First aquarium journal

July 23: got a 15 gallon tank, grow lights and filter along with heater gravel, rocks and wood
July 24: tank set up water added and wood and left to cycle
July 28:. Filter media from my mother tank added to filter as well as a liquid benifical bacteria mix
July 30: 2 anubius nana and one java fern added

Aug 2: black orchard betta fish added along with another anubius nana and 1 java fern
Aug 5: water has started to get very cloudy and brown algae has started to grow and 4 otto cats where baught and put into isolation
Aug 8: betta fish died after jumping out of tank while i was out camping
Aug 12: otto cats where introduced to the tank
Aug 14: half moon betta fish baught by dad and has been put into isolation

 

following!

 

Aug 16: tank has significantly started to clear up and it looks like the anubis nana is starting to is starting to grow. The java ferns dot seem to have grown any and im wondering if introducing a bit of fertilizer would help. I am alittle worried since i saw all 4 otto cats this morning but now i can only can find one now. Also thinking once the tank gets more stable and after i introduce the new betta maybe getting some kind of tetras to go in as well but not sure yet.

 

Aug 17: water looks clearer today than it has in a long time but all 4 otto cats found dead so tested the water the results are as followed
pH: 7.6+
High pH: 8
Ammonia:between 0.25and 0.50
Nitrite: between 0 and 0.25
Nitrate: 0
So i did a water change to hopefully reduce the ph and when i go to the pet store today im taking some water for testing to make sure im doing it right and to get some help to lower the pH and hopfuly the ammonia as well.
Im starting to get very down and depressed that i cant seem to get this right and everything seems to be dying. I dont even know why the ammonium suddenly spiked and the pH spiked when its been holding steady for a few weeks

 

Aug 18: added ammonia lock and almond leaf extract for now to help lower ammonia and the pH
Aug 19:
pH: between 7.4 and 7.8
Ammonia: 1ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
Did another water change to hopefully knock down the ammonia and added more ammonia lock i hope to get this under control soon. Does anyone have any advice.

 

Hi, welcome to Fishlore.

The ammolock won’t help. It would be better to stop using it as it halts the cycle. Ammonia isn’t going to improve this way.

To lower the ammonia during a fish-in cycle, do a 50%+ water change whenever it reaches 1ppm or above. A 50% water change will halve ammonia down to 0.5ppm. During the ammonia phase of the cycle, it will take a while before ammonia can consistently stay at 0ppm, so keep up with the water changes. Try not to confuse ammonia with ammonium.

Have you tested your tap water? This is a good idea.

The otocinclus died because not only are they very sensitive fish, but in new setups there’s not enough microfauna developed to keep them fed. After several months, there should be enough for them, but not enough in new setups. The ammonia along with starvation caused the batch of otos to die.

 

Hi, welcome to Fishlore.

The ammolock won’t help. It would be better to stop using it as it halts the cycle. Ammonia isn’t going to improve this way.

To lower the ammonia during a fish-in cycle, do a 50%+ water change whenever it reaches 1ppm or above. A 50% water change will halve ammonia down to 0.5ppm. During the ammonia phase of the cycle, it will take a while before ammonia can consistently stay at 0ppm, so keep up with the water changes. Try not to confuse ammonia with ammonium.

Have you tested your tap water? This is a good idea.

The otocinclus died because not only are they very sensitive fish, but in new setups there’s not enough microfauna developed to keep them fed. After several months, there should be enough for them, but not enough in new setups. The ammonia along with starvation caused the batch of otos to die.

I didnt know ammonia lock would stop the cycle i was just going off of what the pet store was telling me. I will check my tap water to see if it has ammonia in it. Also for the otos i did have algae wafers in there for them which i figured they would eat if they couldn't find food which is a bit hard to belive since i seem to have some kind of brown algae growing in the tank. I didnt also realize that otos where so delicate when it came to tank peramiteres. When i looked online to see what it took to take care of them it said they where pretty harty fish. Do you have any advice on how i might fix the brown algea problem? Sorry if im asking questions that are pretty stupid of making clear mistakes this is my first tank and I tried to get my research right but am still clearly missing a few things and am strung at the moment

 

Diatoms (brown algae) appear during cycling, it’s normal, and they disappear eventually. No need to clean the stuff off.

Otos take a while to recognise commercial foods as food. Chances are they weren’t eating the provided wafers. If you want to try otos again, wait several months before buying a healthy batch.

Half of the time, the pet shops don’t even know the effects of the product they’re selling you. They have a habit of selling whatever they can for profit. Learn to not trust them.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you need help. Help is here!

 

Alright awesome i really appricate the help!

 

Following!

 

Aug 21:
Tested the ph and ammonia levels of my tap water the ph is 7.8 and ammonia is 0
Also tested the tank again
Ph : 7.8
Ammonia: between 1 and 2
Nitrite: 0
Nitate: 0
Instantly did another water change to lower the ammonia levels hopfully this will settle out soon

 

Try to keep the combined total of ammonia and nitrite below 1ppm.

