# BettaTank: Got ahead of myself too excited HELP



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

Thanks to everyone who is/has contributed to this excellent resource!!!

CliffNotes: I have a male Betta "Kali", 3 red shrimp, 4 live plants and* 1 Cory Catfish* (LFS claims Corydoras punctatus) in a newly set up Fluval Spec V which is not yet cycled but well monitored. I'm worried about space and the catfish not having catfish friends. The Cory and Betta appear to have come to terms, I wouldn't call them buds just yet, but they are settled in together. Should I 
1) Take the Cory back for store credit
2) Go get two more of these same Cory's (space concern) this is what the wife wants
3) Go get two Panda corys which are about half the size of what I have and hope they all buddy up
4) Take the Cory I have back and get 3 or 4 Panda Corys
5) Keep as is, they are getting along (feel bad about the cory without little cory buddies. I didn't realize they are supposed to have friends)

Thanks for your time and suggestions. I'll give a little more background in a follow up post.


----------



## hgual22 (Jul 18, 2014)

The cories need to be in a school of at least 6, which you do not have space for. So I would take him back.


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

*Background TL;DR*

So wifey got the visiting niece a betta about 6 months ago. Its been breaking my heart seeing it in an uncirculated unheated, switching back and forth between two 1.5gallon ish fat glass vase's since. Enough was enough and I started reading on here and took action  Really kewl Betta

Fluval spec 5, one small hole cut in pump output tube, edge prefilter keeping the flow down, Cobalt Neo-Therm 50w in the side section keeping the temp right on (is that called the "sump" where the pump is?), API freshwater test kit, toss the tetra betta safe and got the "Prime", artistic plastic mesh over the filter water intake grate, plug that little hole 2/3rds of the way down, glass thermometer and verified right on the thermopen, small gravel vac siphon. 

Wife says, lets get live plants. More reading realize I've got the wrong substrate down but think I'm gunna stick with the BBx2 sized smooth mini rocks gravel (but need a little more) and use root tabs which I bought and this light isn't good enough. We've come so far lets finish strong. Finnex 16" Planted+ ordered. Bought Amazon Sword, Java Fern, baby tear, and a cardinal plant (this appears to be the tough one).

While poorly executing these closing steps I just got a little ahead of myself. Wish I had different substrate, thought I could do just one cory, didn't realize I shoulda gone with the smaller cory even though the wife is going "This1This1", and I may have been able to do a little better on the plant selection, that cardinal in particular looks like it may be trouble, baby tears the second hardest.

Testing daily with the API test kit. Parameters are good, using the prime daily. Will prolly do another 50% water change today. The plants came potted so they are just sitting in there for now. Need to add more gravel, plant root tabs (do these go under, beside the plants, or even spaced throughout), rearrange and plant the plants.... And decide on what to do with this cory that has grown on us and got acclimated well.

This is fun, I likey


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

hgual22 said:


> The cories need to be in a school of at least 6, which you do not have space for. So I would take him back.


hey hgual22, appreciate the help. Yeah I have that listed as option 1. I did verify the LFS isn't gunna just flush em if I do, he'll get back in with his buds after another round of super stress.

Would be nice to have another fish or two but want a healthy balanced happy environment and at the end of the day the tank of for the betta we already had. This isn't much space but the spec v is a long skinny tank for a 5 gal...

What happens to cory's without buddies? Are they like, a little bumbed out or are they "OMG my entire family vanished I wanna die" devastated. He really seems good. Are different types of cory's different in their need to socialize?

More inputs??? I won't be inhumane to the fish (or whatever u call the fish version of inhumane). I'm trying to improve the bettas life here


----------



## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

Corys can be somewhat sensitive little guys. When kept alone or without a sufficient number of the same species, they get stressed, which can leave them more susceptible to disease/parasitic infection. All corys are "shoaling" fish, so they all need at least 4-6 companions of the same species for optimum health. A 5-gallon tank is absolutely perfect for a betta and a few shrimp (though be warned that some bettas have been known to snack on shrimp!), but nothing else. It's good that your fish store will take him back. Unless you want to get another tank, you should return him. If you wanted to keep the cory, you could upgrade to a 10-gallon and get four or five buddies for him.


