Learning about this page.

[Tammy]

This is all new to me. I started watching Cory on YouTube and I love it! I am learning so much. I sometimes watch KG tropicals but I must say Cory is so well spoken and I am amazed with how well he does it. I would just like to say thank you so much!!! I have went to Petsmart a few times and they can be helpful but it’s usually just some young kid that really! Just knows the basics. I’ve learned more on Cory‘s channel and taught them a few things I’ve learned. I hope I’m not sounding corny Cory ha ha but I do need some help walking through doing all of this because it can get very costly if I’m doing what I think I should be yet it’s still not working so I just need some help with all this. Thank you to anyone who can help me out with this I appreciate it greatly.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Hi @Tammy Oleary welcome to the forum. I pulled your other post:

"I have a 15 gallon fish tank with about seven plants not doing the greatest with the plants I just started adding liquid food for the plants. My water is green yet I don’t have a lot of algae at all on the side of the tank on the rocks or any hairy algae on the plants. My pH was 6.2 so I added a little pH increase one time. My nitrates and nitrates are at zero. How much longer before the tank should get back to normal?"

Can you tell us how long tthe tank has been running? Are there any inhabitants yet?

Edited March 6, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Tammy]

Yes there are eight fish mollies platies and Guppies. It’s been 2 1/2 months. It is my granddaughter’s fish tank and my son has been taking care of it and set it up. And he’s doing all the wrong things and I can’t get him to watch Cory‘s videos so he can understand it. So I just now took over. He thinks if you do a complete water change and clean everything it’s good now it isn’t you’ll have to start all over again and wait for the tank to cycle.I have changed the water three times now and the green algae  is getting better. They have a hang on the back filter that came with the tank and they keep using the throwaway carbon filters. Should we get one of Cory’s filters that he invented and can we use just that do we have to have a hang on filter

[lefty o]

welcome to the forum, and dont feel afraid to ask questions. there is a ton of knowledge here, and pretty much everyone is willing to help.

[Tammy]

Thank you so much I do appreciate it

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

If your tank isn't properly cycled you do have to do water changes on a near daily when fish are in there, this is called a "fish in" cycle. If you haven't already Tammy, watch Cory's simple Nitrogen cycle video it's very easily explained: 

Because you have no Nitrates it sounds like the tank isn't cycled, and 0 Nitrates when you're adding plant fertilizer is odd unless it's so little that the plants just suck it up. When the tank is properly cycled you should have 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite and some Nitrate, from 5-40. 

Filtration: this is a personal subject really. HOBs are great. The throw away filters are convenient and good for people starting out in the hobby, but if you get really into this sooner or later you'll "hot rod" or modify that HOB (hang on back) filter (youtube that). I run an HOB on one overstocked tank with a sponge filter. The rest of my tanks are sponges. They are easy to maintain and basically no cost as they rarely need replacing.

[Tammy]

Me again, I did watch this video weeks ago and It made a lot of sense. I also laughed a lot, Cory is very entertaining.I’m doing a lot of looking back-and-forth at all the messages trying to learn all about this site, I’m not computer savvy.