File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
So /an/ I have had this tank for almost four weeks now. 30 gallon Freshwater. Has three Dwarf Gouramis, two Leopard Cory Catfish, Six Longfin Zebra Danios and 12 Neon Tetras.

Here's my current issues.
a. I'm worried about my Cories getting enough to eat
b. The Gouramis have been scrapping
c. My Nitrate levels just spiked

More specific for the cory problem: they hide in the crevassed of that big rock all day and up until the lights go out... unless I'm nowhere near the tank. Whenever I feed the fish and drop in some sinking pellets for the cories, the gouramis leap on the things and devour them. The Cories don't make any movements at all. I have seen them nosing around for scraps a few minutes after feedings but I have yet to see any browsing on any sunken pellets. Should I be worried?

More info on the Gouramis: I have three males. I know... big mistake. They fight all the time. They don't seem to actually harm each other but I think one of them has gotten a small bite out of his side. Treatment options?

More specific for the Nitrate: I recently had to do a 50% water change when my Nitrate and Nitrite levels spiked through the roof with no warning. About a week before that the tank had abnormal levels of ammonia so I did a water change for that too. After changing the water this most recent time, the nitrate and nitrite levels have fallen to safe levels but are still high enough to clearly register as opposed to just over a week ago when there was no sign of any. What's going on and how can I stop it?

Off topic... the pic is crap. My camera doesn't do well with moving fish.
>> Anonymous
Any live plants in the aquarium?
>> Anonymous
Nope. It's all plastic. I'm new to this and I don't have powerful enough lights for live plants.
>> Anonymous
Live plants help even out the cycle. Your tank could just be cycling, and your noticing it when it spikes. Make sure your not overfeeding, but it sounds like your not if your not seeing any extra food on the bottom of the tank.

What kind of water are you putting in when you change your water?
>> Anonymous
If your tank is set up for a month, you put the fish in too early.
The filter will take at least one month to let bacteria settle in.
Just keep checking nitrit/nitrat and do water changes until your tank is in balance.
>> Anonymous
Oh yeah, what kind of filter do you have?
>> Anonymous
When I first got my cory catfish I had the same problem. Solution: buy two or three more (they're schooling fish) and feed them in near or total darkness (they're shy in a new tank)
>> Anonymous
Instead of doing a 50% Water change, do a 50% gravel wash, get rid of any excess food the corys/other fish havnt eaten.

Purchase a better bulb, and get some real plants in there. You could also purchase some bogwood (I'd go with Mopani) and soak/boil that for a couple days in a bucket, once the water turns clear (after you keep changing bucket water), throw it in the tank. Otherwise, provide them with adequate shelter within the tank.

Buy some really hardy plants...your gouramis and corys will appreciate java fern or java matt. They need a planted tank though.
>> Anonymous
>>179697
The nitrate spike is due to the cycling of your tank. It takes about a month or so to go through the process as fish waste/ammonia converts to nitrite (harmful) to nitrate (good in small amounts) which is what you are probably experiencing.

Truthfully you probably put way too many fish in at once. Should have started probably with the catfish then bumped it up with more fish as your tank cycled.

Water changes need to be done every one or two weeks at about 10% - 20%. And as far as the cories go, get sinking pellets for them, and the flake/floaty stuff for the others.

To stop all your levels from going nuts, keep doing regular water changes once a week and give your tank awhile to balance itself. Problem is with aquariums if you don't set it up right from the start and over load it with fish, it can be a bitch to get it to where you need it to be.
>> Anonymous
>>More specific for the Nitrate: I recently had to do a 50% water change when my Nitrate and Nitrite levels spiked through the roof with no warning. About a week before that the tank had abnormal levels of ammonia so I did a water change for that too. After changing the water this most recent time, the nitrate and nitrite levels have fallen to safe levels but are still high enough to clearly register as opposed to just over a week ago when there was no sign of any. What's going on and how can I stop it?


You need a better understanding of the ammonia cycle in an aquarium.

Fish waste contains Ammonia. Bacteria break down the ammonia into Nitrite. Other bacteria break down the Nitrite into Nitrates. It's a continuous cycle.

When you said that you noticed "abnormal levels of ammonia" that was a big neon sign telling you that in the near future you will be seeing a spike in Nitrites and then Nitrates.

Your Nitrite/Nitrate spike was not "with no warning". The warning was loud and clear: High levels of ammonia. You just didn't recognize it.

When you did a partial water change you got rid of a lot of the ammonia, but there was still some left behind, and thus you still had your nitrite/nitrate spike.

As others have said, you put in too many fish at once. Your tank may also be on the small size for the number of fish you have.

Here are some things to consider:

1) consider keeping fewer fish, getting a larger tank, or adding a sump to your existing tank. The more water you have relative to the number of fish you've got, the better off you are. The chemistry will be much more stable this way.

2) Water changes are important. But they can only do so much--don't depend on them. A properly balanced tank (right number and type of "livestock" in there) should maintain proper chemistry without constant water changes. If you find yourself performing emergency water changes then you need to figure out what's causing the problem.