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BeginnerFishKeeper

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  1. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Perfect, thank you so much for the help!
  2. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Ok thank you I’ll be sure to give it a try 🙂
  3. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Thank you all for your responses. Won’t crushed coral raise my ph too? If so by how much? I’m just worried it will raise the ph a lot.
  4. BeginnerFishKeeper
    I was going to use the aquarium co-op med trio for 1 week in a quarantine tank, then move the fish into the aquarium and dose paracleanse the 4th week.
  5. BeginnerFishKeeper
    How quickly does kh drop in a fish tank and what causes it to drop? I’ve been doing weekly 30-50% water changes as I’ve been cycling and want to remove the excess nitrates from the tank but before I water change I test the tank water. Usually before a water change the ph is low (6.4 - 6.6) the gh is high (12-13 dgh) and the kh is low (0-1 dkh). I’ve yet to test the water parameters after a water change, but I just tested the sink water last week. The ph was 8, the dkh was 8, and the dgh was 18 (ammonia was also .5 but that’s not relevant). I was considering adding some crushed coral to raise my kh but I was curious as to why my sink water dkh is so high yet my tank dkh is so low? I have fluval stratum in my tank and I know that lowers ph but I hadn’t heard of it affecting anything else. This also had me thinking since the sink water parameters are fairly different from my tank water parameters, would water changes stress out the fish?
  6. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Thank you so much, do you think I could get away with not dosing paracleanse the 4th week? I really don’t want to risk harming my beneficial bacteria. If I need to dose paracleanse the 4th week what would I do if it did affect my bb and I got an ammonia or Nitrite spike?
  7. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Thank you for your response! So right now I’m thinking to dose the trio of meds in a quarantine tank for 1 week, then move the betta fish into the main tank and re-dose paracleanse in the main tank the 4th week. My main concern is the quarantine tank. Would using seachem prime be enough to protect the fish from ammonia build up? Should I use a seeded sponge filter just as an extra measure of precaution? I don’t have one currently so how long would I run a new sponge filter in my tank if I were to use one?
  8. BeginnerFishKeeper
    That’s what I was wondering, although it’s recommended to re-dose fritz paracleanse the 4th week but on fritz website it says that paracleanse could also inhibit nitrifying bacteria so I wonder how that would work?
  9. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Right now I don’t have a quarantine tank because I was planning on dosing the medication in my 20 gallon display tank, but I’ll probably get a 10 gallon tank or tub for quarantine. Right now I’m only getting a betta fish for my tank, far down the line I’d like to look into tank mates but that wouldn’t be for a long while, and even then I’d just be considering it. Would water changes mess with the medications effectiveness? I’ve heard that even 0.25 ppm of ammonia is bad, so how do I effectively keep the ammonia below that?
  10. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Thank you both so much @Guppysnail and @Odd Duck !!! So since it will kill the beneficial bacteria I’ll have to set up a separate quarantine tank. How do I safely keep the fish quarantined for 1 month or longer if there isn’t any bacteria to convert the ammonia? Won’t the ammonia just build up until it kills the fish?
  11. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Is the quarantine medication trio (Fritz paracleanse, Mardel Maracyn, and Ich-x) safe for beneficial bacteria and plants? I’m mostly worried about the Mardel Maracyn because many have said it does harm beneficial bacteria as it’s active ingredient erythromycin can attack nitrifying bacteria. Some say it only affects beneficial bacteria in newer tanks which I may fall into that category as my tank just finished cycling. I figured I could use the medication trio in my cycled, planted tank for my betta fish as it will be the first fish introduced to the tank but how is that possible if Mardel Maracyn affects beneficial bacteria? I really wouldn’t want to have to fish - in - cycle if the maracyn were to kill the beneficial bacteria with the betta fish in the tank. Thanks 🙂
  12. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Thank you so much for the extremely helpful information! I first realized that research might not always beat experience when I got my plants, I was so confident about being able to have them thrive but oh was I wrong haha. Although that helped me realize I shouldn't expect everything to go according to plan and to be ready in case anything might go off the rails. Thanks so much again for the help!!!
  13. BeginnerFishKeeper
    I see, thank you so much for your response!
  14. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Ok thank you so much for the help! I just want to make sure I’m 1000% prepared for anything and everything just to be safe. Thanks again!
  15. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Thank you so much for this helpful information! Currently there are no fish in the tank, the one I’d be quarantining would be a betta fish. If I used medication in my main tank that was safe for plants and bacteria would that prevent me from getting future fish? I only ask because all the guides I’ve seen about setting up quarantine tanks say to thoroughly disinfect quarantine tanks after use, which I was confused about because what is there to worry about since the medication should get rid of anything harmful? Obviously I can’t disinfect my main tank after so would that mean I couldn’t get more fish in the future?
  16. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Thank you so much for the helpful information! So if if the quarantine tank isn’t cycled how do you prevent ammonia build up? I’ve heard you don’t want to do water changes while medicating but how else would you keep ammonia down?
