Problem feeding now that live plants have been introduced....

1077

No need to start fishless cycling with plant's in the tank.
Swapping out the lone tetra, for maybe three Glowlight tetra's and then three more in a week to ten day's assuming the ammonia level's are brought under control would be what I might consider.
Am troubled by continued elevated ammonia level's with one fish and addition of plant's.
Would expect the plant's to have near immediate impact with only one fish, and reduced feeding's.
Wonder if there is ammonia from the tap?

xfatdannx

i actually tested my tap water, i kept getting the same results on my ammonia there for about a week and a half to two weeks, so i tested tap water, there was some but it was just trace levels. between 0 and .25 ppm on the API chart.

FishyFishy89

well there's ammonia in your tap. Constantly having levels of ammonia isn't that great. Over time, they'll just keep building. I would suggest planting your tank with some more hornwort, cabomba and anacharis. My experience with Anacharis, it grows best floating. I've never been able to get it to take root. My cabomba(aka fanwort) is starting to root in my 75 gal tho. Hornwort is also a floating plant.

1077

I would agree with adding some fast growing floating plant's .
I very much like the fast growth of Watersprite.
Slower growing plant's(did I mention this already) will not be as effective as fast growing.
I sometimes get confused cause I visit several forum's and thread's get jumbled in this old brain.

FishyFishy89

Water Sprite! I knew I was missing another one! I believe Wisteria is also another one.

xfatdannx

Okay so an update.

As stated before i tested my tap water and there were and still are trace amounts of ammonia. On a whim i pulled out our drinking water from the fridge, a Brita filter pitcher. Poured a small glass and tested it. NO ammonia was detected in this water. I also tested PH and GH and everything seemed to be okay. The ph was a little lower than my tank but i figured the ammonia being at zero was a bigger benefit that the ph levels being harmful. I did a 40-50% water change with the filtered water. (not straight from the fridge, that would be too cold) Ammonia levels were cut in half within an hour. From the 2ppm to 1ppm. So i think i have figured out my source for water changes. Very inconvenient but worth it for the fish.

Now that i am slowly getting the finishing stages of the cycle under control, i am still worried about his eating habits. Again, as i stated, he will not eat now. He gets scared and hides when i go to feed him now that he has the hiding spots. I think adding more fish will help him in the end but i do not want to add more fish to the cycling aquarium. If i would have done my research before setting it up and buying i would have no fish in there but here i am now. I tried covering the sides so he couldn't see me and drop food in when he is out and about, nothing. I tried putting the flakes in a syringe and squirting it to his hideout, just a nibble. In the last 5 days he has only eaten one small piece of food and i am getting worried it will not be good for him soon.

Any other suggestions?

FishyFishy89

As stated before, this is a schooling fish. He will not come out unless he has the company of his own kind.

I would just put a few flakes in there. Let it fall to the bottom, he'll eat it when he feels safe to come out.