Help!!! Salted Planted Tank Beginner Mistake

I started my first planted tank yesterday a little background I had a 10 gallon tank and went too a 35 gallon reef style tank I used all ten gallons of the old water and put the old filter in as a backup along with my 40 gallon filter which was new I put aquarium salt in then the next day impulse bout a couple plants and planted them today the plant look a little brownish so I removed 5 gallons and replaced with unsalted water didn’t wanna take too much out at once then the pet smart guy tells me to wait a month before doing any water changes cause it could effect my cycle I’m really unsure of what to do here how much salt is too much for the plants?will the 5 gallon change buy me some time need some real honest good advice o appreciate it in advance please help me in the right direction!!!

 

So question 1- why are you adding salt?
Question 2- is there fish in this tank yet? If you used all tour old biomedia and did it properly you should nearly have an instant cycle... not a month... so I’m not sure what to say about that part...
3- water changes won’t effect your cycle because no bacteria live in the water... they are everywhere else...
what kind of plants do you have that you are adding salt??

 

So question 1- why are you adding salt?
Question 2- is there fish in this tank yet? If you used all tour old biomedia and did it properly you should nearly have an instant cycle... not a month... so I’m not sure what to say about that part...
3- water changes won’t effect your cycle because no bacteria live in the water... they are everywhere else...
what kind of plants do you have that you are adding salt??

Yes I have 16!fish so far out grew my old tank I’m very new to the hobby my local pet store recommended aquarium salt to prevent disease so that’s what I did when I started my new tank thought nothing of it the next day I was at Petco seen some plants thought hey that would be cool bought and planted as soon as I got home it didn’t occur to me until they started looking funny too look up planted tanks and aquarium salt so I’m wonder if a 50%water change would be best or a full if I have to even though the full sounds terrible with the work schedule this week lol like I said pretty new to the hobby.

 

Just to clarify:

What size is the tank and is it a freshwater or saltwater tank?

 

35 gallon freshwater.

Plants a amazon sword and a water sprite

 

You didn’t need to add salt at all... they just wanted to make a buck... and I REALLY hope your talking about aquarium salt and not marine salt...
Your fish would have been fine without it and yes that’s most likely what’s killing your plants...
You never want to change more than 50% at a time... I would do a 25% change now and another later on... and then do the same tomorrow.... he really gave you some bad information... salt would have been one of the last things I would have added.... since you seeded tour tank from your old one (hopefully you stores tour old cycled materials properly) and what exactly did you transfer over?
Usually when you add media from a mature tank to your new filter it can be like days to a week with a small minI cycle.... and it would have been nothing that prime or stability couldn’t have taken care of IMO

 

I transferred all my decorations my old filter 10 gallons of water I did use new substrate I do have some tetra cleaning bacteria as well never used it fish seem happy and lively so far after the 5 gallons I changed today I work thirds so won’t be able to get to another change until morning but really wanna make this work out

 

Sorry and you said you have 16 fish and you upgraded to a 35 g correct? May I ask what fish you have because that seems like a lot for a 35g (depending on what they are)

 

I got 2 sunburst plattys 2 pearl goiramis 2 mollies 2 tiger barbs a black widow tetra and 4 small cichlids that are going in my 120 gallon when I get it up and going there smaller than those Swedish fish candies there cute really oh and two Cory cats

 

The water wouldn’t have mattered... but
1- how did you store your decorations
2- you should have used some of not all of your old substrate (if you wanted to change colors you should have kept it and you could have put in in Panty hose or something and it would have help seed the new tank)
And I’m not sure what you mean by “tetra cleaning bacteria) do you mean TSS? If so add that now but shake it like crazy.... like ALOT to get rid of the thickness and clumps (it can get clumpy) if your talking about something else don’t add it...
What happened to your biomedia??? That should have been transferred over as well

Oh goodness you are severely overstocked for a 35g AND you have stocking issues.....
Your most likely going to have a hard time.... you have too many fish for a 35g and you have the incorrect number of some fish... I’m afraid this is going to be a big mess and I'm not even sure where to start...

 

Bio media as in the carbon that’s in my old filter that’s in there decorations went straight from the old tank to the new were out of the tank maybe 30 seconds I got a small layer of water in my old substrate can still tea bag it in there if need be

Hmm that’s crazy cause with the decorations and plants I don’t see my fish half the time lol

 

No bio media as in you main source of bio media- biomax, matrix.... what type of filter did you have and do you have now...
Also here are some BIG mistakes
DONT EVER add any salt to a tank with a Cory catfish- very bad for them
1- you should have atleast like 6 of the SAME type of Cory
2- tiger barbs shouldn’t be kept in groups of any less then 6
3-your platies- what sex are they?
4- your mollies- what sex are they?
5- you shouldn’t keep 1 black widow tetra... they also need to be kept in groups of at least 5 or 6 minimum...

What are your parameter in this new tank?

Also carbon is chemical media (not biological)
And again what kind of filter did you have and what do you have now? Like brand and size? This part is important for me to help you

 

I got a tetra 60 gallon filter and a terra 10-20 gallon filter I checked my water this morning and I for sure got bigger problems than the salt ammonia is on the high side my tank pretty much went into a new cycle so I bout two bottles of safe start bacteria from tetra gonna do a good sized water change and see where it gets me keep a close eye on it

 

Do your water change and then be sure after you add the TSS DO NOT touch anything... don’t even change the water at all... this is where people make their mistake... they are a tiny bit of ammonia or nitrite and rush to a water change but TSS clearly states not to change even the water for I believe 10-12 days or so after adding (could be longer I’m not positive, so double check)

 

I appreciate the help good news is now the salts out to so my plants can thrive gonna gonthrough a new cycle but prolly safer doing that with the tss than dealing with the high ammonia I left
Maybe 10 gallons in the tank treated the water used two bottles of tss says it treats 20 I got a reef tank my the time my back filter areas fill it’s pretty much a 40 checked my ammonia I’m at 0 will leave it alone for a few weeks and keep a eye on my numbers

 

Sounds good just make sure you test once or twice a day if you can... but you do need to fix your stocking problems also... so hopefully you can rehome some or get another or bigger tank and get your quantities of fish correct...

