4 mini tanks

I have four mini aquariums going at the same time, all of which are at various stages of nitrogen cycling (new aquarium syndrome). To help me keep track of water changes along with the daily Ammonia level and Nitrite level, I created a mini chart based on the great charts available at freshaquarium.about.com. I made my version of the charts in a spreadsheet program. The chart is wide, so I do print it out in landscape and have 35 daily readings available for 5 weeks worth of tests and water changes.

My charts look something like this:

Daily Ammonia Levels
> 4.0
> 2.0
> 1.0
> .50
> .25
> .00 Day #	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Daily Nitrite Levels
> 2.0
> 1.0
> .50
> .25		[N/A]	[N/A]	[N/A]	[N/A]	[N/A]	[N/A]
> .00 Day #	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
WC	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Today is:	Feb 1	Feb 2	Feb 3	Feb 4	Feb 5	Feb 6	Feb 7	Feb 8	Feb 9	Feb 10	Feb 11	Feb 12	Feb 13	Feb 14

Water Change 10% - 20% (WC) and cut back on fishfood	WC up to 50% + less food + watch for signs of distress	WC 50% as many times in a day as needed to drop the levels below the red levels.
Other tips: To reduce very high levels of Ammonia, consider using an ammonia neutralizer and gradually lower the PH to 7.0 or lower (as appropriate for the type of fish in the tank). To reduce very high levels of Nitrites, consider using ½ teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon of water in the tank and added aeration either with an air pump or lowering the water level of the fish tank to allow for a water cascade from the filter (with a back of the tank filter system).

These charts help me to stay organized with my various tank tasks and helps me to keep track of days when I have made water changes as a result of high readings after I check the ammonia and nitrite levels.

Small Fries in a Small Tank

Remember in an earlier post, I mentioned that the Platy had babies. Well, after two weeks, these little guys are almost 1 half inch long. Still tiny, but now there's some meat on their bodies. Their eyes are still HUGE by comparison, but the rest of the "fish" is starting to catch up with those big google eyes. Here are two little pix of the little babes.

They don't have much color until they get older and gender will not be visible for some time after that (at least that's what I have been told). The rocks in the 2nd pix are actually small gravel, about half the size of peas, so that gives you a comparison.

I have the fry in a 1 gallon tank with gravel, fake grass and plants, a mini heater and a mini box filter/aerator. They are eating finely powdered fish flakes designed for fry. I've been told that they will grow faster with live food like freshly hatched brine shrimp, etc., but I don't have the capability or knowledge yet to muster that process yet. So, for now, it's a feeding twice a day with baby food along with a 20 to 30% water change each day.

The ammonia levels went up a bit higher than I would like, so I added a drop of Prime along with a drop of PH down. That seemed to do the trick. There are still about 7 or 8 baby survivors, but they typically don't come out to eat all at once. Some wait for the food to sink down while the bigger ones head to the top to eat. It is my understanding that the bigger ones tend to be bullies, so I have a lot of places for the fry to hide and "wait" to get larger.

Since the fry are in a very small tank, I am checking the ammonia and nitrite levels twice per day. I'm trying to keep the PH level around 7 to minimize the effects of the ammonia on these little guys. I'm keeping the temp around 76 degrees F.

This is the first time I have ever tried to raise fish, so this whole experience has been very interesting and intriguing. I'll let you know how this goes and how many fry babies actually survive (if any).

Mini Aquarium Kits + More

Usually, when you buy a mini aquarium, it includes some essentials like a net, a packet of fish flakes, water conditioner for your city tap water, an electric mechanical filter, and a filter bag with carbon. These mini aquarium kits cost anywhere from $20 to $100, depending on brand and size. But you should also consider getting some other supplies. I used about 5 pounds of small gravel in my 5 gallon tank. Most authorities in the area suggest using 2 pounds for each gallon of water. But that really makes for a heavy tank and less water space in the tank. I bought 2 small and 2 medium sized plastic plants. This gives some hiding spaces for the fish and some swimming area too.

The filter works fine, but it doesn't move the water enough through the tank for the type of fish that I have. I ended up purchasing a little air pump, hose and misting stone to help add friction and oxygen to the water. After a couple of weeks, I opened the filter bag and dumped out the carbon when I needed to start adding medication on the tank. I wish I had removed the carbon initially. If you do choose to remove the carbon right away (before using the filter bag), save the clean dry carbon in a plastic bag so that you can use it later after your tank has been adequately cycled and stable.

Some other things I realized that I needed was a good quality water testing kit. The dip in testers are good once the tank is stable, but the testers that give more accurate readings are really needed with the mini tanks. I discovered that I literally needed to change the water at least once a day, sometimes twice a day to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels to a tolerable level during the initial cycling process to prevent new tank syndome. I don't change 100% of the water. I siphon out about 10 - 20% of the water each day and replace it with clean warm water.

