Bertman35769

I have him in a quarantine tank (bucket) with the salt solution but I'm afraid it is too late as he was barely alive this morning but lying on the bottom of the bucket. I will chalk this up to "lessens learned". Thanks quikv6 for the help.

Ah ok. I do remember reading about that. I will do that right now and report back. Any idea how long to do this? Thanks quikv6

I bought this one from one of the chain stores as allot of us do when we are not near a good reputable fish store. I first added him to my 55G with tetras, angelfish, cory cats, and a blue gourami. The rest of the fish are established and grown. Luckily I was watching because the whole dang aquarium chased this poor guy. I had to get him out of there so I put him in my 10G planted with some guppies. The guppies are dong fine and water parameters are great but this poor gourami is on the edge of death. He will try to eat a little but he misses the food he is aiming for. Any ideas on how to move forward? Thanks

Dang no I didn't check that. I drip acclimated the shrimp but not the guppies. I put them in after 30 minutes of floating the bag. That is probably the issue. I have one left alive. What would be your recommendation? Thanks for taking the time on this holiday Seattle!

Hey everyone, I am not sure what happened so please throw me a bone. I've had this planted tank (10 gal) for several weeks and I use co2 as well. All of the plants have been prospering very well and i thought it was time to add some fish. My GH and KH stay close to 4 and I dialed in my co2 so the PH drops to 6.8 when running and returns to 7.8 when it is off. No ammonia detected and my nitrates stay around 20 ppm. Today I wake up to two dead guppies but my shrimp (4) are still alive and one guppie made it. Can anyone tell me what might be wrong? Total fish = 3 guppies, 1 gourami, 4 shrimp. Thanks P.S. I use a good Finnex planted light.

OK so, my Ammonia is almost gone considering it was 1 ppm 4 days ago. My nitrite is currently .50ppm an my Nitrate is 5ppm. Thanks for asking Chick-In-Of-TheSea. I am not panning to do anything else at this point except weekly water changes and keeping and eye on KH, GH, & PH right? I agree all the way CK with the sponge filter. I used mine to cycle my Betta tank and this planted one as well. My 55 has cory's, angles, red tail shark (carp), gourami, tetra, pleco, and a few snails. The mystery snails are my favorite. I have never had to clean the algae in my 55 so far. I must have done something right so far! Not a bad tank for a Petsmart package. I have added an external heater controller and a UPS on its way. Also some glass lids which is a must IMO.

OK quick update = It has been 5 days since my last update. I bought the RO buddy for my water changes and I've been able to keep my GH and KH around 4 most of the time. Also I am using CO2 injection as have been monitoring the levels and all is good there. My plants seem to be doing good. I did see my Nitrates are staying around 10ppm. Is there anything else I may be missing or not looking at that you guys can point out? I still have NO fish right now and I believe my cycle did complete as I monitored the ammonia levels daily and all of that appears in low parameters. Anyway, Thanks for reading and guidance.

Great info there Chick! Thanks so much for sharing. I'm watching now!

Holy cow! Thanks CITS, I planted mine...😟 I will get it out as soon as I get home. Also thanks again for all of the support form you guys!!! (I'm working nights right now so the context may not make sense) When I got home this morning I performed a 100% water change and when i woke today and checked the chemistry, everything but the nitrates was spot on!!😃 What is the best way to increase my nitrates? Fertilizer?? I will order some glue right now as I am using sewing thread which is so darn thin and difficult to tie in a knot at my age... One last question, I hope.. Do I still need to keep adding bacteria to the tank? I used the stability from seachem and dosed for 7 days along with one dose of Topfin instant bacteria. How do i know when I have enough bacteria? (another newby question)

Thanks again everyone! I'm always one to share the knowledge if I have it and all of you have made me feel better about my situation by sharing your experience and knowledge with me. I will post an update in a few days and let ya'll know how its going. Cheers!

Sounds like a plan. Thanks everyone and sorry for the newby ignorance. I only wish I had gotten into the hobby earlier in life. I never new I would like aquariums as much as I do. I got into this so that my twin (5 year old) boys could have a hobby to keep them busy and out of trouble. I think I am enjoying it more than they are tho.

Correction, it was 9 root (Aquarium Co-Op)tabs but even though that may be too much. Moving forward, should I have just planted into the substrate with only a squirt of the fertilizer in the water and no root tabs? With no fish poop for food, will the plants be ok to just stick in the substrate? I may be in over my head. Very discouraging. I know it is self inflicted, I just cannot find answers to the grey areas I have. I will remove everything tomorrow and start over. Just water, substrate, and plants and the light of course.

Maybe some tetras and snails. No big plans. I just want to learn the plant side of the business right now. I ordered a CO2 injection system so that should help. Any ideas on the chemistry. Am I focusing on the wrong parameters? I watched the Aquascape University guide yesterday but there was no mention of ammonia, only GH,KH, and PH. That test kit will be here tomorrow.

I have been doing 50% water change. I failed to mention that I did have a gourami in there for two days but that is all. No fish at this time. I wanted to establish the plants before adding fish. Thanks again

I just planted my first planted 10 gal aquarium after much research and study but I wasn't as prepared as I thought. There are no fish in the tank and I first cycled the tank with Seachem Stability and old filters from my 55 gal established tank. I have small gravel substrate with Java fern, dwarf hairgrass, lily bud, and anubias petite in there. I used the root tabs (12) below the substrate before I planted and that's it. My amonia , Nitrite, and nirate was off the charts when tested with the Topfin master kit. My local aquarium shop just told me to change the water to get the ammonia down. I am four days in and I have changed the water every day but is that correct? My reading come down and then spike again. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks