northern_guppy

long story put short, i have 2 tanks... one has 2 goldfish and 5 white clouds(10 g) and the other im trying to make my guppy tank(8 g). it now has one fry guppy and one "momma" guppy, also i have a plico in there too. i have one live plant and one plastic, also a pink coral thing. Both my tanks r "heated" but i dont know my water stats cause i dont have tests kits for everything. i have a pH tester...and i use Aqua Plus and Cycle whenever i change large amounts of water. I didnt put any fish in my second tank for well over a month... but the water never changed colours, and i had the gold fish in there for a while till i decided i wanted guppies. so i moved them back to the 10 gallon. ill see if the local pet store will test me water for me as testing kits can be quit expensive up here.

Anways since i got my guppy home she first swam around all crazy none stop, but now shes still doing her crazy up and down the side and doing figure 8's and stuff but shes very shy.... and its been hard to get a good look at her... she knows when im watching her and doesnt like it and hides... lol go figure. im so excited about her having babies. iv been looking up stuff online and really feeling good about having her in my tank. the thought of it all really "tickles me pink" so to speak. lol

Well i guess my questions start with how came her gravid spot changes colour when i turn the light out? I think i watch her too much cause her belly changes so much i cant tell how far along she is.... and im thinking about starting some brine shrimp? is think i should or just wait a couple months for more babies?

Meenu

Hi, welcome to fishlore. Could you please complete filling out your aquarium info? It's helpful for members to be able to see all of the info about your tanks in one place.

Tigerfishy

If she's really pregnant, she will look squared off where the gravid spot is, really look like she has swallowed a cube or something, mine gave birth about 2 days after they got to this stage. Usually each birth takes about a month (give or take), so if after a month there has been nothing, she may not be pregnant any more. They can have (correct me if I'm wrong guys) up to 6 births from each "mating", one a month.
As for her behaviour and the shrimps, I'm not sure, but you'll get your answer soon.
Like meenu says, update your info and we can be more help, thanks, and good luck, I look forward to hearing the results!

click

Welcome to the forums!

If you're using Cycle I assume your tank doesn't have proper biological bacteria and hence you're kinda stuck with this product every time you do water changes.

You really need water testers or as an alternative, you can take your tank water to be tested to your local pet store. They should test it for free. The Ph is not as crucial as long as it stays at the same level, the fish will adapt. The ammonia, nitrite and nitrates level are extremly important since they can kill your fish in time.

Also, water color is not a good assesment of your tank's health. How often do you perform water changes?

northern_guppy

ill be picking up a testing kit today, and something to lower the pH in the one, the gold fish should be ok with higher pH And to be honest i havent done a water change yet, iv been more less just adding water to the tanks as they evaporate ( its really cold winters here, all the humidity is sucked out of the air) so im adding about 2 L every week to each tank. I just tried to fill out my aquarium info the best i can with whati got. ill update it more later when i got better supplies. Ill forget about the brine shrimp for now and focus of setting my water right, and having it proper for my momma gup. Also the live plant has ALOT of roots and its making a mess at the bottom of my tank.... looks like poop but its not, and its all over the tank floor now.... ill try to vaccum the rocks the best i can? any thing else i can do before the testing kit comes home? or anything i should looks for at the LFS while im there?

click

If you buy testers I suggest the ones with drops (API manufactures them) they are a bit pricey but give you accurate readings and last for a long time. The test strips can give you false readings and are not recommended.

If you only added water as it evaporated, then your water must have some levels of toxins up the scale.

Get the testers asap. Safe water levels are ammonia = 0, nitrite=0 and nitrate <20. Test the water to see where you are with those levels then perform a water change to bring them down. Let us know what the results are.

Meenu

Northern guppy,
I have a few thoughts on your tank, if you don't mind a bit of interference.
1) Don't buy the pH stuff. There's a link about pH that's helpful. I'll see if I can find it for you.
2) API liquid master test kit is the one you should look for. The strips aren't reliable.
3) Nutrafin Cycle does not contain aquatic bacteria. That's why you have to add it weekly - it drowns. Your tank would be much better off in the long run if you stopped using that product. That stuff competes with the natural bacteria in your tank for its food source, ammonia from fish waste, and so the good bacteria never gets a change to form a strong colony.
3) Your goldfish tank is severly overstocked. I'll try to find the goldfish link for you too, if someone doesn't beat me to it.

northern_guppy

ya i shoulda figured... i was being quit selfish and was trying to avoid buying the kit, but wanted my tank to be good anyways lol but im stopping by the fish store today and will get this fixed ASAP! i feel bad, my fishies diserve more!