----------



## TerriGtoo (Jul 2, 2013)

LOL, you are certainly the exuberant first timer! (as are many!). You are on the right track with the cory though.....he should really be taken back to the store. The pygmy cories are what you want. You could get away with three of those little guys. If you don't absolutely have to have cories, check out some of the CPD's I know I constantly bring these guys up but once you get a small school you'll know why I am so UP on these guys. Extremely hardy and beautiful and tiny at maturity. a bit hard to find but well worth the search. Baby Tears have always been a bust for me. Tried it two or three times and no go. 
And BIG, BIG,.... HUGE congratulations on getting the Cobalt Neo Therm Heater, one of the best high end heaters out there, you can't go wrong with them. But you know that now. Expensive but well worth it!

Not sure exactly what you have for gravel....do you know manufacturer / name of gravel?

I have cardinal plant. It's really not a true aquatic plant, but can be grown submerged for a time. I bought a bouch of it and it has grown well for me but it's one of those plants that you need to constantly propagate and root the tips or they will get leggy and lose their bottom leaves. I have mine under a combo of bright LED and window light. 
Java fern and swords are excellent choices though depending on the type of sword may soon outgrow your tank. And the swords are iron guzzlers so you may want to check into some root tabs for them. Make sure you bury only the actual roots on the java fern and not the entire base.
You might want to check into some anubias. They can be tied to driftwood or rock or left to float, they are very hardy. Very slow growing but then in your size tank you don't want it overrun anyway.

and don't be a tease! Post some pics for us.


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

Thanks for the replies every1. Work called so got pulled off which regrettably delayed me long enough to miss the LFS closing time.

Appreciate the recommendations, going to do the right thing and get this kewl cory back with his buddies tomorrow. I think I'm going to take the cardinal plant back as well. Going to go check ammonia now, based on this mornings .25 I'll be doing at least 25% if not 50% water change. I did 50% yesterday. 

I'll try to grab some pics. Yeah this neo therm is schweet. It just works correctly no fiddling and seems to be built like a tank; the whole tank is within half a degree of the setting. Also I gradually brought the temp up from the 70 the betta started at; did perfect. Will be back on ltr.

On the gravel, it's what wifey had originally. Its very natural looking shades of browns and tans small rock; don't know the brand. I read an article around about how to switch out substrates, that didn't look fun (half at a time a few days apart, funnel or bag in the new stuff to the bottom). If I need to do it I'll do it though. Am more concerned about disrupting everything that is off to a decent start and more stress on Kali Betta; time to let things calm down in there. (ok the plants aren't really started yet but the system in general). I don't want to do dirt, maybe sand (does it show everything), or the more for plants gravel. It's a small tank, I'll buy pretty much whatever. If I stick with what I have I'll need more of it anyway.

Those CPD's look awesome.


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

Can I get more of this stuff and plant with root tabs?



This isn't the final layout. Rearranging when planting.











Um what happened to Patrick's britches? And where'd that shrimp shell come from.


----------



## Veloran (Jun 28, 2014)

Hi, just wanted to quickly add, please check that pineapple house often, I've read on some sites and some reviews about the paint chipping and peeling after a while and that's not something to which you want to expose your little guys.

As for the gravel, it could work, however, debris will get trapped below the gravel and while a gravel vac will usually get the gunk out, once you put plants in there, you will need to be careful about vacuuming. I personally use black sand (outside of the 10g with eco-complete) and it's so easy to clean, all the debris sits right ontop and can be easily siphoned out. Plus, I'm a poop nazi, once I see poop on it, it comes out with the baster, especially since my little guy likes to poop within half hour after a water change.

Also, I'm not sure about cories and gravel, someone else may have to chime in on that.


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

Thanks for the tip on the pineapple. That low quality slack a** b es drives me up a wall. Haven't decided what to do but there will likely be a change at some point going forward, prolly wait till after cycled but maybe when I plant. What happened to quality and taking pride in what you do? Ohh check the made in label (I do realise the origin of this product does have quality products and made in the usa has QC issues as well...but the general trend is....I digress)

Disappointing, sponge bob rocks

The cory is going back shortly. Not enough room to bring him in some buddies, and he can't be happy without them. I can't do that to an animal.