Take the fish you have and go onto the site
AqAdvisor... you will see how badly you are over stocked and also all the stocking issues you have

 

So I started my 10 falling back up using tss to get my mollies and plattys out of the bigger tank to hopefully relive some stressnran a test today wondering it ya can tell me how my perameters look my ten gallon is .25 ppm ammonia 0 nitrate 0 nitrite ph7.4 my other tank is exactly the same but ph is 7.6 like I’ve said before I am a beginner just wondering how you think these look for the tank being completely emptied and started same day with tss

10 gallon been up 22 hours for work typings a little off

 

Yup that’s exactly what it will do and the ammonia will last a couple days but shouldn’t get much higher.... DO nOT FEED EVERYDAY!!! Feed only a SMALL amount every other day.... test your water once or twice a day.... morning and night... DO NOT DO anything but feed your fish for 2 weeks... don’t change the water... don’t touch any ornaments... don’t touch the substrate.... don’t touch the filter... NOTHING... that part is very important... then you may or may not see a small rise in nitrites... (sometimes it’s so quick that you miss it) that’s why I test twice a day....
Once you have no ammonia and no nitrites for 3 days in a row... try feeding your fish everyday a little bit and watch for any spikes... if you don’t have any then you should be cycled

 

Is the cycle starting over why my waters in the cloudy side?

 

Yes your cycle is just starting... but with the tss it will not take weeks and weeks or months as long as you follow the instructions I gave you... I have had mine cycle within 3 days but I was much more lightly stocked then you.... but you should be done cycling within the 2 weeks... if you follow everything right....
What are you using for testing? Strips or a liquid kit?
And have you ever tested your tap water?

 

API master test kit

I never have tested my tap water probably should though that’s a good idea

 

Yes many people have ammonia right in there water source... so you want to make sure that you know what you have started out with... also did you buy the tss or tss+?

 

Bought tss and a product to remove the chlorine

 

Shoot... should have tried to grab the tss+... it should still be ok... but when dealing with bottles bacteria usually it goes quicker if you don’t use a product like prime which will bind your free ammonia... it will still work it just takes a bit longer... where as the tss+ comes with it built in... then you don’t have to add de chlorinator.... I can’t remember the exact science behind it but Dr TI'm explains it in some of his you tube videos of why it’s better to feed off the free ammonia or something but I know when using dr Tim’s he specifically says not to use prime at all... but hopefully all will work out... either way your stuck with a fish in cycle now and hopefully the tss will work out for you...

Now have you addressed how your going to fix your stocking issues? Because that will pose a problem as well.... you don’t have the right fish for your tank... and you don’t have the right amount of same fish in your tank... it may seem as though it’s not a big deal right now but it will become one and your fish will not live as long and they will suffer from this...

It’s very good to do research on tank sizes and how many of each fish you need before buying them... for example I think you said you had a couple white Cory cats? (I could be wrong) well they grow to 2.5 inches roughly and you need a minimum of around 6.... I think you also mentioned tiger barbs (again I could be wrong and mistaking you for another post) but they need to be in around the same... a group of 6 minimum and that doesn’t include your other fish...

Have you went intoyet? You really need to... it’s quite simple... just add your tank demensions and your filter and then search for your fish you have in that tank... it will show you how over or under stocked you are... try to aI'm for around 80-90% max and definitely keep your filter capacity above 100%

 

Haven’t had a chance yet I work rotating swing shift so my schedule changes a lot lately I started a new tank to get the plattys and mollies in there own tank now I do have what I believe is a 120 gallon tank in the basement I’m gonna bring upstairs and start cycling soon just gotta get a stand for it so the 35 gallon is a temporary thing I got a little fish happy when I set it up lol

 

Ok good! Just a side note... if you plan on keeping your Cory’s and updating the numbers to the proper stocking... they really prefer sand substrate... otherwise it can injury their little barb things... just something to keep in mind when setting up your new tank

 

So all my perameters are the same today but I did have a spike in my 35 gallon my nitrate is 10 ppm not sure what this means or what to do

 

How do you know it’s 10? Did you do a dilution test? Have you fed the fish at all? Remember I told you it’s very important NOT to feed them anything... (and are we talking about the tank you added the TSS to? Or a different one?)

You really need to get that 120 gallon up and running.... you are far too overstocked.....

Sorry I thought you said nitrite... your nitrAte is at 10? If you mean nitrATe 10 is perfectly fine

Tell me what your exact parameters are:

 

Ya nitrate lol using the apI kit I’m getting a 40 gallon for the man cave too so there gonna divide up soon

 

Well what are your ammonia readings and nitrite readings today?
Each new tank you set up you are going to want to add the tss again because you are going to be adding fish immediately... just do some research on the fish you already have and make sure you have room for the right numbers and pick out the right substrate this time (exaample don’t put your Cory’s in rocks... use sand in that tank) and please look up proper numbers extra and then decide what you are going to put where...