Tips On Maintaining A Small Fish Tank

hello!

so I have an established 40 breeder and just started a small 6 gallon QT. the 6 gallon tank is currently holding a few rummynose and after quarantine I plan on moving some of my apisto fry into the tank. i've moved cycled media from my 40 breeder into the 6 gallon but checked water parameters and noticed nitrites rising when it's usually at 0.

my 6 gallon has a heater at 78 degrees and a sponge filter.

this is my first time maintaining a smaller tank and notice that it's really easy to overload the system with food, waster, and whatever else. I did just set up the tank last week and used water and media from my established tank.

does anyone have tips for maintaining a small tank?
should I move some of the substrate from my established tanks into the 6 gallon?
is nitrites possibly due to a minI cycle happening in the tank?

thanks!

 

Probably a minI cycle.

Detox with Prime and keep an eye on it.

 

I recommend you get a 10QT tank, you really can’t keep steady water parameters in a small tank

 

When I use my QT I often change the water every day to make sure it maintains good parameters.

With medication it's a it's a little different depending on the instructions, that's when you should have an established media to help with the medication. But for evaluation purposes, daily changes will be good.

 

When I use my QT I often change the water every day to make sure it maintains good parameters.

With medication it's a it's a little different depending on the instructions, that's when you should have an established media to help with the medication. But for evaluation purposes, daily changes will be good.

so i've been changing water everyday. instead of filling it back up tap water and declorinating the water would you recommend just filling it back up with my established tank water?

Probably a minI cycle.

Detox with Prime and keep an eye on it.

what would adding prime do to the nitrites? my chorline levels are 0

 

so i've been changing water everyday. instead of filling it back up tap water and declorinating the water would you recommend just filling it back up with my established tank water?

No, tank water is dirty water...if your fish had a wound you wouldn't treat it with old tank water, you treat it with clean water. The same goes with QT fish, you don't want to give the new fish "Hand me downs".

 

what would adding prime do to the nitrites? my chorline levels are 0

Prime neutralize nitrites and nitrates.

But my advice to keeping a small tank is very simple: don't touch it. Feed little food, keep and eye on the water level and don't put your hands in there. The cycle should stabilize soon.

 

No, tank water is dirty water...if your fish had a wound you wouldn't treat it with old tank water, you treat it with clean water. The same goes with QT fish, you don't want to give the new fish "Hand me downs".

gotcha! I just thought that the beneficial bacteria might be helpful for the tank.

Prime neutralize nitrites and nitrates.

But my advice to keeping a small tank is very simple: don't touch it. Feed little food, keep and eye on the water level and don't put your hands in there. The cycle should stabilize soon.

i'll go ahead and try that out!

 

gotcha! I just thought that the beneficial bacteria might be helpful for the tank.

Your bb is mainly in your filter media and gravel not the water. Since you already brought over some of the media from your big tank, you already brought over the bb.

The nitrates may be from the tank water that you used when you first set it up.

As long as you've got a good bb colony and don't overfeed, small tanks aren't too hard.

I have 2 biomax packs in my 20 gallon's filter. When I started my 5 gallon, I pulled a biomax out of there and put it in the open area in my 5 gallon's filter, put in about 3 gallons of tank water and 2 gallons of new water, put in some plants and fish at the same time and my water parameters have been perfect since the set up. And then put a brand new biomax pack in my 20 gallon to replace what I took.

My friend has set up a 10 gallon, just put in the gravel and filled it with dechlorinator water, and turned on the heater about 2 days ago. Tonight, after work, the plan is for me to go with her to get her fish and I'll help her acclimate them then put them in the tank then add a biomax pack from my 20 gallons filter and I'm expecting it to be instant cycled too.

I trust the biomax media to instacycle smaller tanks because my 20 gallon has a heavy bioload so it supports a large bacterial colony in my filter.

 

Your bb is mainly in your filter media and gravel not the water. Since you already brought over some of the media from your big tank, you already brought over the bb.

The nitrates may be from the tank water that you used when you first set it up.

As long as you've got a good bb colony and don't overfeed, small tanks aren't too hard.

I have 2 biomax packs in my 20 gallon's filter. When I started my 5 gallon, I pulled a biomax out of there and put it in the open area in my 5 gallon's filter, put in about 3 gallons of tank water and 2 gallons of new water, put in some plants and fish at the same time and my water parameters have been perfect since the set up. And then put a brand new biomax pack in my 20 gallon to replace what I took.

My friend has set up a 10 gallon, just put in the gravel and filled it with dechlorinator water, and turned on the heater about 2 days ago. Tonight, after work, the plan is for me to go with her to get her fish and I'll help her acclimate them then put them in the tank then add a biomax pack from my 20 gallons filter and I'm expecting it to be instant cycled too.

I trust the biomax media to instacycle smaller tanks because my 20 gallon has a heavy bioload so it supports a large bacterial colony in my filter.

thank you for being so thorough! I think one of the mistakes that I made was overfeeding my 6 gallon.... I'm just so used to feeding larger amounts in my 40 gallon that I didn't understand how sensitive it could be.

so I think earlier this week I had some ammonia problems which is probably why my parameters are out of whack....

 

thank you for being so thorough! I think one of the mistakes that I made was overfeeding my 6 gallon.... I'm just so used to feeding larger amounts in my 40 gallon that I didn't understand how sensitive it could be.

so I think earlier this week I had some ammonia problems which is probably why my parameters are out of whack....

The over feeding is easy to do. I've been trying to be careful of that in my smaller tank since its 1 fish versus 5

 

so with about a week into quarantine my rummynose have ich..... so i'm aware that I didn't set up my first QT all correctly by putting 12 rummynose into a 6 gallon. i'm wondering if my rummynose didn't have ich and just got it because of being stressed in such a small space?

ALSO what's the highest temp rummynose can tolerate for ich treatment? I plan on raising temp and dosing with some meds.