My PH has risen from 7.0 to 7.6 in the last 24 hours. After google foo it appears some ph flux is to be expected during cycling and I'm not outside the safe range at this point. I'll do another check this evening to keep an eye on it. My ammonia is at .25 for the second day in a row, nitrite is 0, and nitrate at 2.5 ppm (darker than 0 but lighter than the 5 ppm). Sounds like at some point the nitrite will begin to rise indicate BB is converting ammonia to nitrite, and then later BB will start converting nitrite to nitrate so ammonia and nitrite should go to 0 and nitrate will gradually rise and I do 50% water changes to keep that in check at that point. Are my levels OK and do I understand interpreting the cycling correctly?

Currently I'm on day 4, did a 50% water change on day 2. I'm checking and recording levels daily and adding .5ml of Prime daily. Plan on 50% water changes if ammonia goes to .5ppm and/or biweekly. What prime regent do I use after the tank cycles? Sound good?

How about that gravel? Should I add more of the same and use root tabs or suck it up and swap it out? Would enjoy successful plants and have the nice planted+ light on the way.


----------



## Veloran (Jun 28, 2014)

After an hour of swearing up a storm trying to plant stem plants in my eco complete, I chose to start over (albeit with a new tank) and put down sand with root tabs. It's not without it's challenges (I have to remember to poke the sand every once in a while) but I am quite enjoying it and its so much easier to clean, it's a personal preference. I don't think the fish cares either way, both of the substrates are black. I find keeping newly acquired plants down is much easier with the sand. You also have the consideration of the cory and I'm not versed enough with them to advise on switching to sand for him, although if it were me, I'd suck it up and use the sand.

Your levels sound fine, easiest thing to is as Hallyx said in his two sentence tutorial "Change half the water when either ammonia or nitrite approach 0.50ppm, or weekly, whichever comes first. Add Seachem Prime at 2-drops per gallon of tank size every day until cycled."
CYCLING: the two-sentence tutorial
It would also help if you tested your tap water so you have a baseline.

And yes, unfortunately, even aquarium safe decorations these days are not aquarium safe. I was so mad and somewhat upset with myself after my little guy lost most of his fins and got really sick from something in his tank that I completely tore down his tank and started over with natural decorations.


----------



## Veloran (Jun 28, 2014)

Sorry for the double post, this is a shot from after it got planted. Didn't do much aquascaping, just stuck the plants in there to get Mishi out of his QT quickly. It's due for some rearranging now that some of the plants are growing.


----------



## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

Nice tank you will need to pot your plants they won't keep in that stuff they sell them in it gets smelly and the roots tend to rot.(I learned this myself) Go to the planted tank section for help on how to plant them.


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

jadaBlu said:


> Nice tank you will need to pot your plants they won't keep in that stuff they sell them in it gets smelly and the roots tend to rot.(I learned this myself) Go to the planted tank section for help on how to plant them.


How quickly do they rot? Are the petstores really re-doing their set-ups that often? I was delaying for the nice light I ordered off amazon which won't be here till next week. They are being uncharacteristically slow on that order. I did get more gravel so I can have appropriate depth for them. May try to go ahead and get them out of those pet store set ups today or tomorrow and down into the gravel.

SirKewlCory is back with his buddies. Took him back to the LFS yesterday and also returned the Cardinal plant. He was in good shape so I'm hopeful for him. Spoke with the fish store folks about the need for groups of those (which the "fish" guy was in the loop on, but not the person who told me one is fine), so hopefully they'll do the right thing and try to get them out in larger groups.


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

Haven't killed any fish, shrimp, or plants yet so at least I got that goin for me. About 2 weeks in.

Nitrite has shown up and it seems to build up fast, I did 50% water changes twice yesterday and today. The low nitrite reading is about .5 and high about 1. Ammonia isn't testing to 0, but it doesn't straight off my tab either. When the ammonia wasn't sky-rocketing I was able to go a few days between 50% water changes, but this nitrite has me freaked out and although the beta has periods of happiness, when the nitrite showed up he went lethargic at the bottom for a bit and is generally more lazy I think.

The finnex planted+ came in a little snow delayed but we are on day two with that, I think I should put that on a timer as we are not very regimented in our schedule. I also have Flourish complete and Flourish Excel here but I have not started using those products. Do I need things more stable first or should I go ahead and start dosing those and if so, how do I calculate doses with the frequent water changes? The Amazon Sword and the baby tear are planted in the gravel. The Java fern is tied to a lava rock.