  17. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Ok so my 20 gallon long planted tank is cycled, and I plan on getting a betta fish for it, but I want to make sure that I do everything properly. Is it ok to put a betta fish in a planted tank that isn’t balanced yet? I wasn’t sure if the plants melting would be considered a “habitat change” and stress out the fish, especially if a plant dies and I’d have to remove it. Can I “quarantine” fish in my main display planted tank? I know it wouldn’t be quarantine technically, so I guess I’m asking if I could dose the medication trio in my main tank? I don’t know if it’s a good idea or if it will affect whether or not I could put fish in that tank I the future. Would the medicine affect the plants or beneficial bacteria? I just figured since my main tanks already cycled and if the medications are safe for plants and bacteria it might be worth considering? For an actual quarantine tank does it need to be cycled? I’ve read some conflicting information about this. Some say medication will kill beneficial bacteria so it’d be pointless to cycle the tank and to do frequent water changes instead. Others say medication will not affect beneficial bacteria and not to do water changes as it will affect the medicine dosages and what not. Thoughts? How to properly acclimate fish? I’ve seen many people say to float and drip acclimate, but I saw one person say that drip acclimation could be harmful for fish that are shipped. Something about as soon as the bag is opened the CO2 releases and causes the ph to rise and then the ammonia becomes deadly or something? Does that only applies to fish that are shipped? Should I just float or drip acclimate too? Normal vs abnormal betta fish behavior? Im very paranoid about not being able to recognize whether or not my fish is stressed or sick. What behaviors should I expect from my betta fish if it’s happy and healthy? What behaviors should I be concerned about? I know that once I add the fish to the tank it might be stressed, but how long is too long for it to be stressed out do to it’s rehoming? I’m going to do more research on this before I get the betta fish but I figured I’d also ask while I’m here. Is it ok to not feed the fish for the first week while in quarantine? I know it’s one of the steps for medicating the fish, but I just wanted to triple check and make sure that’s safe? Should I bother trying to raise kh? the kh in my tank is super low <1 and the gh is really high. Should I try to raise kh? I know most people say that messing with gh or kh can cause more headaches than they’re worth and not to worry about it, but just as many people say that kh that low is dangerous. Thoughts? Thanks in advance :)
  18. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Ok sweet, thanks a bunch! I’ll definitely be following your suggestions. Thanks again!
  19. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Ok will do those water changes, after the 2 days of 50% water changes, how often should I do a water change? I wanted to get more plants but I didn’t know if the tank would be too crowded for a fish or not. How much “negative space” or room should I leave for a betta fish? I use a Finnex stingray led light. Thank you for the help, much appreciated!
  20. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Thank you for your comment! The >40 ppm would be before a water change, after its usually somewhere around >20ppm. I’ve been dosing 4 pumps of thrive c every week. Thank you all so much @Zenzo, @Tanked, and @Patrick_G!!! I wasn’t sure if there was a button to reply but I just did this haha. I will be sure to follow all of your helpful advice. Thanks again!
  21. BeginnerFishKeeper
    Ok so I am basically brand new to this hobby and I am really struggling when it comes to getting my plants healthy and controlling my algae. The only plant that I have noticed grow at all is my tiger lotus bulb. Everything else has basically stayed the same or gotten worse since it was introduced to the tank (melting, browning, deficiencies, etc). I struggle with diagnosing nutrient deficiencies because I’m new to this hobby and am not really sure what qualifies as symptoms of nutrient deficiencies vs regular plant behavior. Most of my plants have leaves that are turning yellow or brown, my Amazon sword has leaves that went from brown to yellow to translucent and also some have holes on them, etc. I’ll attach dated photos from when each plant was first introduced to the tank vs now. Plant symptoms Tiger lotus bulb - few minor holes but that’s it Amazon sword - translucent leaves, brown patches on leaves Anubias barteri - haven’t noticed much except little to no growth Anubias nana - haven’t noticed much except little to no growth Java fern - some holes on a few leaves Cryptocoryne lucen - hasn’t grown much, awkard leaf stem shape and occasionally leaves turn yellow Cyrptocoryne wendtii - completely melted, growing some small leaves now Pogostemon stellatus octopus - 50% leaves turning yellow or brown, 50% leaves green Water sprite - leaves are browning Water wisteria - didn’t grow at all, shriveled up and turned brown Java moss - basically all of it turned yellow brown Dwarf Sagittaria - not much change, few leaves have melted In this last month I’ve really struggled with algae as well (mostly hair algae). Every week I’ll do a deep clean of the tank (scrub walls + plants + decor, vacuum substrate, rinse filter) and get almost all of the algae out of my tank then do a 50% water change, but it just grows back a few days after. So I also need advice on balancing my tank. I want to dose more thrive fertilizer since I suspect my plants are missing out on many nutrients, but I also don’t want to encourage algae growth. I don’t know if I should mess with my light schedule, my fertilizer dosages, or both. My nitrates have been consistently high >40 ppm and Ive been dosing the recommended amount of thrive weekly for about 2 months now. My lights were on from 7 am - 3 pm for the first 2 months but last week I changed it to this schedule 8 am - 12 pm : On 12pm - 1 pm : Off 1pm - 3pm : On And I also noticed some water pests 1 or 2 weeks ago (detritus worms, hydra, I think daphnia / copepods, and rhabdocoela) but that’s a topic for another time Details Tank : 20 gallon long Substrate : fluval stratum Fertilizer: thrive c (dose 1x week) Light : Finnex stingray led light Filter : sponge Heater : Fluval E100 (I keep it at 78°) I set up my tank on August 1st 2021 and it’s not fully cycled yet (mistakes were made but the cycle is nearly complete now) When I set up my tank (8/1/2021) I planted the following all in substrate: Anubias barteri Anubias nana Amazon sword Java fern cryptocoryne wendtii cryptocoryne lucen Pogostemon stellatus octopus Tiger lotus bulb A month later (9/1/2021) I attached my anubias barteri and anubias nana to wonder rock and I attached my Java fern to a coconut hut I also added new plants (9/1/2021) : Java moss Water wisteria Water sprite Dwarf Sagittara Any help or advice would be very much appreciated, thank you 🙂
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