Adding first plants to an aquarium...be gentle please!

I've had the floating plant in my families fish pond out back and wouldn't ever recommend it. It went crazy, covered the entire surface, blocked the light and we suspect blocked fresh oxygen because our goldfish were dying left right and center.
 
Okay so i had a ph problem too and couldnt get it above 6, it kept crashing my cycle!
I bought crushed oyster shell (also called bird grit) and that has raised it from 6 to 6.8/7.
It was cheap and i have more than half left. I put it into a stocking, made it stone shape and plonked it it, it looks like an unusual stone and my axies like to sit on it :cool:
 
Looks very similar...but apparently Frogbit grows small white flowers (or at least, one variety does). Mini Water Lettuce is apparently an offshoot of the Water Lettuce. They do look really similar though! Maybe they're a hybrid.
 
Ooh. I will keep an eye on it then, Quentari. If it starts going crazy I'll cull it back a bit. I have a large air bar in my tank so fingers crossed it'll keep the tank aerated if I keep the Water Lettuce population sensible.
 
I've had bad experience with frogbit (or the tiny plants I have that are like frogbit). They're just too tiny and get everywhere and I lose a lot of them doing water changes. The mini water lettuce does much better for me.

And...I have the opposite problem with pH. Mine stays on the very high end. I thought about trying to decrease it, but was told its better to be on the high end and stable than unstable. But I do know that ammonia and nitrite are much more dangerous at the pH levels I have here......any thoughts about this or information on long-term affects of high pH?

Sharon
 
For Alkylhalide: 'Algae blooms can also cause elevated pH levels in the water. They may raise the pH levels as high as 9.5, which will influence many of the natural processes occurring in the water.' (From Water Education). I guess algae can push it up a bit!
How to get rid of algae: Cleaning Algae from your fish tank | Reptiles & Fish
I spoil my baby too. New sand, more stress coat, moss balls...not to mention the chewy sticks or pig's ears for the dog when I get to the counter! Oh, and some monkey nuts for the Black Headed Caique...

High PH is problematic because 'a high pH means that unionised ammonia, toxic NH3, is the main form of ammonia. What this means in English is that the higher the pH, the more toxic the ammonia. Ammonia can kill, and at a pH of 8 or more, it kills even more effectively.' (Axolotl.org).
 
layna said:
Okay so i had a ph problem too and couldnt get it above 6, it kept crashing my cycle!
I bought crushed oyster shell (also called bird grit) and that has raised it from 6 to 6.8/7.
It was cheap and i have more than half left. I put it into a stocking, made it stone shape and plonked it it, it looks like an unusual stone and my axies like to sit on it :cool:
Click to expand...
Cross my fingers that it isnt going to crash my cycle till I can get something to raise my pH. Thus far all the other levels are normal and consistent, just the pH is low


To petersgirl: Well then I guess algae is definately not my problem! Hahaha :p I have a few curse words on what I would like to say on I dont understand why the pH is so low :S Algae was my only thought but thats down the drain.

Hopefully I can get this under control tomorow maybe? I will need to take a trip to the reef shop and get something because petsmart doesnt have anything! I think they are open fridays. .
 
It's worth a try. I did read somewhere that axxies are okay with PHs of 6-8 but I can understand your concern.

Did you try it Alkylhalide?
 
I think the crushed shell is fine as long as you keep an eye on it :)
 
Last edited:
Not yet im trying to get somebody to drive me to the reef shop because i hate driving downtown so bad! But i guess i may have to suck it up i think the ph crashed my cycle and i am going to have to remove my axies again from the tank.
I noticed an ammonia spike last night i did a 35% wAter change and im goin to take them out today if the ammonia isnt lower.
 
I know your pain >.< So annoying when it crashes because it takes weeks to get back to normal. Toothless's tank still doesn't have exactly 0 ammonia, but it's such a weak green tinge it doesn't merit 0.25ppm. Weird. I think the tank might be struggling to deal with Toothless's...additions ;)

Just wondering, is 0 - 0.25 ammonia a concern? I know the best level is obviously 0 but should I be thinking about moving Tooth out for the duration, just in case? When do your alarm bells start ringing for ammonia and nitrite?

Also, how do you guys clean the tank, personally? I know hoovering as and when is a must, and water changes if needed (mucky water, presence of ammonia and nitrite, etc) but I mean housekeeping type cleaning like replacing half of the filter media, cleaning the glass and siphoning sand or substrate? What do you do weekly and monthly?
 
My axxie tank is still giving my trouble (and there's nothing in it) so this is just for my fish tanks, but I vac the gravel and do a water change (at the same time since gravel vaccing takes out water :p) once a week. I'll spot-clean with a turkey baster if I need to since one of my bettas doesn't always eat all his food and gets gross at the bottom of his tank.

As far as the glass...I haven't had too many problems but it's probably good to just take a weekly swipe of it with a sponge/rag/fish tank designated toothbrush...or just spot-clean as you need to.

As far as the filter...the general guideline I heard is every 4-6 weeks depending on your bioload, so I'd assume 4 weeks, but someone else that actually has axxies at the moment would probably know more specifically.
 
Thanks Knyptozoologist! I just wasn't sure when to start thinking about it as I've had Tooth over 3 weeks and there tends to be some cleanup around the month mark with filters and such. I was told not to clean the inside glass since nitrifying bacteria stick to it, I was wondering if other axxie owners did. I think atm it's:

Galaxy - (Golden Albino, juvenile): In a hospital tank because I got her from an aquarium store and is being quarantined. Fed daily as a little skinny, 100% water changes every day because of no filter in hospital tank.

Tooth - A bigger, cycled tank. Tested daily because she only moved in two days ago and water changed every time the Ammonia and Nitrite is higher than 0. Quick Start also added. Hoovered with turkey baster as and when. Food cleaned up after an hour if not eaten. Siphon every week (but also uses up water, so weekly water change even if not required!) I think that's all I do. I know you can't clean everything in the tank because it'll crash.

Apparently the carbon sponges in the filter need to be replaced every 4 weeks, but what about the white sponges? Those too? How often does everyone change their filter media? (I mean I'd cut it in half to save some of my nitrifying bacteria, but how long does everyone wait to change the mechanical filtration sponges?)
 
With all of my freshwater tanks (I have 7...they're addictive lol) I just rinse my filter media in tank water when it looks dirty. I only replace it when absolutely necessary or about twice a year. Filter media like sponges or filter floss are just surface area for beneficial bacteria so there is no need to replace frequently. Carbon on the other hand should be replaced every four weeks or so. Carbon becomes about as useful as gravel if it is not changed often enough. Hope this helps!
 
Don't I know it! After getting Tooth, I was like, 'no more...one is hard enough!' then I spotted Galaxy and all that common sense went out the window >.<

Cool to know I don't need to keep replacing the white sponges...but the carbon ones! The stores sure know how to make their money, eh? When you think about it, that's 3 boxes of new carbons for my brand of filter (Interpet Mini) per year. But that works out at £1 a month...so not too bad. I can see why people don't use them though. I love that they get the water crystal clear, but do they house bacteria too or is it just the mechanical ones?
 
I'm not very familiar with your particular filter but bacteria will grow on any surface. If the interpret mini has the white sponge as well as carbon then it will provide plenty of surface area for the bacteria to colonize. Another option is to put some cheap filter floss in the filter to increase the surface area. I've used it in my tetra whisper filters behind the carbon.
 
Thank you maghan6! I got a free sample of filter floss with my pump, I might try that one out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    There are no messages in the chat. Be the first one to say Hi!
    Back
    Top