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All Things Aquaria

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  • #31
    How I got my turtle through that first 6-8 weeks?

    Tests daily, and water changes only when the ammonia or nitrites spiked.

    Also if you have an old filter and a new filter, putting the old filter media in the new filter can help to speed up the process by 'seeding' your new filter.
    ThorSon's milkshake brings all the PF girls to the yard - Volcaniclastic

    RIP

    I have never been across the way
    Seen the desert and the birds
    You cut your hair short
    Like a shush to an insult
    The world had been yelling
    Since the day you were born
    Revolting with anger
    While it smiled like it was cute
    That everything was shit.

    - J. Wylder

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    • #32
      Re: All Things Aquaria

      I'll keep this all in mind. All these beginner guides seem to have water changes as the solution to every problem. I didn't realize it could be so harmful. I'll do it once a week from now on and try to pick up a testing kit.

      I've kept some ornamental shiny rocks from the old gravel and the one ornament from the old tank the previous owner had, as well as the old gravel being in the tank before it was changed. I was hoping those would be able to seed the new water. Mom threw away all the old equipment when the new stuff came so I don't have access to the old filter media.

      I actually do have a gravel vacuum and did water changes in that way of taking water from the bottom. I knew I didn't want to bucket out water so a vacuum was one of the first things we got. It's got two sections of tubing connected to a hollow plastic section that you squeeze to pump water, then the head has a long hollow section to catch the water. The new heater is keeping the water at a consistent temperature also, it's slightly higher than what it's set to but it's not varying much from one time of day to another. Right now the tank is in the high 70s (F) which I think is fine since they're tropical fish and it's inside the range for silver's recommendation.

      I was reading about veggies that are good treats for the fish. Silvers are notorious with all kinds of plants so figured they would be fine and I read plecos like cucumber too so I was planning on dicing some at some point for them. There were some flies in the tank water, my house has tons of fruit flies and black flies because my brothers make messes but we're cleaning those up and it's a different story anyway, but I'm pretty sure the silvers ate them so.. that's something I guess. I figured that they would eat them so I didn't bother fishing out the insects.

      Since all the fish are so big it would follow it takes more ammonia to kill them, which is what I'm hoping will get them through the cycling if I mess something up. From what I understand Silver Dollars, and to a lesser degree Plecos, are fairly hardy.
      “They moaned and squealed, and pressed their snouts to the earth. We are sorry, we are sorry.
      Sorry you were caught, I said. Sorry that you thought I was weak, but you were wrong.”
      -Madeline Miller, Circe

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      • #33
        Re: All Things Aquaria

        Sudden fluctuations in water temp and chemistry are what's harmful, which is why you should only change 25% at a time. Sudden changes stress and shock the fish. Don't rely on your heater to keep the water temp even after a water change if you havn't heated the new water... putting cold water in will drop the temp and it will take your heater a few hours to bring it back up again.

        I agree that sometimes fish surprise us... my sister moved into a rental a few years ago that had an overgrown sludgy pond out the back. A few months in she decided to clean it out and get some fish. She pulled all the duckweed out and discovered there were two goldfish in there! They'd been living in the overgrown muck for at least a year, because the last tenants didn't know they were in there either!

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        • #34
          Re: All Things Aquaria

          I've had really good luck with getting the quick start bacterial treatments for new tanks. It might be the kick start you need to get this balanced.

          API brand offers a range of testing kits, water conditioners, and nutritionally superior food, because we’re dedicated to making a better underwater world.


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