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So hows my tank running


poorman

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Hi all quiet in here im running a 6x2x2 tank with water results @ ph-7.4 / natrate-5.0 / nitrite-0 / ammonia 0.25 all fish happy with 20% weekly water changes , housing cichlids any comments welcome ....Damo

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What type of chiclids? Different types require different water conditions. 7.4 ph maybe a little low for africans. Have you tested gh and kh? Followed the link nice cars any pictures of fish.

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I have a mixture of frontosas / peacocks .venusues as in id / bristle noses.2 sharks 2 angels and would like some more coloured ones but yeah ph needs upping alittle,as for fish pics im working on it not as easy as I thought. " just alittle sus on the nitrate being 5.0 and ammonia @ 0.25 while nitrite balances @ 0.....

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If you do a google search and input your test results e.g nitrate 5.0ppm, ammonia .25ppm, nitrite 0ppm, you will find this is a common reading. It is hard to say if its suss. Some say a small trace of ammonia will always be present as fish constantly produce waste. Obviously waste wont instantly be converted the second it leaves the fish. Needs time to reach the filter, beneficial bacteria etc. Over time your ammonia level shouldnt increase but your nitrate should. Zero nitrite but 5 ppm nitrate would indicate the nitrogen cycle is working. What test do you use for ammonia? Ive read about false positive readings fromsome test kits. If ammonia went above .25 then you may hqve a problem. Oh and im not sure if this is correct but it relates to chloramine in tap water. Chloramine is present in many local water supplies (as well as chlorine). Some water conditioners break the chloramine bond and the end result is free ammonia. I used cheap water conditioners e.g api, blue planet water ager and it wasnt until I switched to seachem prime that I found out this info. Seachem prime breaks chloramine bonds and addresses the free ammonia by locking it to the less toxic form ammonium. So water changes may add ammonia due to chloramine.

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Concentrate more on how much you feed.

Feeding once a day with one day a week giving a miss,,,,,, this is plenty enough.

More food = more poo = more toxins.

If your fish aren't looking stressed, then don't worry so much.

Just feed enough to keep the fishes stomachs straight or slightly convex.

If your doing weekly water changes and keeping filters reasonably unclogged, then it's only feeding that can be a problem,,,,, considereing your not overstocked or filtration is sufficient.

Feeding frequency has a lot to do with clean water and healthy fish.

Don't test for ammonia straight after feeding as ammonia will be present for half to two hours.

After this period,, no ammonia should test positive at all on your test kit.

It is true that ammonia is always present,,, but it's so low that specialty test kits are needed in a much lower incremental range.

But that's to minimal to worry about.

For strong active and effienct healthy beneficial bacteria, two major factors will promote:

Water temp of 27'c

KH of 8-14,, the higher end of KH level improves beneficial bacteria numbers, as well as temp.

Always clean filter medias in a bucket of tank water to keep beneficial bacteria alive.

Just concentrate on feeding frequency and you'll see the readings align to where you want them.

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Heres a bit more info.

quote.

- By Dr. Erik Johnson

Ammonia is the primary waste product of fish, excreted primarily through the gill tissue, but to a lesser extent via the kidney. Ammonia can also accumulate from the decay of fish tissues, food and other organic debris derived from protein.

Ive read many threads about ammonia readings in tanks and think respiration is often overlooked. I guess feeding fish less will slow metabolism, cause them to poo less and breathe less or something like that.

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lol yeah didn't feed them tonight , man I swear they give me dirty looks ...set up a second tank today , (only small ) have a jag on hold for this tank

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I actually feed 2 to 3 times a day in smaller amounts. Never had a prob. with ammonia only rising nitrates but I use live plants now and have slowed that down. (Hydrilla verticala, not the pretiest but grows about 1inch per day)

If I go too long without feeding they literally try to jump out of the tank.

Another thing to consider would be filter media types. Some provide larger surface area than others. Eg. Bio balls vs. Ceramic noodles.

BTW I have seen lots of people write about determining the color of the api test (I use it too).

If you have two of those glass testing vials then test tap water in one and tank water in the other compare the color against each other. The .25 green/yellow on the card can be misleading. If the tap water vial and tank water vial are the same your sweet.

Defenitely get a gh/kh test kit like buccal said above higher kh=more energy for beneficial bacteria.

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