We like to keep our house on the cool side, and the fish like temps in the mid 70s (F). So a heater is essential. An adjustable heater is better in the event you want to gradually rise or lower the water temps for your fish. A good thermometer is also important.

A gravel vac is important. Even more important is getting the right size! A mini gravel vacuum/siphon makes water changes easier. Along with a couple of large buckets and a couple of small pitchers to fill from the buckets to pour the clean water back into the tanks after a water change.

Oh, and perhaps not the most essential, but quite important for plugging in the aquarium light, filter, heater and air pump is a quality power strip. It does not need to be the expensive surge protector kind, but something to help you keep all the cords up and out of the water and organized. Remember to create a drip-loop with each electrical cord that keeps any "stray" water or condensation on the power cords away from your power strip!

That's enough to get you really ready to take care of your fishies.

Where to start?

I have never had fish before, and I think I'm learning by trial and error more than anything else. Most of the articles I find online about new tanks are for "real aquariums" and they all seemingly feel that the mini aquariums are toys. But I don't have a lot of experience and don't want to get "burned out" on aquriums before I even have a chance to enjoy the pleasures of caring for fish. I purchased a 5 gallon tank with mini filter included. I also purchased a little 50 watt heater and an air pump. I have the heater next to the filter in one corner and the aerator set on low in the other corner. I wish I had purchased a heater that I could adjust. But this one does keep the tank at 75 degrees F, so that's not all bad. I just can't turn up or down the heat if I need to. I also purchased some gravel, extra filters, dip-in water testers, plastic plants, a small fish net and a small gravel vac.

I had some old buckets that can hold 4 gallons of water. I took a permanent marker and marked the insides of the buckets with 1/2 gallon increments up to 2.5 gallons in each bucket. This way, when I make water changes, I know exactly how much to prepare and put back into the tank. I learned early on, I need to make sure that the water I add back into the tank is the same temperature as what the tank already is. So I scoop out a cup of water from the tank when I'm ready to make a water change and immediately go to the sink and start "temp" testing. I found that if I place my fingers into the cup of water and then into the water from the tap, and back and forth again and again while adjusting the faucets trying to get the same temp, that I'm one step ahead when I do start to take water out of the tank. My waste and refill buckets are interchangable. I make sure to clean the buckets with 10% bleach water (1 cup of bleach with 9 cups of water) on a weekly basis. I always make sure to rinse everything thorough with a bit of salt water afterwards. I use a solution of 2 tablespoons of aquarium salt with a gallon of water to dip nets, cups and gravel vacuums into.

I have read enough to know "don't start with goldfish." So I thought I would try with neon tetras. ummmm... sorry fishies :( I later read that these little guys really need a more stable environment than a new tank can provide and possibly lower PH than we have in our water. So I went back to the petstore, with a sample of my water and got two platy (moon fish) - red wag tails. I also purchased better water testers this time. The type where you need a vial of water to get a more accurate reading.

Again, due to my inexperience, I end up with one male and one very pregnant female. Yep, that's right. She gave birth two weeks ago. 15 of the fry survived long enough for us to get the babies into the little "nursery" container.

I noted immediately after the birth of the fry, the male was chasing the poor tired female all over the tank. Then we experienced popeye and velvet on the female. Based on what I'm reading on the subject, velvet is a opportunistic parasite that can be dormant for some time in the water until a stressed out fish can no longer resist the attack. Kind of like a cold virus. The popeye was probably due to the stress and the velvet. So, I went back to the petstore and bought a 2.5 gallon tank, 50 watt adjustable heater, antibiotics, parasite medication, another net, some seachem prime, more gravel, plants, gravel vacuum. It was suggested that I isolate the female since she was the only one with pop-eye and exhausted. I started up the smaller tank, took the carbon out of the filter, and put powder antibiotics into the water for her to swim in along with parasite meds. I also raised the temperature up one degree per day until it was 80 degrees F. I did a 20% water change every day when I would add new meds. The Prime kept the ammonia levels from getting out of hand.

In the 5 gallon tank, with the fry (which looked like mosquito larva with two big eyes) and the male Platy, I also took the carbon out of the filter but I could not raise the tank temps. I debated whether to use the parasite meds with the fry still in there. But I was noticing that the male was starting to scratch himself on the heater, the filter, the plants and anything else that he could rub on. I figured that the parasite meds would have to be a necessary evil at this point even with the frys.

Here I was with a still fairly new (uncycled) mini-tank, for the most part and trying to figure out what to do next. After four weeks, my five gallon tank is not stable or fully cycled. I wish I had not bothered to use the filters with carbon in them. I should have simply opened up the new filters and dumped the carbon out first. Live and learn. Well, I'll stop here for now.