Hello! This is my first post about my aquarium. I set it up about a month ago and I've been waiting to post it until it's complete, but I have some questions I couldn't find the answers to.
Background Info: I have a 28 gal tank that I set up about a month ago. The plants have been in for maybe two weeks, as well as some bladder snail hitchhikers who's eggs you may be able to see in the first picture (they're everywhere)! No fish or shrimp yet, but I plan to get some cherry shrimp and a group of corydoras and upside-down catfish.
First question: What are these weird clear gelatinous spheres on the glass and leaves? I'm assuming it's some kind of algae but I haven't been able to find anyone else who had the same problem. I wiped down the glass earlier today but it reappeared quite quickly, and I don't want it to take over the tank.
Second question: Is it cycled? I started cycling a while ago, before I added plants. I dosed with LOTS of quickstart as well as a bacteria packet that came with my CarribSea sand. My filter has been running and I only washed out the media once when it got really dirty (I have a pretty bad brown algae problem, I have to wipe everything constantly). I bought pure ammonia and dropped one or two full pipettes of ammonia about once a week. I've done this multiple times, but every time I check the water parameters there is no ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate present. I was thinking it might just be really well cycled because I have a lot of plants as well as algae on the driftwood and the brown algae on the glass (and now this weird jelly stuff). There is also a bunch of snail poop everywhere from the bladder snail hitchhikers, but this doesn't seem to affect the water quality at all. Is it safe to say my water is safe or is it just not cycled at all because there are no nitrates or nitrites?
Third question: Fish. I want to get 6-7 julii corydoras for sure, and 2-4 synodontis nigriventris. Is this okay? I was thinking I could possibly add an angelfish if there's room but it's a 29 long and I don't want to stretch it. If y'all say it's a bad idea, I won't do it! The temp also seems a bit low for an angelfish, it's a steady 75. My water is super soft and slightly acidic, and it clearly has plenty of tannins so I think it's pretty perfect for catfish but I really don't know much about angels except that I like them haha.
Thank you to everyone who reads this and I hope y'all can help me! I'm having so much fun with this tank and can't wait to get the shrimp and fish!!
Posted by SisterMVW5
3 Comments
*I meant to say 29 gal in the first paragraph but I couldn’t go back and change it
That many plants is probably why you aren’t seeing nitrates. And also you don’t have much of a bioload in there.
Honestly, all sounds great!
With mysterious fungi, bacteria and algae, I often dose low levels of aquarium salt and then do lots of manual removal. I’m sure there are other methods that are less harmful to plants though.
Sound cycled to me! All those plants are probably using up the nitrates before they appear on your tests. Might just be a sign that you’ll need to use liquid ferts.
Stocking idea sounds good, but I’d be hesitant about the angelfish for now, they can be a bit aggressive and temperamental, not a great beginner’s fish.