Hello. I'm a new person from Alaska.
A while back I casually mentioned to my girlfriend that if I got a pet it would be a fish. I had a small aquarium as a kid, I love flyfishing, and I think fish are neat. A few months later, for my birthday, I received a 20g craigslist tank and began researching what I would need to do to get it up and running. It was exciting, but I haven't gotten a chance to work on that tank because about a week after that we jumped in the deep end and adopted an Oscar with a 55g that was in urgent need of a new home. The previous owner was moving to a dry (no running water) cabin and had to get rid of the fish and tank within a few days. Dry cabins are a popular, cheap housing choice around here, but they're not conducive to keeping fish.
Before we moved him the tank and the fish were in bad shape. I don't think they had changed any water in quite a while. It was under-filtered, the existing filter was damaged, and the tank was not being actively cared for. It was full of algae and the fish was just sitting on the bottom. We managed to clean up the tank and move it and the fish with the outside temperature around -20 F. I tried to keep the filter material moist to keep the bacteria alive, but I don't think much bacteria survived. I'm now in the middle of cycling the tank with the fish in it.
I've had the tank for about 3 weeks. I've been testing the water often and doing big (20-50%) water changes every few days. I replaced the filter with a Hydor Pro 450 canister, with the previous filter material included in case there is anything beneficial in it. I dosed a 7-day treatment of Seachem Stability to help establish the new filter material and have been dosing with Prime every day to neutralize ammonia.
The fish is much more active and has an appetite. When we first moved him, he often floated sideways at the top of the tank and didn't eat. He's now swimming upright and actively feeding. He looks a lot better, which at least makes me think that we're doing something right.
I'm using an API Master Test Kit. Over the last week or two I've been observing increasing Nitrite and Nitrate levels when I test before water changes. The last test I did showed 1ppm Nitrite and 20ppm Nitrate. I followed that test with a 20% water change and then a 50% water change the next day. The question I have is regarding the ammonia test results. I have consistently seen 0.25ppm ammonia readings on almost every test I've run since I got the tank. I see the same ammonia test results when I test the tap water. I realize that this is probably chloramine in the tap water, but why doesn't it go away in the tank if the filter is turning it to Nitrite? Should these ammonia readings go down eventually? Is it a good sign that Nitrite and Nitrate are going up?
If I can figure this out I can refocus on my new dreams to get my Oscar a bigger tank.
Thanks for reading.
A while back I casually mentioned to my girlfriend that if I got a pet it would be a fish. I had a small aquarium as a kid, I love flyfishing, and I think fish are neat. A few months later, for my birthday, I received a 20g craigslist tank and began researching what I would need to do to get it up and running. It was exciting, but I haven't gotten a chance to work on that tank because about a week after that we jumped in the deep end and adopted an Oscar with a 55g that was in urgent need of a new home. The previous owner was moving to a dry (no running water) cabin and had to get rid of the fish and tank within a few days. Dry cabins are a popular, cheap housing choice around here, but they're not conducive to keeping fish.
Before we moved him the tank and the fish were in bad shape. I don't think they had changed any water in quite a while. It was under-filtered, the existing filter was damaged, and the tank was not being actively cared for. It was full of algae and the fish was just sitting on the bottom. We managed to clean up the tank and move it and the fish with the outside temperature around -20 F. I tried to keep the filter material moist to keep the bacteria alive, but I don't think much bacteria survived. I'm now in the middle of cycling the tank with the fish in it.
I've had the tank for about 3 weeks. I've been testing the water often and doing big (20-50%) water changes every few days. I replaced the filter with a Hydor Pro 450 canister, with the previous filter material included in case there is anything beneficial in it. I dosed a 7-day treatment of Seachem Stability to help establish the new filter material and have been dosing with Prime every day to neutralize ammonia.
The fish is much more active and has an appetite. When we first moved him, he often floated sideways at the top of the tank and didn't eat. He's now swimming upright and actively feeding. He looks a lot better, which at least makes me think that we're doing something right.
I'm using an API Master Test Kit. Over the last week or two I've been observing increasing Nitrite and Nitrate levels when I test before water changes. The last test I did showed 1ppm Nitrite and 20ppm Nitrate. I followed that test with a 20% water change and then a 50% water change the next day. The question I have is regarding the ammonia test results. I have consistently seen 0.25ppm ammonia readings on almost every test I've run since I got the tank. I see the same ammonia test results when I test the tap water. I realize that this is probably chloramine in the tap water, but why doesn't it go away in the tank if the filter is turning it to Nitrite? Should these ammonia readings go down eventually? Is it a good sign that Nitrite and Nitrate are going up?
If I can figure this out I can refocus on my new dreams to get my Oscar a bigger tank.
Thanks for reading.