Question on prime. I've read when doing a 50% water change dose the prime for the full aquarium amount, not just 50% (still uncycled so it's a daily dose anyway). What about when I do two 50% water changes in the same day (one morning one evening)? The last two days I did the full ten drops (.5ml) for the 5 gallon on the first one, then 5 drops (.25ml) on the second. Is this a reasonable approach?


----------



## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

If you're doing two 50% changes a day, just dose for the refill water. 

But I'm surprised he's having a reaction to >1.0ppm nitrite. That's touchy. I don't usually recommend AQ salt, but one-tablespoon for 5-gallons is tolerable to prevent nitrite poisoning (brown blood syndrome). 

If you're thinking of replacing the substrate, now is the time to do that. Enough bacteria live in the substrate that you want it included in the cycle.

Float the Anubias so he has a nice place to hide in and sleep near the surface.

A Nerite snail is pretty and helps keep the glass clean. Other than shrimp, not much else fits in a 5g.

Congratulations on doing your research. Makes coaching much easier.

Welcome to the forum.

(That looks nice, Veloran. And better as it grows in.)


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

Kali is much more active today, another 50% water change this AM, nitrite was a solid 1, maybe 2. Def going to need at least one more wc today.

So is it ok to go ahead and start dosing ferts and excel?


----------



## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

I'm a little leary of adding chemicals to a cycle in progress. But that's just me. Those plants are the type that don't need much fertilizer, anyway.


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

Holding off on the ferts and excel for now. Will try to get through the cycle assuming no plants take a turn for the worse. Have the planted+ on a 6.5 hour timer for now and will gradually lengthen it out a bit watching out for algea. Read on the Seachems site the prime can be dosed up to 5x the recommended level, so although I'm not going anywhere near that much, I aim a little high while the nitrites are still in rapid rise mode. Kali's been super happy, he's got new food (new life) that he's really enjoying, so although I picked up the aquarium salt I haven't used any yet. Really looking forward to seeing some nitrates, they are still 0. Did 3 wc's today but think I'll try to stick with 2 going forward until the level stops climbing so rapidly. I swear that fish likes wc's.

Ran into some CPDs at the local fish store, they look very kewl. Aqua advisor seems to think it would be a slight overstock at around 110% if I stick with the 5 to a shoal. Can I do 3 or 4, should I stick with 5, or 5 is minimum and too much for my tank so drop that idea?

Thanks for the help every1, great site.


----------



## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

By adding a small sponge filter, you can easily stock 5 CPDs without overloading -- after you're cycled, of course. Have your researched compatibility?

The Nitrite Oxidizing Bacteria sometimes takes a while to get growing. If you get tired of those water changes, dose half a small bottle of Tetra Safestart. That's been known to grow those little NOBs right up. (Sorry I didn't suggest that earlier.)


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

TerriGtoo recommended the CPDs earlier in this thread as I couldn't properly keep cory's with a betta in my 5 gallon spec 5. I think the betta may be able to tolerate other fish, he's been no terror to the 3 cherry shrimp and it seemed like he and the cory I had for about 48 hours had come to agreeable terms. Kali basically got in SirKewlCory's face and said "look I'm the man, the king of this tank." and SirKewlCory was like "u the king, no prob here, I'll go over there in case you need me" then Kali was like, "but that's mine too", and SirKewlCory was like "hey bud, works for me, I'll just keep getting out of your way". I think the CPDs would be moving enough and fast enough that Kali would just get over it.

Googling around made me feel like an extra filter would not increase the bioload capacity of the tank but would simply serve as a back up in case one went down in addition to spreading the BBs into two filters. The filter in the spec 5 has a lot of media space, not sure if you are familiar. However going slightly over the general guidelines sounds doable if the fish aren't stressed out, I maintain the water quality (keep up with measurements and water changes when needed), and it is a planted tank so that should help. Lets get through the cycle and sleep on it (hopefully not more than a week or 2). 1 betta, 3 cherry shrimp, and some plants are kewl, but feel like I'd like another fish type in there as long as they can all be healthy and happy. 5 gallons is not a lot of tank though, but it is a long skinny fella for the swimmers.

I prolly should order a backup pump for the spec v in case it does go down.


