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Cycling fish tank? high quality answer plz! or jogi or gary c would do a good job too.?

By Aquaboy on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 | 2 Comments

I have a 56G fish tank that has been cycling for a while, my ammonia hit 8.0 then zero, nitrites 6.0 then zero, nitrate 30ppm and after a water change and plants 5ppm and my tank is still cloudy. isn’t that suppose to go away after the tank is done cycling? or is it unrelated. i thought the cycling process vicariously effected the cloudness of the water, so should the water be crytal clear by now, it’s been one week since my tank has been fully cycled. I added some fish more fish (4 platys) and my ammonium (not ammonia. i don’t know why i have ammonium because my pH is not acidic and i know ammonium is better that ammonia but i still don’t want it in my tank) and it’s been going down, it’s been 4 days and it’s now between .25-.5 so i’m happy it’s going dowm, but is this normal for my tank?

will everything clear up in time? if so, roughly how long? i know all tanks are diff, but a guess would be nice.

i’ve done my research, but someone with experiance would help me bette

my filter is fine, it’s the right size and it’s working perfectly, i have sand that was washed very carefully and i don’t think that’s the prob. i have small fish like tetras and otos and cories, swordtails are the biggest in my tank (1.5 inches) my current water quality is

ammonia-0
ammonium- .25
nitrite-0
nitrate-5 (once hit 10 but it’s settled now at 5-10 leaning more to 5 and sometimes lower)
pH- 7.3-7.5

my nitrates are low because of my live plants and mt temp is 78-80 f and I think my ammonium might actually be closer to 0 than .25 but i rounded up.

why is my tank coudy, is everything normal so far? and what’s with the ammonium ( i added pH down a few times cuz my tap water is 7.5-7.8 due to lake michigan and i like my water to be nuetral or SLIGHTLY alkalinic, and when i do water changes [so far i've done 2] i add amquel +

is everything fine?

please answer my q in more than 5 sentences, the more info the better but don’t just babble either. i hate it when people answer in like 1-2 short sentences when my q is more complex than that. please help my out.
I will def tke all your advice into consideration! :) but i don’t change that much water. the first waeet change was 20% and since then i’ve only been taking out 5 G from a 56G tank! that’s nothing! I will not add anymoe pH down, I just thought nuetral water was the best. i will deff use this advice but i doubt that my tank is re-cycling every time i do water changes, i’ve done enough research to know that. i’m not a complete novice. first of all. i understand the bactera bloom thing but thenagain, i’n oly taking out 5G of water, but like you said, this is a new tank…un a month my tank should be stable. i KNOW that much, but for now, i’ll just have to deel with the tiny kinks that come with a new tank. it’ll clear up soon, i know that :) I’ll pick a best answer asap
molly, yes i know pH down contains (not is) sulfuric acid, I do read the lables before i waste my money on it.

Would this be a good tank for a pair of rams?

By Aquaboy on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 | 2 Comments

A few days ago I got two Bolivian rams and acclimated them to my 55 gallon tank with a bunch of tiger barbs, a kissing gourami, some catfish, and a polypterus. The barbs wouldn’t leave them alone, so I set up a 20 gallon long aquarium with just live plants and some flat rocks. All the gravel had been used in a tank for a few months, and had only been taken down two days before being set back up and the gravel not got dry, so it shouldn’t take too long for it to cycle. In the tank right now, I’ve got a female betta and an assassin snail. There’s two Fluval U1 filters, which are each good for up to 15 gallons and are pretty much power sponge filters, so little fish can’t get trapped in. The rams have been coloring up really well in the 55, and the barbs aren’t bothering them anymore, but they seem to have paired up, and I know they’re opposite genders. Should I move them before they spawn and all their babies get eaten, or should I wait a little longer so as to not stress them out too much?
The tank they’re in now doesn’t really have anywhere for them to spawn except the polypterus’s cave in the back right corner: http://www.photoshop.com/accounts/7e65b911989a48318e76f8afa245fad3/px-assets/b1815a428a9449328b994f9f8dd6c77c

And this is the tank I recently set up for them: http://www.photoshop.com/accounts/7e65b911989a48318e76f8afa245fad3/px-assets/7a57914d8b5b4643b8c0d56ae3e7bafc

I can take the betta out and put her somewhere else if I need to.
The bichir is about 5″ long right now.

$65 for this aquarium shipped – good deal?

By Aquaboy on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 | 6 Comments

It’s a 12 gallon NanoCube Original, not the Deluxe. It doesn’t have LED for moonlighting (nighttime viewing) and doesn’t have fans. He says I won’t need fans. It has one 24w lightbulb. He’s also adding a small return pump and heater. I looked at the pictures and it’s in great condition.

Do you think this is a good deal? I’ll be using it for a saltwater setup. Is it a disadvantage not to have the LED lights or fans?
It comes with the hood.

It’s this:

http://www.jbjnanocube.com/

Without the fans and LED lights.

Is burying algae in aquarium substrate a good idea?

By Aquaboy on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 | 1 Comment

Hi all, I have a 54 liter aquarium and there is slow but continual algae growth (in tangled masses) within it. I know that doing water changes helps lower the growth rate but this isn’t the question.

My question is that surely all this algae is taking lots of nutrients from the tank and throwing it away would be cutting the nitrogen cycle?

Would it be good for my plants if I got these tangled masses of algae and bury them deep in the sand so that they break down; and become a good source of nutrients for the plants? Or would it kill my fish?

My aquarium is about a year old.

10 points to the best answer!

I need some good ideas of what live plants i should get for my aquarium?

By Aquaboy on Saturday, July 24th, 2010 | 2 Comments

This will be my first live planted tank. I also will have african cichlids in the tank.

what would be a good name for my new clown fish and yellow tang?

By Aquaboy on Friday, July 23rd, 2010 | 16 Comments

The clown fish is maroon with yellow stripes

Whats a good freshwater fish that will burrow in sand?

By Aquaboy on Friday, July 23rd, 2010 | 7 Comments

I recently setup a new aquarium with sand as the substrate. I want a fish that will burrow in the sand and help keep it aerated. So far I’m thinking I will get 2 or 3 spiny eels (peacocks and/or zigzags), I like how they burrow and keep their head above sand, but what would be some other options. I also already have 2 yoyo and 2 zebra loaches among others helping mix up the sand.

Here are other burrowers I can think of:
Goby Dragon – Too ugly
Freshwater Snowflake Moray – Too big
Snails – Will get eaten quickly by the loaches
Which would burrow and dig around in the sand more, peacock eels or kuhli loaches?

What would be good tankmates with a Volital Lionfish?

By Aquaboy on Friday, July 23rd, 2010 | 2 Comments

I am new at saltwater tanks and need all the help I can get! I would like to add a starfish, a clown fish and some tangs. Which fish would be compatible?? I have a 60 gallon tank.
Please be specific about what kind of fish would go well with the Lionfish. Thanks for all answers!

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