tanks of 80 To 160 Litres(17 To 35Gallons) - my tank has 100 UK litres of water with all gravel and rock, plants etc. I did not know that 2 x volume is what is best, I worked on when I get a bigger aquarium I will need a bigger pump although from your comment I will need a bigger pump for a larger aquarium which is OK.

I will be purchase some live plants soon, these should help add real impact to the aquarium.

I only think I will add another 4 to 6 fish in total to my tank when ready as I do not want it to be overcrowded. Currently I only have x 4 Zebra Danios and x 4 Tiger barbs.

I plan to get a Red Tailed Black Shark, I have read a lot about this fish, having initially though of Silver \ bala shark but these are way to be big for my 20G / 100L tank.

Thanks again

Bryn

well done mate.

yes the air stone is better. and live plants are ten times better then any fake ones.

you only need to feed most plants with light

different plants have different requirements

cheers,

Bryn

armadillo

I'll answer in green in your text. Easier.

Bryn

ive kept balla sharks in a 120liter tank and they were fine. they take a fair while to get to a big size and if you only have a couple you should be fine until nearly fully grown then u might need to take them out but until then why not keep them in ur 100liter tank

Callum The Cat

freshwaterguy

thanks again armadillo and others.

my latest test results are as below using Tetra liquid test kits and color charts the nitrite has reached 1.6mg/l over the last 7 days when it was 0mg/l how long does nitrite typically take to disappear? as my understanding is that I will not have nitrate until nitrite reads 0 mg/l again is this correct?

I understand that when I have 0 mg/l nitrite and a higher than 25mg/l that a partial water change is required is this a good figure to do a water change at?

Todays test results

ph 7.5
nitrite 1.6mg/l
nitrate <12.5mg/l (very close to reading 0mg/l on color chart)

Oh and please be nice took picture of my first set up it is so plain is know! - my first first setup below Rio 125

http://www.spikebeardeddragonandfrie...firstsetup.jpg

Beeboy

Nice setup! I have only used gravel before but the sand is nice. You have a nice centerpiece too. It is looking good!!!

Beeboy

armadillo

Nitrites of 1.6 sound like they're on their merry course, but unfortunately, it can take a while for all nitrites to be transformed into nitrates. I don't know how long as it's always different for me every time I cycle another tank.

You can begin to get nitrates although there are still nitrites (and ammonia).

Am guessing your pH won't change. It should stay 7.5 unless you actively and consciously change it with chemicals

Oh your'e kidding? Your set-up looks really great! Very zen. The only thing I would say is you'd need a bushy place, densely planted. I'd put that in the middle of the tank. 2 or 3 plants will do. Nothing massive or anything. Just enough to cut the line of sight mid-way. This will do wonders in relaxing your fish and making life bearable for the victim fish in case of bullying (he always has that other half of the tank).

Bryn

nice set up cant wait to see what u put in it

freshwaterguy

RENA 200 Airpump & Airstone added today wow lots of bubbles! should be good for the tank and the Tigers have already started to swim through the bubbles.

Looking at Buenes Aries Tetra as a possible for next addition to tank, although Blue Rams look amazing particularly after reading about them, but they are supposed to be quite difficult to care for.

live Plants on the buy list also

armadillo

he he he, shopping list: don't forget a visit to the bank manager!

Great, the air curtains, huh? Yeah, fish having fun through them is totally awesome to watch.