----------



## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

You may come to find, as I and many others have, that a single Betta (maybe with inverts) in a 5g is a nice stress-free, easy-maintenance set-up


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

Services were held this a.m. for one of the cherry shrimp :-( No signs of foul play, suspect it was the nitrite maybe.

Did 2 50% water changes yesterday, one was more like 60%, but the nitrite was still pretty high this AM (solid 2+, maybe higher). Planning on doing 3 today. I'm using the prime so ???? Wish I'd cycled before going fish in, but there's no turning back now.


----------



## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

Tank looks great. You can do fish in cycle, I have done them with all my 5's and have never had any issues. Only thing is you must religiously siphon out 20pct of the water 2x a week.


----------



## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

Lovely tank!


----------



## fishtankwatcher (Feb 5, 2015)

ABettaNoob said:


> Services were held this a.m. for one of the cherry shrimp :-( No signs of foul play, suspect it was the nitrite maybe.
> 
> Did 2 50% water changes yesterday, one was more like 60%, but the nitrite was still pretty high this AM (solid 2+, maybe higher). Planning on doing 3 today. I'm using the prime so ???? Wish I'd cycled before going fish in, but there's no turning back now.


Have you tested your tap? Unless you have a source in your tank the nitrite shouldn't be that far off after that many water changes. Are you siphoning off the bottom for removing the water or just siphoning water out of the tank?


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

fishtankwatcher said:


> Have you tested your tap? Unless you have a source in your tank the nitrite shouldn't be that far off after that many water changes. Are you siphoning off the bottom for removing the water or just siphoning water out of the tank?


Thanks for posting this watcher. Embarrassingly I wasn't really cleaning up the bottom with the siphon during the water changes, I've been trying not to disturb things. Although there's not a lot of room to get the siphon around, I pulled the pineapple under the sea and the shoe and that gave me a pretty good area I could siphon up the gravel. It was pretty nasty though it didn't appear that way until it was disturbed. Hey I'm a noob  Just need a little hand holding to turn this read up theory into actionable practice. I think I'll give the gravel another once over tomorrow then try to let things settle down again.

The tap tests slightly positive for amonia, maybe a little less than the .25 color but does not test positive for nitrites. Tap PH is right around 7, but mine was low when I tested today, 6.4 I believe. I don't have the hardness level numbers in front of me but it was not soft water, the water was just lightly harder than the normal range which should be a decent ph buffer. Before the nitrites showed up I was able to go a few days before ammonia level spawned a water change, so yeah something is off with the rate at which the nitrites have been rapidly climbing. I hope the gravel vac has that handled now. I pulled a dead leaf as well. Perhaps another possiblility are the root tabs maybe?


----------



## fishtankwatcher (Feb 5, 2015)

ABettaNoob said:


> Thanks for posting this watcher. Embarrassingly I wasn't really cleaning up the bottom with the siphon during the water changes, I've been trying not to disturb things. Although there's not a lot of room to get the siphon around, I pulled the pineapple under the sea and the shoe and that gave me a pretty good area I could siphon up the gravel. It was pretty nasty though it didn't appear that way until it was disturbed. Hey I'm a noob  Just need a little hand holding to turn this read up theory into actionable practice. I think I'll give the gravel another once over tomorrow then try to let things settle down again.


No worries whatsoever! :-D I'm thrilled you're testing and even more so that you're asking! I honestly wouldn't have thought about the gravel cleaning... except 1) my hubbs hates messing up the gravel (heehee) ... and 2) whenever people talk about water changes I've never heard them specify to use it to "gravel vacuum", most assume that's natural, but really it's not when you hear "water change" ;-)

That is the only bad thing about decorations (although I love them), is they do provide hiding places for "stuff" to stay out of cleaning reach :lol:
You might need to use some airline tubing to siphon the detris (uneaten food & poo) off the substrate without messing up your set-up 




ABettaNoob said:


> The tap tests slightly positive for ammonia, maybe a little less than the .25 color but does not test positive for nitrites. Tap PH is right around 7, but mine was low when I tested today, 6.4 I believe. I don't have the hardness level numbers in front of me but it was not soft water, the water was just lightly harder than the normal range which should be a decent ph buffer. Before the nitrites showed up I was able to go a few days before ammonia level spawned a water change, so yeah something is off with the rate at which the nitrites have been rapidly climbing. I hope the gravel vac has that handled now. I pulled a dead leaf as well. Perhaps another possiblility are the root tabs maybe?


