Jeannie

Sorry, it's my previous five cherry barbs went in two weeks, then I added the last five yesterday. The Danios were added before the Cherry Barbs. Thanks.

Hello Everyone, I have two questions. I went to my LFS yesterday and bought five more cherry barbs to add to the five I already have as I've heard they like to be in a group, bigger the better apparently. So, I have three males, seven females to keep the ratio balance. I told the guy in LFS I had a 100L tank, I think that's 26 US gallons. He told me my tank was big enough for them, now I'm not so sure, I also have five Zebra Danios in the tank. What do you guys think about this? I have lots of real plants and hiding spots in the tank. I'm not planning on adding anymore fish, apart from a bottom feeding fish to help with food deposits and algae. Any suggestions there on what type? Also, I think my tank must be cycled even though it's only been running for 23 days now. I used the Fritz Zyme 7 BB, lots of live plants, I have gradually added my fish, my last cherry barbs went in two weeks ago, as my water tests have consistently tested 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite and about 10 to 20 ppm Nitrate. I've tested almost daily. I have nice algae now growing in my tank which I've heard is a good sign. I know my tank isn't seasoned or anything that takes way longer 6 months I've heard. I'm just wondering why I've never seen an Ammonia or Nitrite spike, I guess the BB and plants have done their job. Obviously, now I've added my new fish yesterday I will closely monitor the water, and the fish, I can't quarantine my fish I just don't have a spare tank or the room for one, my smaller 25L still has my shrimp in it and three kitty tetras. But I go to LFS who's tank's are very clean and no dead fish, so fingers crossed my all my fish stay healthy. I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts about the Cherry barbs or tank Cycle. Thank you.

Thank you Isaac I understood that video much more, she explains it very well. Feeling slightly less stupid and overwhelmed. I'm also glad I'm not the only one that feels this way!! Thanks guys.

Thanks guys, I wasn't aware of GH and KH. I've just watched Cory's video and read the other link. I think I kind of understand it, might have to read and watch again a few times to really comprehend it. Feeling a bit stupid!! I do currently keep a record of my daily tank readings etc. Guess I need to buy the test kits for GH and KH. Once I've got my head around this and understand exactly what I'm testing for. Mind boggling stuff.

Hi Everyone, I've just read on another post that tanks can end up with old tank syndrome. What is this exactly and roughly what time lapse can tanks start to suffer from this? More importantly, how can it be avoided? If indeed it can be avoided. I'm still learning about this hobby. It seems never ending.

Hi Guys I have an update for you. Its day three, I've kept the tank covered with a towel, peeked at tank to do water tests and check the fish are Ok, which they appear to be. The Cyanobacteria appears to have died down a lot, almost gone, it's not spreading so that's a result. I still have final dose of treatment to complete later today. I thought the treatment and covering the tank was a double attack against the Cyanobacteria. The only downside is for the first time my Ammonia has crept up to .25ppm so I've dosed with Fritz complete to remove the Ammonia as I can't do water changes for a couple of weeks as per Cyano treatment instructions. I've also dosed with more Fritz Zyme 7 BB to help my bacteria levels, as my tank is still fairly new and I think the treatment has affected the BB. My Ammonia has been zero since day one. All other readings today are great. I guess I will have to do part water change if Ammonia continues to rise, I see no choice with that aspect. I hope I've done the right thing by adding the Fritz products, I couldn't think of what else to do. Can't allow the Ammonia to creep up. I feel I'm on a rollercoaster with this tank, not a nice feeling, I'm so hoping my fish will be OK, but I'm trying my best and I'm NOT giving up, that's simply not an option.

Thank you Diving Aquarist, it's great to know this method worked for you. My tank is currently covered in a large towel. Fingers crossed this also helps combined with the treatment I'm using.

Thanks for the advice guys. I know I'm in for a battle with this disgusting stuff it's like a curse in your tank. I'm not sure I have the confidence to use hydrogen peroxide I'd be worried I'd overdose and kill my fish. I hope this stuff I'm using now works, I'm going to blackout my tank at the same time. I'm going to do as fish folk suggested and I'm going to cut off the worst affected leaves off my plants, I've already removed as much from the substrate as possible. I've heard great things about Ultralife blue/green slime remover, can't get it here in the UK so I've had to order it from Amazon but it won't arrive for about three weeks, so frustrating, but if my attempts at removing it now fail, I have the back up plan. Let the battle commence !!

