Water Condition

MetalArm3

Thanks! I will definitely have to further pursue this with all you suggestions in mind. I like how you mention my driftwood should be off center, your probably right. I always center things to make them equal when I shouldn't (OCD maybe, lol)

If I may trouble you with one last question however. I have been doing the 25% water changes and now and the water is crystal clear. All the fish are acting normal yet my test kit still reads 4.0ppm. As we mention before, we suspect it's a false positive from Ammo Lock. When this clears up, will I be able to add more fish of the sane type without overstocking it, or am I at my limit?

ladayen

When you get the ammonia sorted out(NOT BEFORE!!!!) you have a little bit more room. I would suggest adding some more black skirts for sure as having a good school tends to reduce the aggresiveness and the fin nipping from them. 3-5 more of those should work. Cories also do better in schools of 6+ so four more of them. This might be considered slightly over stocked but with the cories on the bottom you should be ok. Do you know what type of cory's you have?

MetalArm3

Sound good man. I'll buy some more of each once everything calms down. I brought the two Cory Catfish at Petsmart and that's all they were tagged as.

Thanks for all the help,
MetalArm3
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MetalArm3

My tank is once again foggy beyond belief. I attached two photos of my latest API Water quality test, The odd thing is my fish seem as happy as when i first got them. No strange or unusual behavior being experienced. So any thoughts on this latest occurrence, Is this the tank cycling finally?

Attached Images

	Ammonia Test B.jpg (31.2 KB, 25 views)
	Ammonia Test.jpg (32.7 KB, 26 views)

Byron

I'm at a loss to offer suggestions. This ammonia test result is simply not accurate of ammonia (assuming the pH is above 7) if the fish are alive. Either something is interfering with the test, or something is faulty. I'm sorry I can't offer something.

ladayen

bring some water into the LFS and get them to check it for you. If they get the same result you know it's not the test. Ammonia that high would kill fish VERY quickly. That would leave a "false positive", such as mentioned earlier. Ammonium I think it was called. Detoxified ammonia.

Ok just did some more research, and it keeps coming back to cleaners. I'm thinking some how one way or another cleaning solution is getting into your tank. I asked earlier but I'll double check, what are you using to clean your glass? You mentioned a paper towel but when I asked if it was simply a dry paper towel I didn't notice a response. Are you using windex to clean the glass?

MetalArm3

My tank seems to be becoming balanced. I had a white bacterial bloom for about a week and that cleared up. I'm still getting false readings but I expect that to clear up in time. I did some more research on the type of Cory catfish (x2) I have and I believe it's a Bronze Cory catfish or also called a common Cory catfish. I am waiting to see the tetras and cories to go on sale then I'll buy them in stages. I was wondering if I need to by the same exact type of cories or would albino cories be ok to?
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ladayen

With cories you should have schools of 6 or more. You can have 2 species with 3 of each, but it's not recommended to get a bunch of different kinds. Do research on each specific kind you plan on getting and make sure this applies to them.

I'm still concerned about your false readings. Have you taken it to your LFS or gotten some kind of second opinion?

MetalArm3

I posted a new thread here:

http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquarium/abnormal-test-results-74187/

to get new community members opinions on the matter.

I got a new API Liquid Test Kit thinking the old one might be expired, but even the new one gave the same results. I thought I would give it like a month for the Ammo Lock to filter out. I also thought about a 75% water change, but I don't want to remove all the good bacteria that came from the bacterial bloom. All the fish are still accounted for and are doing well.

MetalArm3

MetalArm3

WOOT My tank is finally giving me a nearly 0ppm ammonia reading after having 2 months of 8.0ppm ammonia readings. The only thing I changed was my filter. I took off the penguin 350 and installed an Eheim 2232 Ecco canister filter. How could my penguin filter not be sufficient enough for my rank (27gal)? It moves over 10X the necessary amount of water and had four legion filter mediastinum in it (max amount). I'm baffled yet extremely pleased!