Yes the root tabs could be boosting the nitrite reading (I know nothing about plants & ferts, but that sounds right)


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

I'm hopeful things are better going forward. I did another gravel vac with the decorations pulled and 50% water change this a.m. and a 50% water change this afternoon. This evening the measurement was .5 which is the lowest I've gotten it to in awhile so I'm hopeful. We'll see where it's at tomorrow a.m. Hopefully it's not singing deep purple by prince any more, I can do a 50% water change, and we can get back to some semblance of reasonable 

I've yet to touch the filter sponge since install. Is it time to rinse that in drained off aquarium water or wait for the cycle to complete? Should I use something other than the stock carbon stuff in the top slot? It's just got the two bags it came with in there now.


----------



## fishtankwatcher (Feb 5, 2015)

ABettaNoob said:


> I'm hopeful things are better going forward. I did another gravel vac with the decorations pulled and 50% water change this a.m. and a 50% water change this afternoon. This evening the measurement was .5 which is the lowest I've gotten it to in awhile so I'm hopeful. We'll see where it's at tomorrow a.m. Hopefully it's not singing deep purple by prince any more, I can do a 50% water change, and we can get back to some semblance of reasonable


 Fantastic 
Just remember to use the water removal time to get the "nasties" off the bottom  It doesn't have to be super thorough & deep everytime (depending your personal pickiness) but do try to do different areas each time if unable to do the whole bottom each time 



ABettaNoob said:


> I've yet to touch the filter sponge since install. Is it time to rinse that in drained off aquarium water or wait for the cycle to complete? Should I use something other than the stock carbon stuff in the top slot? It's just got the two bags it came with in there now.


 As long as the sponge isn't gunked over it should be fine to leave.
People differ on their opinions of carbon, it is "saturated" after 4 weeks, but could get fully saturated (and start releasing what it has absorbed) as soon as 2 weeks. Most keepers don't use carbon on a regular basis (because it HAS to be changed out/removed) unless they are wanting (or needing) to remove specific chemicals/medications from the tank.


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

So the Nitrite is in control now, thanks for the help on that. If I continued down the do no disturb path I'd be at 3 a days while with the rate increasing lol. Only did a 30% wc this morning and tonight the reading is .25. First non multiple wc day in awhile woot woot. Nitrate is reading non zero I believe. It's not yellow for sure but not dark enough for that first orange level. Feel like its close to balancing / being cycled with enough BBs.

So is everything peachy keen? Heck no, the algae showed up yesterday <facepalm.jpg>. Thin layer on the bottom half of the front and rear panels of acrylic. It's ugly :-( Need a plan for that going forward. Ordered a Kent proScraper and some extra scrapers and pads. Also got some Brillanize for the outside. Maybe good this happened, it was close to getting its first glass cleaner on the outside which apparently is an acrylic no no. Was leaning against a snail but maybe I should be looking into something for the algae instead of CPDs. Light is on 6 hours a day right now but it also gets a fair amount of indirect sunlight. Had thought I was going to gradually increase that 6 to 8 or 10 but ???? Haven't dosed any of the plant stuff I have which includes excel, flourish comprehensive, and the API LeafZone (potassium + iron).


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

Ammonia and Nitrite 0, Nitrate a bit less than 5 ppm !!!!!!!!! Cycled


----------



## fishtankwatcher (Feb 5, 2015)

ABettaNoob said:


> So the Nitrite is in control now, thanks for the help on that.


you are welcome!




ABettaNoob said:


> Ammonia and Nitrite 0, Nitrate a bit less than 5 ppm !!!!!!!!! Cycled


:welldone: yay!


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

*Updated pics*


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

The Acrylic cleaner is on the way, please excuse my spots


----------



## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

That looks really nice. Don't forget to float some Anubis or equivalent, for shade and for sleeping near the surface.


