# Frustrated Newbie



## Endaar (Jan 27, 2011)

Hi All,

As per the subject, I'm more than a bit frustrated with a small tank I'm trying to get going. I'd appreciate some help in getting me pointed back in the right direction.

I bought an Aqueon Mini-Bow 5g tank. In retrospect I realize I should have went with a larger tank, but for the time being this is what I have. It's setup with the included filter, a heater, standard gravel, a decoration with a bubbler, and (originally) some plastic plants.

I tried to follow the procedure to do a fishless cycle. Since I couldn't find pure ammonia, I used fish food instead. I had an ammonia spike, followed by a nitrite spike (off the chart), followed by nitrates. Ammonia went down to .25ppm and nitrites to zero. I did a PWC to bring the nitrates down, and figured since there was still some residual food in the tank, the .25ppm ammonia was nothing to worry about.

I added a single (tiny) guppy. Petsmart said I needed some aquarium salt for the fish, so per the salt packaging I added 1 tablespoon of salt. The guppy was rather inactive (unlike in the store), so while I wanted to wait a little longer before adding another fish, I thought the first one needed a friend. Sure enough, with the second (slightly larger) guppy in the tank, the first one perked up and both seemed pretty happy.

Based solely on the appearance of the fish, everything seems fine. I just can't seem to get rid of the ammonia though. Since adding the fish, it has hovered around .5ppm, spiking to 1ppm before I've done PWCs to bring it back down. There are no traces of nitrites at all.

I figured adding a plant would help with the ammonia, so on Thursday I added an amazon sword. It was purchased potted, so I removed the pot and buried the roots in the gravel. I had read this type of plant would work in standard gravel, but in reading a bit more it seems like it will probably get way too large for the tank. For the time being though, I only have the incandescent light that came with the tank, so I suppose it won't be growing a whole lot. (I'm trying to find a CFL that fits in the hood, without much luck thus far.)

The sword has so far made no impact on ammonia. I purchased a hornwort today, and put a small (4" or so) piece in the tank, free-floating. The tank seems a bit small to have a floating plant though, so I'm not sure if I'll keep it or not.

Anyway, I'm going nuts and probably doing too much to try and get the ammonia under control and the tank 'stable,' but I'm just trying to do the right thing by the fish. Not sure what that is at this point though...

Thanks for reading and for any comments, advice, etc.

Endaar


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

Try adding some small wood or rocks in the tank. It will give a greater area for your bacteria to live on. Also, are you using test strips or liquid testing? Some forms of tests will read a specific amount but have a lower amount than it reads. The second spike was more than likely caused by the extra bio load after adding the fish and if it dropped back down to .25, then its probably the testing materials.


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

How long has the tank been running? Have you replaced the carbon filter yet? Have to used your gravel vacume to suck out the left over fish food from cycling the tank? A 5 gallon with 2 guppies shouldn't have an ammonia issue.

I would use a gravel vaccume and clean your gravel of the fish food use to run the new tank cycle. While cleaning the gravel I would also do a 25% to 50% water change. And then monitor the ammonia to see how it's doing. If you for some reason continue having ammonia issues you could replace the carbon filter, or possibly add a little bag of ammonia removing media to your filter.

I don't have a picture of my 10 gallon over stocked (due to breeding) guppy tank but I don't have issues with ammonia in there and there is easiy around 15-20 guppies from baby to adult. Or you could look to replace the included filter with one rated for 10-20 gallons.


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## Endaar (Jan 27, 2011)

The tank has been running for about a month, and has had fish for 8 or 9 days. I'm using the API Master kit for all testing.

I haven't replaced the carbon filter yet; that's actually one of the things I've been wondering about. From what I'm reading on these forums, the carbon is only mildly useful for removing ammonia, and only for a short period of time. I have replacement filters but have been reluctant to do so for fear of losing whatever bacteria is on the existing filter media. I also bought ammo-lock material but then read that if I start using it I'll never get the tank cycled.

I vacuumed the gravel pretty thoroughly prior to adding the fish, and did so again today in conjunction with a 40% PWC. I was hoping the tank had at least settled in around .5ppm ammonia after adding the fish, but today it had climbed back to 1ppm, which is why I changed out so much water. It's reading .5ppm now.

I already have a fairly large decoration in the tank, plus some plastic plants. I think if anything I have too much in there, but I guess I can add some small rocks or something if it would help.

Thanks for the feedback.

Endaar


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Good on the vacuum. It is probable that you still have flakes in varying stages of decay and still giving off ammonia. Carbon may be good to replace, but it will not remove ammonia. Just keep doing the water changes. If it stays under one just let it ride. Do the water change when it gets above one. Wait it out and don't add any chemicals to the tank.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

agreed with jrman. Those plastic things you have on there have less surface area than a rock or piece of wood would.


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## Endaar (Jan 27, 2011)

Thanks for the advice.

What kind of rocks or wood would I use? I don't recall seeing either at Petsmart, though I wasn't looking.

Here's what my tank looks like. The plant on the right is a sword, and the one floating is a Hornwort, which is a lot greener is person than in the picture. Is the ornament too large and should I swap it for something smaller in conjunction with adding a rock or wood?

Thanks again. Just trying to get a healthy environment for the fish.

Endaar


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

Good looking tank. I'll let the more experienced give you answers. If it was me I'd do a water change making sure to clean the gravel under the ornament (mine seem to collect debree like no ones business), and cleaning the filter. If that didn't help I have a smal media bag and some zeolite (removes ammonia) that I have/can add to the filter (very tight fit).

I love my fish and the tanks I have, but still learning here are well.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

Sandstone rocks do really well if they're not the type that fall apart easily. Volcanic rock does well also due to the porous nature. If you go to your LFS (if you have one) you can get a piece of malaysian drift wood. Otherwise, some well dried wood which you would have to boil (rocks also) would do well. Denser is better for the wood so it doesnt float (at least until it's quite soaked) or fall apart easily. Getting more live plants will help eat that nitrite and nitrate out of the water. You'll always need to do water changes at some point in time though.


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## Endaar (Jan 27, 2011)

Thanks again.

I guess I'll take another trip to the LFS and see what I can find. In the meantime, I did another 40% PWC to bring ammonia down since it went from .5ppm at 10AM to 1ppm at 5PM. Still no hint of nitrite.

Endaar


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Keep on top of it...good job.


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