Hi! New and confused

[John Linklater]

That’s great. All your patience to cycle the tank has got you set. Be careful not to over feed.

It’s really hard to know how much to feed! I’m using hikari micro pellets and they didn’t sink at all when I first put them in so I removed it all and put some under the water line which then sank and they all went nuts. And because I was worried the smallest fish hadn’t eaten when he was looking around I added more for him, then realised there was too much so had to symphony it out. I’ve tested the water this morning though and ammonia and nitrite is still 0.

If you see any left after three or so minutes you’re probably feeding too much. It’s easy to overfeed and I’d imagine everyone has done it. It can lead to problem after problem though.

Don’t overfeed and big water changes are the two best bits of advice I’ve had.

[Fish]

Ok thank you! I fed them way less today and it was gone in a couple of minutes, they don’t look skinny so I’ll keep my eye on it!

Last question for the weekend as I’m sure you’re all sick of me (but I am so grateful for all of the advice here).

I added some mangrove wood/root a few days ago, and the fish love swimming around it. But today the water looks a little orange/brown. So I’ve been searching online and getting conflicting info as usual. Some are saying galaxy rasbora like dead leaves , wood and a little tannin. Others are saying remove it or the tannins will kill them I’ve just tested everything and it looks okay to me? Should I change the water regularly until it stops leaking tannins? Remove it? Keep it as it is? It doesn’t look as though the ph has dropped so I don’t know what to do now.

Taking it out and soaking or boiling is not an option due to the size (listing said 25cm to 30cm and it’s definitely bigger than that!).

[Staffylover]

Tannins are generally beneficial to fish, I believe they have anti bacterial properties, also fish prefer the dim lighting that you get by default, it has the potential to lower Ph but you would need a lot, still personally I would not leave it to get to that stage, fish do not like swings in Ph, if it is leaching a lot I would do a water change to keep things stable, this is totally normal for new wood and is usually gone in a few weeks I wouldn't worry about trying to soak it just do a few extra water changes if needed, also it might grow a white slimy coating which is harmless and temporary but you may not see it as fish like to eat the stuff, I'm not sure what that the stuff is called but again totally normal

[Fish]

Tannins are generally beneficial to fish, I believe they have anti bacterial properties, also fish prefer the dim lighting that you get by default, it has the potential to lower Ph but you would need a lot, still personally I would not leave it to get to that stage, fish do not like swings in Ph, if it is leaching a lot I would do a water change to keep things stable, this is totally normal for new wood and is usually gone in a few weeks I wouldn't worry about trying to soak it just do a few extra water changes if needed, also it might grow a white slimy coating which is harmless and temporary but you may not see it as fish like to eat the stuff, I'm not sure what that the stuff is called but again totally normal

Thank you so much for replying This is only the second day but I’m already attached to them! It’s definitely more orange at the end of the tank where the main bulk is.

What percentage water change do you think I should do? Is 50% twice a week too much?

I was reading that when they were first found in 2006 they were in little pools in the middle of grassland with water coming from a spring higher up in mountains. But then further searching said they had also been found later on in slow moving rivers in woodland - and there’d be a ton of dead leaves and wood I’d presume then.

I’ve also finally found the mini dwarf snail, he disappeared over night after circling the entire tanks glass yesterday. He’s on the Java fern driftwood, I’ve been looking for him all day!

[fr499y]

Tannings are fine and are beneficial to fish. Just do your normal 25% weekly water changes and not worry about it too much.

[plankton]

I doubt the tannins will do much in hard water anyway, it's more common for them to affect soft water.
As @fr499y says, the weekly changes will keep on top of it.
I still get some tannins in my tanks, and they're all pretty old setups now, up to 25 years.....

[Fish]

Thank you both! I ended up worrying too much last night and doing a water change anyway, the water was more orange than I thought - I presumed the light bouncing off the wood made it look more orange than it was. I also added a second filter cartridge as apparently carbon can help reduce it too though I guess I should keep my eye on the plants. I’ll leave it alone now until next week, but maybe test the ph just to check it’s fine through the week

I’ll leave you all with this pic, even my tiniest CPD can’t believe how much of a hyper idiot the endlers are I don’t know what’s wrong with them, the biggest endler is glass surfing a LOT, and the two smaller ones are just constantly following him.

[plankton]

The trouble with using carbon is that it stops working after about 10 days, and it can get very expensive to keep changing the media.
The extra flow will probably make the endlers more active, my guppies always get so when the filter is cleaned and working at full force....

[Fish]

Oh, ten days is a bit crap! Oh well, it’s in there now. I wanted to add a new one for a bit before taking out the one that’s been in throughout the cycle to hopefully not ruin everything I’ve done. I looked at the ceramic media yesterday (isn’t that where all of the good stuff lives) and it looks the same as the day insert up. But the part of the filter where the water flows out looks like it needs a clean - I’m just concerned I’ll ruin everything if I give it a good clean

I just don’t think one of the endlers is happy, it’s the biggest out of the 3. Last night I’m sure he was planning on jumping out, I heard the water make a noise. I don’t know why he doesn’t like it, all of the galaxy rasbora seem to be in their element. But the largest endler all he does is swim up and down around the tank, sometimes doing that in the same spot. He only seems to stop when I feed, or the lights first go on or off. One of them looks like he’s getting bored of following him today and keeps swimming off to do his own thing. But none of them venture into the middle of the tank much, just around the edge.

[DuzMano]

Maybe once he succumbs and accepts the fact that there is no escape he might settle down