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

*TL;DR TMI
*inputs and thoughts appreciated. I'm an aquarium noob.*

Summary
*Fish in Cycle completed 3/1, water hit the new tank 2/7 +/- 2days (used gravel from set up Kali Betta lived in for 6 months). Fluval Spec 5 (5.6 gallon). Neotherm heater in sump, water temp 77 degrees. One hole in pump output tube (think I'm going to add 2 more and test out mid pump setting instead of low) and fluval edge pre-filter sponge on the output nossel; pretty low current. Finnex Planted+ on 6 hours a day with timer with all lights (including the blue moon light), will start lengthening that out in little increments. Tank does get indirect sunlight and I had a minor algae breakout on the tank walls which I think is now in control right at the end of the cycle. Did a 30% WC last night, first since the cycle completed but have been watching levels. Used the stock biomax bag and carbon bag until last night I swapped in purigen for the carbon bag which should have been spent or close to it. 

Kali has been much more active the past few days, yay! I think he's happy with his new little world. Really getting around a lot today.

*Residents*
The star of the show is Kali, a betta fish, we got in August of 2014 (7 months ago) Lost one of the 3 RCS's during the cycle so two little red shrimp. For plants we have an Amazon Sword (planted with 2 root tabs close), Baby Tear (planted with 2 root tabs close), and Java Fern (attached to lava rock from LFS). The little plant up front grew off the sword (i don't know what u call the baby version). I don't really know what I'm doing, I just chopped it off and tried to plant in a way that seamed reasonable to me with a root tab. It was looking like it wouldn't make it early on, but now seems to be at least holding and not quickly dying, so maybe. just maybe.
*
PH
*Tap: 7.2
Tank: 6.5
This is the one that has me worried. It dropped down to 6.4 right around the end of the cycle. I'm hopeful it will come back up, perhaps with WC's but it only moved a wee bit; at least it moved the right direction. Most things I read said to try not to mess with the ph, so I'm just monitoring for now. Should I take some action on this or wait it out?
*
KH
*Tap and Tank: 2.5 deg, 45 ish ppm
Tap and Tank seem to measure the same; started changing color at 2 drops but the 3rd drop really made it yellow.

*GH
*Tap: 4.5 deg, 81 ish ppm
Tank 5.5 deg, 99 ish ppm
Same deal as KH with the .5 guesstimates. Tank and tap did seem to differ.*
* 
*Ammonia, Nitrite
*Ammonia Tap: 0.25 ppm Nitrite Tap: 0 ppm
Ammonia Tank: 0 ppm Nitrite Tank: 0 ppm
Took a lot of water changes to keep it in check during the cycle but ammonia was either at .5 or .25 with lots of wc's until the nitrite showed up and amonia went to 0. It's at 0 now even with a mini water change last night so my BBs are doing their thing and it feels like the cycle is gunna hold. The nitrite went a little crazy at the end of the cycle, documented ITT, but with help here we got it figured and in check after something like 13 50% WCs over 5 days. Since cycle I haven't gotten a non 0 reading so think we are good there.

*Nitrate
*Tap 0 ppm
Tank 0 ppm
When the cycle happened this was a clear non 0 reading and was getting darker approaching the 5 ppm first color, but it is reading 0 today even after testing twice. I did a 30% WC last night and started using purigen in the filter last night so assume that or the plants have it down to 0. Don't know why I'm wishing it was a > 0 reading but.... not sure what to think here.

*Phosphate
*Tap and Tank are 0-.25ppm can't really tell. It's either 0 or a small amount. I bought this test because I didn't have it and maybe the reading could lead to some knowledge on algae???? Not really sure what this tells me.

Any other levels I should be checking?

*Dosing* began 3/2 
I read just enough to be dangerous over at another plant specific site and came up with the following plan. Thought was, small tank of slower growers with what I think is the upper end of low or the lower end of medium light so I dose less than the recommended levels on the bottle.
Excel: 8 drops daily
Flourish comprehensive (micros): 6 drops per week, going to do this in 2 doses though spread out
API Leaf Zone (potassium+iron macros): 20 drops per week but also going to spread it out and do on non comprehensive days
API Root tabs: close to planted plants, think I'll try to replace what I started with every 3 months (so during season changes)

I'm also planning on skipping one week a month on ferts to prevent buildup; thinking 1st week of April and every months 1st week after.

Should the fish waste provide the rest of the macros I need or should I get something else, or should I watch how this does for awhile and adjust if algae takes over or the plants aren't doing well?

