Assistance for a Newbie Please

[Little Guys]

Hi,  I am a newbie tank owner.  I have a 7 gal. planted tank with small  numbers of Neon and Ebony Tetras.  I also have Cherry Shrimp, Pygmy Cory's, a few otocinclus' and recently found one Ramshorn snail.  All live beings are active and look healthy.  The tank is about 5 months old and I have used the Aquarium Co-op products as needed to set up and balance the water.  My intention is to keep this tank small with little guys living there.

I have been testing daily for a bit 10 days (oops, missed one) and these are my testing values.  I would appreciate  someone taking a look who knows more than I do and giving me their thoughts about the health of my tank.

 

Levels	50 PPM	0	75	80	7.2	0	0
Date	Nitrate	Nitrite	Hardness GH	Buffer KH	pH	Chlorine	Amonia
2.4.2024 Mid Day	10	0	75	0	6.4	0	0
6:00 PM	10	1	75	0	6.4	0.08	0
4 hour after 10%	10	0	6.8	40	6.4	0	0
Water change -							0
2.5.2024 AM	10	0	75	0.5	6.4	0.5	0
6:00	25	0.5	25	0	6.4	3	0
2.6.2024  AM	10	0	75	0.5	6.4	0.8	0
PM	10	0	25	0	6.4	0	0
2.7.2024 AM	25	0.5	75	0	6.4	0	0
PM	10	0	75	0	6.4	0	0
2.8.2024 AM	10	0.5	75	0	6.4	0	0
PM	10	0.5	75	0	6.4	0	0
2.9.2024  AM	10	0.5	75	0.5	6.4	0	0
PM
2.10.2024  AM
PM
2.11.2024  AM	25	1	150	40	6.6	0	0
Water change -
PM	25	0.5	75	40	6.4	0	0
2.12.2024  PM	10	0.05	75	40	6.8	0.8	0
2.13.2024	10	0	75	20	6.8	0.8	0
2.15.2024 PM	10	0	75	20	6.8		0

 

 

Thank you for your time,  

[Tony s]

Ooh, you have very soft water. Possibly too soft for cherry shrimp. Optimal gh for cherries is about 140. Optimal kh is close to 60. On the other hand, you have almost perfect water for caradina species of shrimp like crystal reds. Possibly also too soft to adequately grow the shells on your snail. I’d keep an eye out for small cracks. That’s a sure sign of not enough calcium in your water. 
 

the other thing to watch for is ph fluctuations. Kh act as a buffer to prevent swings in ph. Your ph could swing rapidly if you’re not careful. 
 

if you’re set on the cherry shrimp instead of the crystal shrimp. You may need to add small amounts of crushed coral to increase your gh and kh to optimal levels.

[Lonkley]

You should test your tap water as well to see what you start with.

A wonder shell would probably be good for the shrimp

But coral in the filter is a good idea

[Guppysnail]

On 2/15/2024 at 11:06 PM, Little Guys said:

All live beings are active and look healthy. 

This is your best indicator of tank health.

Welcome to the hobby and the forum. Your tank is very pretty.

You do not need to test hardness so much. It’s not a parameter that fluctuates much at all.

Replacing the hardness test with an ammonia test will help ensure the health of your aquatic friends and help determine  why you are having Nitrite spikes.

How long after you feed are you testing.  The nitrite leads me to believe you may be testing too soon after feeding. Best is to test before feeding. 

My other thought would be you may be feeding a little too much at one time.  It’s a common mistake that after a lifetime of fish I’m still guilty of often. Try cutting your feeding in half and feeding a little less than each half 2 times a day instead of 1. It’s easier for the beneficial bacteria to keep up with so keeps the spikes at bay.

If your shrimp are doing fine I would not add wondershell.  It dissolves to rapidly in soft water.  Your neons are sensitive to quick fluctuations and the shrimp could be sensitive to a fast fluctuation also.

Try a small piece of cuttlebone to supplement for the shrimp. Break a tiny piece off of one and drop it in. It will float for quite some time.  The shrimp will munch it while it floats until it sinks.

[face]

You seem to have very similar water to mine soft the tetras and Cory’s will like it just fine the shrimp and snails might be a different story I don’t have much experience with them so I m not going to comment to much 

your tape water seems to be different than that in the tank (your kh is higher after a water change)imo it’s not a problem it might actually be beneficial as long as you keep up with water changes your ph shouldn’t go below 6.0 the only real problem with soft water 

I agree with the above test your tap water to see what your starting with 

[Little Guys]

Thank you for your thoughts.  I do have crushed coral in the tank. it runs through the back tank filter and that is what has the pH as high as it is.  

I am testing too close to feeding now that you say something about it and I will change that.  2 feedings are reasonable.  I have been feeding with Shrimpee and someone is eating it because it disappears overnight.  The Shrimp are fine, active and eating.

The reason I tested so frequently is to get an idea of what the tank is doing and understand the environment.  I would not usually do that, it just seemed like I was missing something.  

[Little Guys]

 I forgot to ask about an issue(?).  I periodically see air  bubbles coming up from the substrate, is that a problem?  Is there some weird mystery chemistry happening?

[Guppysnail]

On 2/16/2024 at 2:16 PM, Little Guys said:

 I forgot to ask about an issue(?).  I periodically see air  bubbles coming up from the substrate, is that a problem?  Is there some weird mystery chemistry happening?

As food and waste are broken down by bacteria it produces hydrogen sulfide as well as other things.  Weekly vacuuming will release them and keep it from accumulating to a dangerous level. 

[Little Guys]

Thank you