Water Parameters/ Water Changes

Tank Info:
75 gallon, 79°F, HOB filter, sponge filter, surface skimmer. Up about 4 months.
6 black skirt tetra, 4 Orange swordtails, 2 Hoplo catfish, 2 twig catfish, 3 mystery snails, 1 nerite snail, a handful of 'pest snails'(recently got them, not too concerned about them)
A good handful of plants

Ammonia: 0ppm Nitrite: 0ppm Nitrate: 10ppm(same as my tap water, which I use[with prime of course] for water changes)

I've got 2 different nitrate tests bc I thought the 1st was faulty since my nitrates never reach over the same as my tap water. 2nd test says only 10ppm as well.

Clearly I don't have a large bioload in my larger tank. Im sure this is contributing to not having enough ammonia to turn into nitrates. BUT, I want more nitrates for my plants to thrive. They're not doing bad or anything, but also not great.

How often should I do water changes? I've been doing weekly, but this week I held off a few days just to see if my nitrates would go up and they haven't. Should I still do weekly changes, or should I wait a bit longer(if so, how long?) until I get a higher bioload?

 

Sounds like your tank is totally cycled. A weekly 30% water change is usually sufficient.
Maybe start gradually introducing new fish into the aquarium. A larger bio load should bump up the nitrates. Try to keep the nitrates below 40 ppm.
Plenty of plant guru members here that might be able to provide some useful information.

 

Sounds like your tank is totally cycled. A weekly 30% water change is usually sufficient.
Maybe start gradually introducing new fish into the aquarium. A larger bio load should bump up the nitrates. Try to keep the nitrates below 40 ppm.
Plenty of plant guru members here that might be able to provide some useful information.

I plan on going and getting some more this weekend. Still just adding fish in slow to make sure I don't overdo it. I want some Angels in my tank, but I know black skirt Tetras tend to be fin nippers, though they've left the orange swordtails alone so a part of me wants to try a pair.

 

Stocked as lightly as it is now you would probably be okay with a 25% water change every 3-4 weeks, but as you increase the stock I would certainly recommend doing them weekly.

I plan on going and getting some more this weekend. Still just adding fish in slow to make sure I don't overdo it. I want some Angels in my tank, but I know black skirt Tetras tend to be fin nippers, though they've left the orange swordtails alone so a part of me wants to try a pair.

While my experience with skirt tetras is minimal, I keep several other tetra species. I would strongly recommend adding at least four more to help minimize aggression, and 6-8 more would be better. I know that seems counter-intuitive, but the individual fish feel more secure in larger groups, and they are also less likely to bother other fish in the tank if they have enough of their own species to hold their attention.

 

Stocked as lightly as it is now you would probably be okay with a 25% water change every 3-4 weeks, but as you increase the stock I would certainly recommend doing them weekly.



While my experience with skirt tetras is minimal, I keep several other tetra species. I would strongly recommend adding at least four more to help minimize aggression, and 6-8 more would be better. I know that seems counter-intuitive, but the individual fish feel more secure in larger groups, and they are also less likely to bother other fish in the tank if they have enough of their own species to hold their attention.

That makes a lot of sense actually. I started out with 4 and they were chasing each other and being a bit aggressive, I added 2 more and it all stopped. Maybe I'll add 2 more, see how the group is doing, then add angels

 

I have 7 BST's in my 75 gallon with a single angel and some Cory's for two years. The skirts have never nipped the angel, though they do like to poke at each other some. Occasionally, the angel will chase them away when she's feeling ornery, but they are much faster so the "chase" never lasts long and no contact is ever made. I've had other angels with BST's in the past and never had nipping issues with them either. Even when the skirt population was down to only 1 or 2 fish.

One potential issue I do see with a large population of skirts is them out competing the angel(s) for food at meal time. Skirts swarm the food up in a frenzied herd than an angel can never keep up with. Amidst a dozen or more lightning fast tetra's, it's difficult for an angel to focus on a single bite, and get to it, before it's gone! Yes, there are ways around this.

 

. . . One potential issue I do see with a large population of skirts is them out competing the angel(s) for food at meal time. Skirts swarm the food up in a frenzied herd than an angel can never keep up with. Amidst a dozen or more lightning fast tetra's, it's difficult for an angel to focus on a single bite, and get to it, before it's gone! Yes, there are ways around this.

Maybe it depends on the angelfish? I have one in my 65 gallon tank, and when I dump food in it's a feeding frenzy, but the angelfish is right in there with the turquoise rainbowfish and the lemon tetras getting its share.

 

I have 7 BST's in my 75 gallon with a single angel and some Cory's for two years. The skirts have never nipped the angel, though they do like to poke at each other some. Occasionally, the angel will chase them away when she's feeling ornery, but they are much faster so the "chase" never lasts long and no contact is ever made. I've had other angels with BST's in the past and never had nipping issues with them either. Even when the skirt population was down to only 1 or 2 fish.

One potential issue I do see with a large population of skirts is them out competing the angel(s) for food at meal time. Skirts swarm the food up in a frenzied herd than an angel can never keep up with. Amidst a dozen or more lightning fast tetra's, it's difficult for an angel to focus on a single bite, and get to it, before it's gone! Yes, there are ways around this.

I've actually had this feeding problem with my other fish and my BSTs. I got around this by feeding at both ends of the tank at the same time. It was mainly my bottom feeders having a hard time getting food, but if I can keep my tetras busy at one end, food reaches the bottom fine in my other end and everyone gets fed.

I think I'm gonna try angels. I'm gonna wait till my plants grow out a bit, but after that I think I definitely want to try some