Whew, what did i miss in my status? Didnt even get to thoughts on changes lol


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

Friday Night I did a thorough tank cleaning with 50% water change and I had .25 ammonia reading afterwards until today/Monday. Did I clean too well and thus need to break cleanings up?

For the cleaning I Kent scrapped the tank with the plastic then brush attachments. Then I removed the decor n toys and gravel vac'd, catching the old water in Kali's old bow/fat vase. I wiped off the decor n toys with my hands submerged in the old tank water; they had some algae. I then cleaned the filter media and sponge I have on the outflow in the old tank water as well. I shook the purigen and Bio bags in the water and worked the sponges a bit but nothing over the top. 

Perhaps I should do the filter and 25% water change every other weekend, and gravel vac/glass scrape/clean decor/50% ish WC on the off weeks? Is it common to get a little ammonia up tick after a cleaning? I feel like I had too much of an impact on the BB. Note my tap does test positive, maybe .25 or less ppm for ammonia.


On other notes I have had 5 CPD's for a little over a week now. They are doing great. Once Kali asserted his ownership of everything in the tank and received no push back everyone's at peace. He'll swim after them a little bit now but not really flaring. Plus I don't think he could catch one even if he really wanted too; well maybe if he got one cornered or somethin like that. The CPDs are really kewl, luv em so thanks for the suggestion. Also added 2 more CRS's so up to 4 of them now. We are stocked for sure, but the plants seem to be keeping the parameters in check. Also added 2 more holes to the pump output and have the pump on medium (the 3rd of 5 settings) now. Kali's not spazing but I feel like he's hanging out on the input grate more so I may click that back down one notch. Also added the Betta Hammock and Betta log. He hasn't been lounging in the hammock but hangs out in the log sometimes and swims through there a lot.



Danios are a little camera shy but one came out of hiding. In general they are not hiding out though.


Plants seem to be doing great, the baby tear is kicking behind and the tiny sword has some growth so I think it's gunna make it.


----------



## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

New cycles are a little fragile. You could ease off on the cleaning a bit. In a couple of months, your cycle will be established and you plants will be kicking in. 

Sounds like a good job to me.


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

Hallyx said:


> New cycles are a little fragile. You could ease off on the cleaning a bit. In a couple of months, your cycle will be established and you plants will be kicking in.
> 
> Sounds like a good job to me.


Thanks for the feedback Hallyx, will do. Nice to have some reassurance in uncharted territory for me. Really enjoying the tank, fish, shrimp, and plants.


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

Nitrates been reading 0 for awhile. I did have a little nitrates right after the cycle. Research led me to believe most of the time folks are getting 0 nitrates over time in a cycled tank, its a testing problem. I shook that API bottle silly...0. Several repeats over time...0.

Looking for a more reliable test I got the Lamotte test, not cheep. Test results, 0 nitrates.

So I've come to the conclusion the plants are really gobbling it all up. The plants are doing great, lots of growth, so I hope its a reasonable conclusion to draw. Any recommendation for dosing nitrates? I'm not dry dosing anything else so if there's a bottle on the shelf I should consider by seachem or API or something like that please lemme know. Currently I'm using Flourish comprehensive for micros, API leaf zone for potasium and Iron, and excel for carbon. 

Also, Algea, while not going crazy, is growing a faster than I like fuzzying up the glass and interrupting my view. Mostly on the glass but on the thermometer and decorations and substrate too. Could it be the unbalanced nitrates increasing their growth, or is it just a young tank? I had edged the Photoperiod up from 6 hours but backed it off since the algea is annoying. I realize I'm gunna have some and that doesn't bother me, but would like to do what I can.


----------



## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Remove the dropper from the #2 nitrate bottle (carefully with pliers) and drop in a piece of gravel. This makes it into a "ratttlecan" for easy thorough mixing. 

Sounds like your plants are eating ammonia before it can nourish the cycle. They eat ammonia first, before nitrate. I've heard a little nitrate helps keep algae down. But I don't know first-hand.
Use the least amount of light you can for your plants to flourish. Play with the ferts. Probably less is better. Check with the plant people.


----------



## ABettaNoob (Feb 10, 2015)

Great tip on the gravel; will do.

Is flourish nitrogen the way to go for what I want to accomplish. trial and error to get the tank to maintain levels in the desirable range?


----------



## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

You're way ahead of me when it comes to plants. I just float some Anubias and tie some.


----------