Hi Everyone, I'd really be interested in hearing from any of you who have had to tackle blue/green algae or are currently fighting this algae. I know it's not actually an algae but a bacteria. I've just started treatment for mine today with a product called Cerpofor Aerocol which is what my LFS here in the Uk have given me. I have to dose for three days, I'm told it's Ok with my fish. My tank is a fairly new tank and everything has been going fine until this horrible algae appeared, it grows so fast. I think it's occurred because I've put plant soil beneath my substrate, being new to the hobby I thought this would be great for the many plants I have in my aquarium, I regret this decision now. I was leaving the lights on for about 10 hours a day for the plants but this I'm going to reduce to eight once I've hopefully eradicated this algae. I'm also planning on leaving the lights off for the next three days. I do have an air stone which is left on most of the time and a good filter. The carbon from the filter has been removed whilst treating the algae as per dosing instructions. The tank is 100L lightly stocked with 5 Danios and 5 Cherry Barbs which are lightly fed once a day at the moment (I'm strict about the feeding). Daily water readings since the start of set up have been great. I used Fritz Zyme 7 BB to get the cycle going. My readings for Ammonia and Nitrite have been 0 since day one and my Nitrates range from 10 to 20 ppm. PH8 a little high but I have hard water in my area. I have done two water changes of about 20% which have happened whilst syphoning off the algae from the substrate. How have you guys faired with battling this algae. Any experiences or advice is most welcomed. Thanks.

I'm new to this hobby. I've just started a 100L tank but have a 25L tank with Amano shrimp. When I first got the five of them home and acclimated them and released them from the bag (they were pretty small back then) I thought I had counted five coming out of the bag. I placed the bag into my kitchen sink, admired my tank for a couple of minutes, went to grab the bag to throw it in the bin and found one of the shrimp staring back up at me, hovering right next to the plug hole, never to be seen again. I screamed in horror. Luckily, I just placed my hand next to it and it jumped onto my hand and I quickly placed it in the tank. All five shrimp are alive to this day and have grown pretty big.

Hello Hobbit, Thank you, that is so very encouraging of you to say I'm doing a great job. I've just completed my water tests for today and all still ok. My Danios are lively and happy. May it continue.

Hi Guys, That's so interesting about the Rasboras bullying each other, I think for one of my Tetras to get stuck between the filter and the glass of the tank, something must have been after it, god knows how the other met its death. Oh no, hadn't thought about the possibility of Danios being able to hybridise during breeding, I'm trying to avoid live bearers like guppies and Platy's as I don't want to end up with an over populated tank. I was hoping my shrimp might pick off any eggs the Danios lay. Seems I need to research the Danios further. Thanks for that warning. Thank you, Luterman a journal is a great idea, I might just do that. I have no fellow fish keeping friends to chat with in the UK. and I can't find a local fish keeping group to chat with either. I will not give up, I already feel uplifted after todays chats.