 

Try to keep the combined total of ammonia and nitrite below 1ppm.

Alright will do my best. is the beat way it do that frequent water changes when ever i notice it rising?

 

is the beat way it do that frequent water changes when ever i notice it rising?

Test the water once a day, and if the combined total of ammonia and nitrite is 1ppm or above, do a 50% water change.

 

Test the water once a day, and if the combined total of ammonia and nitrite is 1ppm or above, do a 50% water change.

Alright will do
Aug 22: tested the ammonia and nitrite this morning. The ammonia is back up to 1ppm this morning after the water change yesterday but today the nitrite has also gone up to somewhere between 0.25 ppm and 0.5ppm. So here goes another 50% water change

 

Aug 23: another day another water test
Ammonia: 0.5ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
Yes finally the ammonia seems to be not building as fast as it had before so im not going to do another water change today since the total of ammonia and nitrite is below 1ppm. I will check it again tomorrow hopefully things will start stabilizing.

 

Aug 24:
Ammonia: 1ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
Well it looks to be time for another water change

 

Aug 25:
Ammonia: 1 ppm
Nitrite: between 0 and 0.25 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Another water change here we go

 

Aug 27: wasn't able to check water yesterday due town emergency but checked it today
Ammonia: 0.25- 0.5ppm
Nitrite: 0.25ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
No water change today since everything is below 1ppm. Hopfully this is a good sign that the bacteria are getting better established

 

Aug 28:
Ammonia: 0.5 ppm
Nitrite: 0.25ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm

 

Aug 30:
Ammonia: 0.25 ppm
Nitrite: 0.25-0.5 ppm
Nitate: 0 ppm

 

Ammonia is beginning to lower. Progress is being made.

 

Ysy

Ammonia is beginning to lower. Progress is being made.

Yay im glad to hear

 

Sept 2:
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0.5- 1ppm
Nitrate: 0- 5ppm
Im doing another water change to get nitrate and nitrite down.

 

Nitrate up to 40mg/L is fine. The nitrite, yeah, any amount is toxic except for 0.

 

Sept 3:
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0–0.25ppm
Nitrate: 0–5ppm
I also have brown algae looking sludge growing on the woods and rocks in my tank. It has recently moved to the leaves and roots do my pants growing on the spider wood. Should i e concerned about this and if so what can i do to fix it?

 

Those are diatoms. They’re to be expected at this stage but are harmless.

 

Those are diatoms. They’re to be expected at this stage but are harmless.

Alright thats good! Will they just go away in time as things get more established?

 

Will they just go away in time as things get more established?

Yes.

 

Sept 7:
Ammonia: 0.25 pmm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Well things are going do but got a small increase in ammonia.

 

Hmm, strange. Did you add lots more ammonia than usual?

 

The only thing i could think that may have done it is my brother, who fead the beta for me while i was away, accedently gave him too much food a few days in a row and he didnt eat it all. Would to have lead to it increase?

 

The only thing i could think that may have done it is my brother, who fead the beta for me while i was away, accedently gave him too much food a few days in a row and he didnt eat it all. Would to have lead to it increase?

Probably. This should slow the cycle a bit, but you’ll overcome it by doing what you’re doing.

 

Probably. This should slow the cycle a bit, but you’ll overcome it by doing what you’re doing.

Alright awesome so i should just keep doing what ive been doing

 

Alright awesome so i should just keep doing what ive been doing

Yes. Water changes where necessary.

 

Sept 13:
pH: 8.2
Ammonia: o
Nitite: 0
Nitrate: 0
The pH of my tap water stays around 7.8. Did something happen that would have made it go up? Im doing a water change to hopefully drop it

 

The water changes didn’t cause the pH rise.

Do you have any rocks in the aquarium? If so, what kind?

Is there a calcium layer at the water surface? If so, did you disturb it?

 

I do have rocks. They are a mix of river rocks and mountain stone but i rinse. Them off well before putting them in the tank. Im not sure if i haven calcium layer on the surface or not unless thats why the surface of the water has a bit of a haze to it while the rest of the water doeant. I may have disturbed in when getting the samples to test the water if thats the case.

 

The surface film you notice is a layer of biofilm not unlike what grows on your glass and other surfaces and is harmless unless it gets so thick that it interferes with oxygen exchange - which occurs only in stagnant water which is very rare for aquariums.

Ph from tap water can go up after a few hours due to off gassing of CO2. Mine goes from 7.0 to 7.4. Tap water can be rich in CO2 which is acidic. When the water sits around a while -a few hours to a day- the CO2 content of the water goes down increasing the Ph.

One question. I am curious as to why you are trying to change your ph. Do you have a particular reason in mind?

 

One question. I am curious as to why you are trying to change your ph. Do you have a particular reason in mind?

I was just worried it might be to high for my betta fish and what ever i choose to put in later. I was also just worried becouse it seemed to suddenly go up from 7.8 to 8.2 which had me thinking I had messed something up. I have already lost 4 fish do to me not knowing enough and i dont want to loose another one.