Meenu

It saves you money in the long run, even though it is more expensive up front. You can do hundreds of tests with it. Also, in my opinion, you are paying for the peace of mind of knowing for sure that your tank is properly cycled.


http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-Goldfish.htm

I can't find the pH link. Ken, can you post it please?

northern_guppy

also i hear that certain fish foods arent good for the water... what kind of food should i be staying away from... im using TetreMin Tropical flakes for both tanks?? iv got about 30 mins before i jump on the bus and head down for the supplies

northern_guppy

also what should i be using in my water, if im not to use what i have??

Meenu

I have a variety. I use flakes, granules (basically same food as the flakes but they sink to the bottom), shrimp pellets, freeze-dried blood worms that I soak in garlic juice.

Prime water conditioner by Seachem is awesome. It conditions the water, removes chlorine, etc., but it also detoxifies ammonia and nitrites so they stay in the tank for the cycle but won't harm your fish for 24 hours at a time.

click

We all made mistakes with our fishkeeping and we still do sometimes. Is not easy to admit the mistakes we've done and I admire your honesty when you said you only toped off the tanks. By giving accurate info, the members will be able to provide you with relevant advices that will help you improve the living conditions for your fish.

Meenu gave you some good tips there. If you want to build nitrifying bacteria it will make your life so much easier and your fish will thank you for it. We will be here to guide you through, just pack a load fo patience while cycling and be prompt with water changes. See if you can get some Tetra Safe Start (TSS), helps with the cycling. TSS is the product that will really get you through a natural cycle, don't listen to the store clerks, they just want to seel you other that doesn't help in the long run. They tricked me too with Nutrafin Cycle at start

Meenu

Me three on the Cycle. Man, the store people love to push that product! Weekly use means a lot of money for them, but I actually think that most don't understand the biological cycle or the product enough to know that it's not helpful to a healthy tank.

If you see the TSS, you can buy it as long as it isn't expired if you want. I'd go with a separate bottle for each tank, larger than the size recommended for your tank (I used the bottle for 75 gallon tanks in my 30 gallon). don't use it until you come back here and talk to us about proper use. It's really finicky - I wasted 3 bottles because I kept using it wrong. It's expensive, so believe me, you want to get it right the first time.

So your shopping list should look like this:
API master test kit
Prime
a couple of different types of food (if you want. You can give them variety by feeding fresh veggies, too)
TSS (2 bottles made for 30 gallon tanks - NOT 1 bottle for a 75 gallon tank) - if you want to buy it, can find it, and can afford it.

edit: if you can't find prime, amelquel PLUS does the same thing. I don't recommend it as often because some members have reported that they get false results on the API ammonia test with it, and have had to purchase a powder ammonia test kit from amelquel's amnufacturer, kordon. I've also seen Lucy recommend Ammo Lock quite a bit.

northern_guppy

will it be hard on the fish if i start doing all these different things to the water? im gunna sign out now so i can get to teh fish store.... bus ride and walking across town with a baby at -20 or colder isnt fun.

Meenu

*hug* good luck, have fun on the shopping trip. We're going to try to advise you every step of the way so that this can be the least stressful for the fish as possible. The Prime detoxifies the harmful stuff, so that will help a lot.

I edited some of my earlier posts, go back and read if you get a chance.

Shadowbeam

Hope everything works out ok here, let us know how you get on. It's great that you want to do whats best for your fish
I too was tricked into buying false bacteria (bacterilife) so most of us have been there. Thanks to these guys my tank has never looked better, and my fish have never looked happier

northern_guppy

so i didnt end up getting anything for the water.... i paid $50 for just the test kit... too close to christmas to be spending more....not to mention they didnt have anything else to condition the water... so im gunna just have to make due till net month when i get more money? do u think my fish will last that long?