Hi Phoenix X and Diving Aquarist, Thank you for welcoming me to the forum and taking your time to answer my post, it's much appreciated. It is upsetting losing fish, I guess I need to toughen up on that front. I've put my heart and soul as most of us do into researching all aspects of fish keeping and I guess because I'd had success with my 25 litre tank, I thought upgrading to the 100 litre would be easier, especially as there were more margins for error as nano tanks are supposed to be harder to maintain. Perhaps my Kittys did bully each other in the night, although I'd never seen it during the day, the other three are all still ok and healthy. Fingers crossed it stays that way. I don't feel quite as bad now knowing you Phoenix X experienced the same scenario. I'm glad everything worked out ok for you in the end with your first tank, how amazing your Ottos ended up breeding. I just hope I can keep my 5 Danios alive, I'm quite attached to then already, such fun fish to watch. I can't wait to move my three Kittys into the larger tank when it's safe to do so, will have to buy another two to ensure they feel more secure in a larger group. I will watch and test my water like a hawk with the 100 litre. I'm in no rush to add anymore fish, which apart from my Kitty Tetras I've decided all new fish will be different Danios as they are hardy fish, I don't want to mess with more fragile fish now. I'm going to slightly under stock my tank to allow more margin for anything which may go wrong. I think the fish will be happier with more room anyway. I do have filtration in the tank which came with my tank and was told at the LFS is a very good filter. One plus. I do ensure it agitates the water surface. My water temperature is 23C and PH a little high at 8.00ph. I've read not to fiddle with that as fluctuating PH isn't good, the fish are supposed to adapt to it? Danios I think don't mind too much anyway. I have to use de-chlorinator as unfortunately it is in my tap water. Thank you Diving aquarist, I had already considered using my 25 litre as a quarantine/sick fish tank. I have to also wait to ensure it's safe to move my 5 Amano shrimp and 4 nerite snails from this across to the 100 litre (sorry we spell litre like this in the UK) although I am already getting Algae growing across the substrate and on some plants which is a good food source for them. Apparently, algae is a good sign in a new tank set up? I shall check out the Quarantine videos as suggested. Thank you guys. You've been so friendly and helpful. I will just keep swimming. Maybe one day I can offer someone some advice once I've gain more knowledge and experience, that would be nice.

Hi Everyone, I live in the UK. but have found the Aquarium Co-op on Youtube and this forum. I'm a newbie fish keeper and I have to be honest this fish keeping hobby is more complex than I first realised. I'm doing as much research as possible but seem to get a bit confused with sometimes conflicting advice. I have two tanks, a 25 litre which has been running for about 8 months with Amano Shrimp which are thriving and I added 5 kitty tetras, a few weeks ago. They were all looking so healthy, eating, acting normally, no signs of illness. I came down one morning to find one dead, wedged between my filter which sits inside the tank and the side of the tank. Couldn't find one of the others, then saw my shrimp was eating it, it has obviously also died in the night. My other three are healthy. My water parameters were all spot on. I can only think they somehow died of some sort of shock but how? Now I'm holding my breath each time I come down in the morning and check the tank. A confidence blow. My other tank is a 100 litre. I tried an unsuccessful fishless cycle, my tank seemed to have crashed, it stuck with no change what so ever with the Ammonia not dropping for 4 weeks, no sign of Nitrites either, despite putting in some gravel and some filter media from my small tank and adding beneficial bacteria, I dosed twice with Dr Tims. Nothing worked. for 35 days. No change at all. Rightly or wrongly, after advice from my local fish store who said my tank had crashed I tore it down, cleaned everything started over again, this time using Fritz Zyme 7 which I'd seen on Youtube and stated you could add fish straight away, I did use dechlorinator. I was sceptical of this product but after watching a couple of other Youtube bloggers using it and saying their fish were Ok and also watching an employee of Fritz endorsing this product, I thought ok I'll try this method. I've only added 5 Zebra Danios which was 6 days ago. I do have a fair amount of live plants in the aquarium which I know consume ammonia. I also have an air stone. Anyhow, each day I've tested I have 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, about 10 or 20 Nitrate (too close to tell which one). Nitrate is in my tap water at that level so I doubt it's the tank which has produced this reading. I'm baffled. Surely I should see some some sort of rise in Ammonia by now? I only lightly feed the fish once a day. So, my questions are. Are 5 Danios enough to produce enough Ammonia? How will I know my tank is cycled? As when the Ammonia and Nitrite start to rise I know I have to do part water changes and use Fritz water conditioner to remove them. But I also can't allow the Nitrate to rise above 40ppm max. I don't want to add anymore fish until I know its safe to do so. Kinda regret taking this route now, but the Fritz Zyme 7 seemed a safe option at the time. I really, really should have stuck with doing a fishless cycle but I lost the plot with that method and this route seemed easier at the time. Sorry for the long post, but I'm really trying hard to work this out and get some help. My LFS aren't much help and haven't even heard of Fritz Zyme 7 I had to order it on Ebay. Thank you guys any advice would be welcome.