[Elvis]

I tested the water today and it read

Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0.00
Nitrate 0.00

I believe this is a bad thing

[james7139]

id say 50-60% water change

[Elvis]

right now?

[tanker]

Yes, I would. Whenever you have an ammonia reading do a water change. Every day if necessary. If you keep the ammonia level as low as possible by changing the water, your fish should be ok until your filter rebuilds its bacteria to deal with the ammonia.

[Elvis]

I have been testing the water for a week now and it seems to be ok no problems, our tap water has a little Ammonia so when I do water changes I get a little of that but besides that Nitrite is always 0 and Nitrate is usually 5 or a little over, just like it should be.

My tank seems to be pretty stable at this point I have 1 Guppy that is about to give birth very soon which is pretty exciting =)

Some of my tetras have big white spots on them and its kinda worrying me, is this ich? The tank came with a bunch of ich tablets so thats why I'm assuming it is.

[tanker]

That's great, Elvis.

I've never seen ich but from what I've read I think it is tiny little spots, not big ones. Look up some photos for columnaris, perhaps that could be it.

There's a sticky at the top of the fish diseases sub-forum that lists possible diseases - (but be warned, it worried me reading about all the horrible things that could befall my fish.)

You could also start a thread in the fish diseases sub-forum. Try to get a good picture of your afflicted fish and include all of the information the sticky at the top of the forum asks you to.

[Elvis]

Thanks so much Tanker you've been a lot of help with my new tank =)

[mjbn]

Agreed, you should always cycle your tank. But it makes it harder to cycle when you have plants, but it's possible. When i got my 2nd tank and wanted to set it up in a hurry, i bought Tetra's Safe Start. Put it in, added 2 guppies and a couple White Cloud minnows and it was cycled completely within 1-2 days. If you're worried about losing more fish, you should also try it. But be warned, some people are not so lucky with the product. Anyways, your tank looks really nice, especially as a first tank! I saw your posting about your Tetra's with white spots. I'd say you should quaratine them, but you don't have an extra tank so i'm not sure how you should go about that. Any questions, let me know. I've only been keeping fish for about 6 months and i haven't lost a fish yet!(: i have 7 neons, 6 White clouds, 2 guppies, 3 black kuhli laoches (YOU SHOULD GET THESE FOR YOUR TANK! THEY ARE A GREAT ADDITION. I'd say get the regular kuhli loaches, for their better colors), and 2 grass shrimp. Go for some loaches when your tank is cycled, they are very sensitive to new/uncycled tanks. Get atleast 5, but with the size of your tank, i'd say get atleast 10(: The more of them that there are, the more you'll see them and the happier they'll be in your tank!

[silverboo23]

I like all of the color. If you get more Danio's they'll be swimming all over, looks really cool.

[Calmwaters]

mjbn plants make cycling easier not harder.

Your tank looks nice.