Meenu

Hopefully they'll be okay.
Do you have any friends who have a fish tank? Maybe someone will let you borrow a bottle of Prime (or another water conditioner that will detoxify ammonia) until next month?

Go ahead and test the water with the new kit, and let's see where the water is at. Normally, the advice when there are ammonia or nitrites is to do 50% daily water changes to remove the toxins, and the addition of the conditioners to detoxify the tank and make the water safe for the fish until the next water change. If you don't have anything to detoxify the water, really all you can do that I can think of is either home the fish temporarily with someone whose tank is cycled, return them to the store, or just do your best with the water changes and hope for the best.

northern_guppy

ill do the tests, and post the results.... i want to do a small water change but i wanna hear back from u guys first on how big a water change?

northern_guppy

no friends...most people i know r having touble with their tanks aswell.... its really hard living in the north like this and having the 2 only places in town competing with each others prices..plus i dont drive so getting the fish to my home was hard enough

click

Just keep up with the water changes. Don't get discouraged. The test kit is expensive but will last for a long while.

callichma

If you can't find the supplies that you need at your LFS, you should be able to find them online. I don't know how different it is in Canada. When you stop using the Cycle, you will start to have problems with ammonia and nitrites. If you can't find Prime or Amquel+ or whatever to make the ammonia and nitrites nontoxic to your fish, and you have a good supply of Cycle, you might consider continuing to use it until you can find the other products to detox the ammonia. Longterm, though, you'll want to get your tank cycled with natural bacteria by using Tetra Safe Start or letting it happen naturally. Good luck and welcome to FishLore.

Meenu

i totally understand the no friends thing - i don't even know anyone with a fish tank!
buying online might be a better option for you in the future. at some point, you may want to look around at websites that will deliver to your area to see how much some of these items may cost you

If you plan on keeping fish, I really think that the long-term investment of a good test kit will be worth it to you. There is nothing like the feeling of checking your water and seeing that your hard work paid off and your tank is cycled.

The water changes will be kind of a pain, but just keep up with them.

edit: As far as the post above, someone else recently mentioned weaning off slowly from the cycle as well. that may be a good thing to do in this situation, since you don't have a detoxifyer. It seems like that way, the cycle will continue to process the ammonia for the next few weeks. Hopefully others will weigh in on this.

I know you are doing your best by your fish. It's awesome that you are so conscientious.

northern_guppy

ok so for the test results before the water change..... i have 8.0 pH.....nitrate 20.....nitrite 0.....ammonia 0. on the guppy tank. i changed the water and am testing the gold fish tank before water change i have......8.0 pH....nitrate 10....nitrite 0....ammonia 0. now i should i add anything to the water.... u said no cycle stuff...what about the other stuff?

northern_guppy

oh ok how much cycle should i use, and i have Aqua plus tap water conditioner...havent added either since i changed water... its been almost an hour for Tank 1

northern_guppy

should i be adding them?

Meenu

The readings of no ammonia or nitrates are good. Normally, those readings can indicate a cycled tank... however, in this case, they don't mean that, since you have been using the cycle.

Your situation is different because you don't have a detoxing conditioner. I would say that since you already have good readings, keep using the cycle as directed on the package for now. Once you have the Prime in a few weeks (fingers crossed), then we'll work on getting the tank cycled properly, so that you can have those readings without the help of a false cycling additive.

Oh, and yes, use your regular water conditioner to remove the chlorine from the tap water.

northern_guppy

ok so i added my regular dose of both and im gunna give it an hour or 2 before re-doing my tests. the only thing i dont get is... y was my one nitrate higher then the other? it was higher in the smaller of the 2 tanks??

northern_guppy

also would my guppy still have her babies in these conditions? and if she does will they be ok?


ok so my guppy has been alot slower and less active lately im feeling bad for her...even after the water change she has been kinda just sitting at the surface in her one corner she likes..... once in a while ill see her swimming around. The fry guppy seems to be fine he/she swims all over and doesnt seem to be bothered... my plico doesnt seem happy in this tank either.. he has chosen this one spot and tries to get under my plastic pink coral?? there is more algae growth in this tank...so i figured he would be happier?

should i possibly switch fish tanks? im kinda confused