am I going to fast?

nyrmel · 05-30-2008, 01:52 PM

I am going to be by the LFS or rather 2 of them tomorrow and I am very tempted to add a freind or two my water temps are starting to to show no changes ammonia barely showing color not really even on the chart. Nitirte same with barely any color as well and nitrate is at about 15 (unless I mixed up the N's in which case reverse them I never could spell anyways) I do have aplanted tank and am having growth that is noticable on at least half the plants. I have been checking params 2 to 3 times a day and they havent changed or increased since memorial day I have done one water change wed which dropped all 3 by a bit but as i said 2 of them are barely noticable and the 3rd is reasonable for plants. So my tank has now been running for 3 1/2 weeks and was started with cycle and dosed at 1 week with it but not at 2 and with a little substate and filter media from our happy pond out back. though I had a few tetra's lost in first couple days (2 weeks ago)the last one and the guppy are very happy as is my shrimp and my new stowaway snails.

ok there is the background
I am very tempted to get 1 or 2 guppies and up to 3 card tetra's if the lfs has any (if not I will wait I would like a final of 5 or 6 cards but want to add slowly) I am going to be in town until the 29th of june when I will be leaving for 4 days. I have my light timer and a little red/blue light on orderand am waiting for them to arrive. What is the verdict am I jumping the gun or may I have a new friend this weekend? I would like th hear the thots of FTF

Loman · 05-30-2008, 09:11 PM

I hope it is the Nitrate that up a bit. While the two words sound very similar the impact is very different. Ammonia ans Nitrite are leathal in any real measurable quantity. Nitraes will accumulate and are removed typically via water changes and in your case the plants. You do not mention how far you are from the LFS. The conservative advice is to wait. That said you could probably add a couple and be okay but it is not really to a definitive point yet. The ideal would be no detectable ammonia and nitrie with 10-20 Nitrate or there abouts. The water change lowering ammonia and nitrite causes some level of concern because that indicates there was still a deficiency in the good bacteria when that happened. Did it complete enough in the last couple days is really hard to say. I also understand how hard it canbe to wait.

nyrmel · 05-30-2008, 09:41 PM

ok i am home from work now and can say it is the nitrAte that is really affected by the water change the ammon and nitrIte are so slight a change that I really cant even pick it out on the chart to give it a number and I am not even sure if it isnt just my imagination that it changes at all the LFS I am planning to go to is a bit over an hour away and is up and over the pass so not a trip I make all that often but I have to go for a costco walmart run (generally every 2-3 weeks) as well as take care of some other things while i am there which will take me close to the LFS where I want to look for a plant I saw on this site that I thought was really great looking to replace the one that my guppy is eating to the point of killing?? hasnt touched any other plant but has eaten thru all the stems on this one and stripped the leaves. so that is the situtation. just seems like in this 20 gallon tank having only a guppy a tetra and a shrimp they are gonna start singing rub a dub dub to me.

Loman · 05-30-2008, 11:24 PM

All things considered I would probably add a few fish. The conservative approach is still to wait but it ammonia and nitrite are virtually zero (sometime they have a tint no matter what) and you only add a few it should work out. It has been a long time since I had cardinal tetras but I suspect they are somewhat fragile. Fancy guppies IMO can be very fragiole depending on the breeding. You could also consider something like a molly or platy which may be a bit hardier and deal with a slight ammonia spike a touch better should one occur.

nyrmel · 05-30-2008, 11:30 PM

ok I will have too see hwat they have to catch my fancy til then i will dream about the tank I want to have (but need space for) and see yall tomorrow

Jay · 05-31-2008, 06:53 AM

I agree you can probably add a few fish.

I also agree with Loman that Neons and Cardinal tetras are difficult to keep in a new tank, don't set yourself up for disappointment as some are likely to die quickly.

I don't know how heavily planted your tank is, but plants will uptake ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate giving you a false sense of security concerning your beneficial bacteria.
Not to be alarmed I still agree with Loman you can add some fish.

Jay

nyrmel · 05-31-2008, 01:06 PM

um that is my tank in the sig and aside from the lurid pink coral my son had to have all the plants are real

orb4me · 05-31-2008, 03:13 PM

I hope that coral is fake!!! There is this thing called bioload (not sure what im talking about as usual), but if you put more fish in the tank than what the bioload can handle, everything will be wacked up. Im thinking 2 tiny fish would be plenty for now and see what happens. JMO as always.

Loman · 05-31-2008, 07:38 PM

Just to add some dat. I am sure the coral is fake since corals are saltwater animals and thisis freshwater set up. In general in a salt or reef tank corals do not add in a real ay to the bio-load. However, it is worht talking about bio-load to clear that up some. There are a lot of rules of thumb etc. regarding how many fish can go into a tank. Probably the best indicator / measure is the bioload. It is essenetially a way to talk about the waste products such as ammonia produced by the living inhabitants of the tank. Since some fish are messier than others for example the bioload could vary based on fish species. I am not sure there is a specific measure of bio-load but it is used to say how much toxins the tank must deal with.

nyrmel · 05-31-2008, 08:07 PM

ok I just got back and my new freinds are floating getting ready to rig the drip soon
I decided on 3 small mollies one black one white and one dalmation(50/50 coloring) a mystrey snail (also very small) and 1 little catfish (I already forgot the name but he is supposedto max at 2 in and is only about 1/3- 1/2 right now) I know that there is the thing about algea eaters and I know I dont have to have one to keep the tank pretty but like snails I think they look cool when they sit on the glass and look at you. So there for I HAVE to have one

All and all I think I was pretty good I didnt get any tetra's and was disappointed when I saw they had the altered ones nor did I get more guppies (though those will be next) nor did I get the 20 other fish that caught my eye. So I did good right going slow i now have 11 inches of fish when full grown and none are even half there.
ok well gonna start the drip see yall later