Dust on the surface of my tank
8 posts
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Junior7496 - Posts: 4
- Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2008 8:30 pm
Dust on the surface of my tank
just bout a new fishtank... its been setup for a week now... and i notice that dust is just settling on top of the tank and its not being cycled... should i be concerned about this issue?, and is there anything to get rid of the dust
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gumbii - Posts: 1695
- Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:31 am
you need surface current or a skimmer of some sort... you could also take it off with a paper towel...
aggitate the water a bit...
aggitate the water a bit...
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Junior7496 - Posts: 4
- Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2008 8:30 pm
surface current! none what so ever. im using a rena filstar2 canister with the jet nozzle... I was using the other attachment that came with it to try to get more of surface current to cycle the dust that just sits on the surface but only negative thing about that was it caused more more bubbles and more evaporating water.. and in the long run will cause algae buildup on my tand lids....... i had a 20gal about 5 years ago and thats what happened.. just looking for a diffrent solution.. like skimmer for instants.
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yasherkoach - Posts: 1306
- Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm
first, what size tank is it?
dependent upon the type of fish you will have, you should have at least some water agitation, not only is good for fish like danios, tetras, etc, but by agitating the water at the surface, the gas exchange at the top of the water surface provides the much needed oxygen for the inhabitants
also the fish only having cycled for about one week means until the fish tank is established or cycled, you will go through many strange changes in the tank.
tell us how you are cycling: what type of fish, how many fish, are you using any filter media to speed up the cycling process, do you have live plants, how many water changes have you done so far, do you have any water test kits, and if so, what are the readings?
there is a lot of things you must do in order to get your tank up to par before you can even begin to add fish and make the ecosystem work
so tell us more about your tank, then we'll go from there
dependent upon the type of fish you will have, you should have at least some water agitation, not only is good for fish like danios, tetras, etc, but by agitating the water at the surface, the gas exchange at the top of the water surface provides the much needed oxygen for the inhabitants
also the fish only having cycled for about one week means until the fish tank is established or cycled, you will go through many strange changes in the tank.
tell us how you are cycling: what type of fish, how many fish, are you using any filter media to speed up the cycling process, do you have live plants, how many water changes have you done so far, do you have any water test kits, and if so, what are the readings?
there is a lot of things you must do in order to get your tank up to par before you can even begin to add fish and make the ecosystem work
so tell us more about your tank, then we'll go from there
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Junior7496 - Posts: 4
- Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2008 8:30 pm
50gal fishtank
Im going to put no more than 3 koi's in my tank... and yes i know all about how you shouldnt put koi in fishtanks cuz they belong in ponds.. Ive had some experience putting koi in a 20gal had atleast 3 along with acouple of goldfish and i had my koi's for atleast 3years until i gave my tank and fish away.. also my cousin had 3 koi in a 55gal for more than 6 years... So I have experience keeping them, but its been awhile since I had a tank... Now everthing thats out in the fish market is much diffrent and everthing that is done with fish caring is done a lil diffrent now
Im using a rena filstar2canister with Rena FilStar Bio-Chem Stars. Its been a week and 3 days since my tank has been cycling. Next week im going to also add a Internal filter for extra cycling since im getting koi.. Im not getting any live plants what so ever... maybe a couple of plastics ones... koi like to dig and would eat live plants or dig them up... I did a lil water change a couple of days ago because the amount of dust that settled on the tank.. it help just a lil.
I have a test kit just for ammonia which was at around 0.50 when tested last week. I also have a 5in1 test strips
Nitrate - was less then 10..
Nitrite - less than 0.5..
Total Hardness - between 150 and 200...
Total Alkalinity - between120 and 180..
pH - between 7.0 and 7.5
Im going to put no more than 3 koi's in my tank... and yes i know all about how you shouldnt put koi in fishtanks cuz they belong in ponds.. Ive had some experience putting koi in a 20gal had atleast 3 along with acouple of goldfish and i had my koi's for atleast 3years until i gave my tank and fish away.. also my cousin had 3 koi in a 55gal for more than 6 years... So I have experience keeping them, but its been awhile since I had a tank... Now everthing thats out in the fish market is much diffrent and everthing that is done with fish caring is done a lil diffrent now
Im using a rena filstar2canister with Rena FilStar Bio-Chem Stars. Its been a week and 3 days since my tank has been cycling. Next week im going to also add a Internal filter for extra cycling since im getting koi.. Im not getting any live plants what so ever... maybe a couple of plastics ones... koi like to dig and would eat live plants or dig them up... I did a lil water change a couple of days ago because the amount of dust that settled on the tank.. it help just a lil.
I have a test kit just for ammonia which was at around 0.50 when tested last week. I also have a 5in1 test strips
Nitrate - was less then 10..
Nitrite - less than 0.5..
Total Hardness - between 150 and 200...
Total Alkalinity - between120 and 180..
pH - between 7.0 and 7.5
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yasherkoach - Posts: 1306
- Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm
nitrate level is good
nitrite should be 0
ammonia should be 0
as soon as your nitrite and ammonia registers at 0 for at least 2 weeks, your tank can be considered cycled
be sure to add your fish slowly because fish poop will raise your ammonia level too high if the fish are added too fast
one other thing, as your nitrite and ammonia go down, your nitrate level will skyrocket, then quickly go down, this is a good sign that your tank completed its cycle
keep nitrate anywhere from 0 to 20, 20 to 40 will begin to stress the fish, anything over 40 can be toxic and will kill the fish
nitrite and ammonia must always be 0 (no ifs ands or buts about this)
patience is the key here
nitrite should be 0
ammonia should be 0
as soon as your nitrite and ammonia registers at 0 for at least 2 weeks, your tank can be considered cycled
be sure to add your fish slowly because fish poop will raise your ammonia level too high if the fish are added too fast
one other thing, as your nitrite and ammonia go down, your nitrate level will skyrocket, then quickly go down, this is a good sign that your tank completed its cycle
keep nitrate anywhere from 0 to 20, 20 to 40 will begin to stress the fish, anything over 40 can be toxic and will kill the fish
nitrite and ammonia must always be 0 (no ifs ands or buts about this)
patience is the key here
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Tien6079 - Posts: 99
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 6:59 am
I also suggest having more movement at the surface of the water. The gas exchange is very important. I do get a good amount of algae on the underside of my glass due to the condensation. My water also evaporates quickly too, but the benifits of cycling the suface water are worth it. I just have to clean my glass underneath my light every once in a while. If your water evaporates fast, make sure to add water, but do not add salt to the water as it will increase the salt concentration in the entire tank. I add salt to my water changes but not to my water i use to replace that which has evaporated.