# 5 Gallon Tank Journal & Log



## Cargo (May 25, 2012)

Hello. I've had my 5 gallon bowfront tank for about a month. Its current inhabitant is an african dwarf frog.

The first betta I had in there didn't eat in three days. I came home to find it with its tail caught in the Marina i25 internal filter. The fish died. I returned the filter, and bought a Top Fin 10 Power Filter. 

My second betta ate reguarly, and he was a very pretty crowntail. I was happy to see him eating his Omega One flakes. I came home to find this one with its tail caught in the Top Fin 10 Power Filter. The fish died. I returned the Top Fin 10 power filter and bought some activated carbon and aquarium silicone.

I got a piece of 3" PVC pipe and a cap. I really only needed 1½" pipe because the 3" pipe takes up like 3" of the 10" length of the tank, so he doesn't have much room. I put a sponge in, and some activated carbon. I siliconed the cap on, drilled a hole for the airline tubing, and drilled some bubble release holes at the top. So right now, I have a homemade, oversized sponge filter.

I have an Elite single sponge filter coming in the mail. I bought it off Amazon for $6 and it should be a lot smaller than my current filter so my frog has some roaming space.

The frog is mainly in there until I get the sponge filter, and until the nitrogen cycle is complete. I just got my API test kit in the mail today, and tested my water. I had about 2ppm ammonia which is pretty high, so I did about a 10% change right now and I'm doing a 25% change tomorrow. That should bring the ammonia down a bit. My logs for today were:

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012:
Ammonia - 2ppm
Ammonia (after 10% change) - 1.75ppm
Nitrite - 0.15ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
pH - about 7.4. Should I be concerned? I don't know about pH.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

> I came home to find it with its tail caught in the Marina i25 internal filter. The fish died. I returned the filter, and bought a Top Fin 10 Power Filter.
> 
> My second betta ate reguarly, and he was a very pretty crowntail. I was happy to see him eating his Omega One flakes. I came home to find this one with its tail caught in the Top Fin 10 Power Filter.


Omigosh.. what rotten luck! I hope you have better betta experiences in future. I'm looking forward to reading your tank journal - I've not yet deliberately cycled a tank, so these threads are a great future reference.

Are you cycling the 5 gallon with the frog in? The ph level is fine for bettas - they've been known to tolerate quite high levels, up to 8, if they're adapted to it over time. Not sure about frogs, though, I know next to nothing about that species. 

Are you planning on another betta, once the cycle's complete? If so, is there a specific kind you'd be looking for?


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## Cargo (May 25, 2012)

Aus said:


> Omigosh.. what rotten luck! I hope you have better betta experiences in future. I'm looking forward to reading your tank journal - I've not yet deliberately cycled a tank, so these threads are a great future reference.
> 
> Are you cycling the 5 gallon with the frog in? The ph level is fine for bettas - they've been known to tolerate quite high levels, up to 8, if they're adapted to it over time. Not sure about frogs, though, I know next to nothing about that species.
> 
> Are you planning on another betta, once the cycle's complete? If so, is there a specific kind you'd be looking for?


Not sure.. if I do get a betta, it will be a crowntail. I was going to get one more ADF because I hear they like being in groups.


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## Cargo (May 25, 2012)

New sponge filter came in the mail yesterday. Its the Hagen Elite single sponge filter. It is pretty big, maybe too big for a 5 gallon, but it would work better in a 10 gallon. It still works though, and the frog has a bit more room now. The frog has recently been trying to escape the tank. It doesn't have a hood, so I have to keep the water level about 1.5 inches from the top otherwise he will escape. I found him on the counter the other night, and put him back in the tank. He is fine now. Since then I drained the water level about 0.5 inches. I'm confident he can't escape now.

Saturday, June 9th, 2012:
Ammonia - 1ppm
Nitrite - 0.15ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
pH - 7.4


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

careful with the frog. They can dry up and die within an hour of being out of water.
Also, frogs are a lot more sensitive to toxins than fish are. 1ppm of ammonia will cause permanent damage to any aquatic animal.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Cargo (May 25, 2012)

Olympia said:


> careful with the frog. They can dry up and die within an hour of being out of water.
> Also, frogs are a lot more sensitive to toxins than fish are. 1ppm of ammonia will cause permanent damage to any aquatic animal.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Working on lowering ammonia. Gonna change about 30% of the water tomorrow.


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